This wasn’t a game where the Philadelphia Eagles reasonably should’ve been expected to score “style points.”
Beating the Kansas City Chiefs in this specific scenario was never going to be easy.
On the road in one of the loudest stadiums in the NFL? Against a team that sought revenge for being embarrassed so badly in Super Bowl LIX? In addition to wanting to wash the bad taste of a disappointing Week 1 loss out of their mouths?
There was no precedent for Patrick Mahomes losing three straight games. There was no precedent for the
Chiefs getting off to an 0-2 start since he became their quarterback.
And so it can’t be taken for granted that the Eagles went to “GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium” and left with a win, regardless of exactly how they got it done.
The Eagles have been far from perfect through two games. There are some legitimate concerns with this team.
Still, they’re 2-0 and in sole possession of first place in the NFC East after two weeks. Could be a lot worse!
Time to hand out winners, losers, and I don’t knows.
For even more analysis, check out my appearance on The Ringer’s Philly Special postgame podcast with Sheil Kapadia (and Ace Producer Cliff Augustin).
WINNERS
ANDREW MUKUBA
The rookie safety hardly played a perfect game.
On the Chiefs’ first touchdown drive, Mukuba:
- Missed a tackle due to getting bodied by a running Patrick Mahomes
- Gave up a fourth down conversion to Travis Kelce
- Was penalized (arguably a weak flag) to wipe out a third down stop
He didn’t let these struggles snowball into more issues, however.
Mukuba instead demonstrated resilience by bouncing back with big plays, such as his third down hit on Hollywood Brown that brought up an unsuccessful Chiefs fourth down attempt.
He later had the interception that ended up being a 14-point swing in a game decided by a field goal. The ever-opportunistic Mukuba capitalized on Travis Kelce bobbling a ball up into the air.
All told, Mukuba logged six tackles (five solo), 0.5 sacks, 1 TFL, one pass defensed, and one interception.
This from a player who missed a lot of time in training camp due to injury issues.
Seems like a pretty good starting point with room to go up from here.
Early on, he’s living up to his billing as a play-maker.
JAKE ELLIOTT
In 2024, Elliott made two of his nine field goal attempts from 50 yards and beyond (including playoffs).
In 2025, Elliott has made three of his three field goal attempts from 50 yards and beyond.
Elliott has two makes from 58 and one from 51. He’s also perfect on extra points.
The bounce-back is real.
VIC FANGIO
Disclaimer: the Eagles definitely benefited from the Chiefs being thin at wide receiver (no Rashee Rice, no Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown got banged up in this game).
Still, the Eagles’ defense allowed just 17 points and came up with a takeaway that sparked a touchdown drive.
It was interesting to see that Fangio relied much heavier upon the blitz than he normally does. Especially given that the Eagles didn’t blitz the Chiefs at all in Super Bowl LIX. I wonder if Fangio had some leftover blitz ideas that he broke out in this game after not getting to use them in February.
The most impressive stop to me in this game was after the Eagles scored their second touchdown to go up 20 to 10. It was surprising to see Mahomes and the Chiefs unable to answer to cut it back to a one-score game. Instead, they went three-and-out! And in part with Fangio using blitzes to force Mahomes into incompletions.
ZA’DARIUS SMITH
The early returns on Z are looking good!
The box score: four tackles (two solo), 0.5 sacks, 1 TFL.
Smith was disruptive. It looks like he’ll be a good addition to the Eagles’ pass rush rotation.
NOLAN SMITH
How can you not love Smith’s physicality? He did a great job of violently setting the edge on the Chiefs’ fourth down rushing attempt that resulted in a turnover on downs. The Eagles scored a field goal off of that stop … in a game that was decided by three points.
JORDAN DAVIS
Through just two weeks, Davis has made his presence felt so much more consistently than he has in the past. The box score is matching this sentiment, too. He logged five tackles (three solo) and two pass deflections that led to Mahomes incompletions.
Davis is up to three deflections in two games this season. He had five pass deflections in 55 games (including playoffs) before this season!
There’s time for this to change but, so far, he’s making the Eagles look smart to pick up his fifth-year option.
JALEN CARTER
Welcome back, Jalen Carter.
The Eagles’ top defensive tackle logged a TFL and unsurprisingly drew extra attention from the Chiefs’ offensive line, which opened up opportunities for this teammates.
Also, it seemed like he may have gotten a finger on Mahomes’ pass that was intercepted by Mukuba? Even the slightest deflection may have contributed to Kelce not being able to catch the ball cleanly.
MORO OJOMO
Ojomo logged his first career NFL regular season sack. He also had a TFL and one additional QB hit to give him two total. He undoubtedly benefited from Carter’s return.
THE TUSH PUSH
This play is so getting banned next offseason. And mostly because teams are just tired of the Eagles being so good at it. Until then, the Eagles should continue to shove it down the throats of their opponents.
JALEN HURTS
So, this wasn’t a strong game by the Eagles’ starting quarterback. The numbers are pretty pedestrian.
15/22 as a passer for just 101 yards (4.6 average), 0 TD, 0 INT, and a 78.0 passer rating.
9 for 15 and one touchdown as a runner.
That said, I’m including Hurts in the winners section because … he just wins.
The Eagles are now 16-0 in the last 16 games he’s started and finished.
He’s obviously a big reason why the Tush Push is successful.
He needs to contribute more than just turnover avoidance but that much is a pretty big deal, especially when Mahomes’ interception was responsible for a 14-point swing in this game.
Hurts only took two sacks for a loss of seven yards despite facing many blitzes from Steve Spagunolo.
And speaking of facing pressure, he delivered a clutch downfield completion to DeVonta Smith to help set up the Eagles’ 20 to 10 lead. (He had another downfield throw to DeVonta earlier on that was dropped.)
DEVONTA SMITH
DeVonta was the Eagles’ leading receiver. He was targeted six times for four receptions and 53 yards (13.3 average). Again, not a special stat line. His leaping catch to set up the Eagles’ second touchdown was really important, though. Good redemption for his drop earlier on.
A.J. BROWN
Brown’s numbers are ugly; his team-high eight targets resulted in just five catches for 27 yards. One of those grabs was a pretty great one-handed first down catch without even fully looking at the ball coming his way. That was important. And it’s not like Brown didn’t have more production because he’s not good as much as the passing game as a whole wasn’t functioning very smoothly. It shouldn’t be complicated for the Eagles to get him more involved.
Brown also deserves a shout out for his onside kick recovery.
SAQUON BARKLEY
Barkley’s had much more impressive rushing performances but he was solid in this game with 22 carries results in 88 yards and a touchdown. He helped to seal the deal late in the fourth quarter with a nine-yard run that majorly contributed to the offense running out the clock.
LOSERS
CHRIS JONES
Talking trash after you lost? Lol, weak.
I DON’T KNOWS
KEVIN PATULLO
Seeing a lot of Patullo criticism coming out of this game. Not hard to understand why considering that this offense produced just 94 net passing yards one week after the Chiefs gave up 304 to the Los Angeles Chargers. The Eagles simply have too much talent to not be more productive.
At the same time, I think there’s room for more nuance here than OFFENSE BAD = OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR BAD.
I’m not saying Patullo is definitely good. He very well might not be! But I do believe a two-game sample size as a play-caller isn’t enough to draw definitive conclusions.
Some other ramblings:
- The buck with offensive issues can’t stop at the OC. I’m seeing the same exact complaints about the offense not being creative enough that were also coming up in 2023 with Brian Johnson as OC and even 2024 with Kellen Moore at OC. While Patullo was the Eagles’ passing game coordinator for those seasons, it’s not like he’s the only common denominator in this equation. I think it’s only fair to wonder how the quarterback and head coach factor in.
- Speaking of the head coach, one problem with the Eagles not having a play-calling HC is that the OC position is especially primed for constant turnover. As I’ve previously laid out, OC stability is just not a thing in the NFL. The longest-tenured OCs are from 2022 and three of them work for play-calling HCs while the other one (Mike Kafka) has had play-calling duties on and off. If the Eagles have a good OC, they’re probably not going to last more than one season. Case in point: Shane Steichen (2022 was his first full season calling plays in Philly) and Kellen Moore were hired to be head coaches. If the Eagles have a bad OC, they’re probably not going to last more than one season. Case in point: Brian Johnson getting canned after 2023. It’d be great if the Eagles could find their offensive version of Vic Fangio. Not sure how realistic that is, though.
- There’s a difference between play-calling and play design. How much does the sequencing of plays matter if the designs aren’t any good? We know Patullo calls plays. To what extent is he involved in their design?
- If we’re to evaluate Sirianni as a “CEO” head coach, he needs to help provide answers for the big picture issues. And if the offense is one of them, what’s he doing to help fix it?
THE EAGLES DEFENDER WHO BLEW THE COVERAGE ON THE CHIEFS’ FINAL TOUCHDOWN
Was it Reed Blankenship to blame? Or Quinyon Mitchell?
Easier to forgive with the Eagles winning but this bust would’ve been a big deal if the Chiefs managed to complete the comeback.
ADOREE’ JACKSON
Again, the Chiefs were thin at wide receiver. But Jackson didn’t seem to be as much of a liability as he was in Week 1. KC did go after him at times. And his tackling is still pretty suspect. But he did manage to break up a downfield pass.
I don’t know if he manages to hold onto the starting job past next week, though. Puka Nacua and/or Davante Adams could absolutely eat his lunch.
TANK BIGSBY
He’s apparently such a good kick returner that the Chiefs purposely avoided kicking to him.
Not really … but maybe? It’ll be interesting to see what he can do when he gets an opportunity.
Bigsby did not take any offensive touches in his Eagles debut. He could overtake A.J. Dillon at some point but I don’t know when exactly that’ll be.
CAMERON LATU
Color me intrigued by this guy. Latu came close to blocking two punts and he had a good lead block as a fullback on a Barkley goal-to-go run. I don’t know if the Eagles will find a roster spot for him but they should definitely use his remaining two temporary practice squad elevations to give him more of an audition.
THE REFS
No big disparity here with the Eagles being flagged six times for 48 yards and the Chiefs being flagged six times for 45 yards. Nice to not see a lopsided margin there.
The Eagles may have gotten away with some false starts on the Tush Push, though slow motion video analysis isn’t a great barometer for how the refs shouldn’t call the game. Also, Sirianni pushed back by pointing out the Chiefs were not being called for lining up offside after the first time they were.
More weird officiating:
- There was a very soft roughing the passer call on Jihaad Campbell that turned 4th-and-13 at the minus 25 to 1st-and-10 at the minus 40. Felt like a typical Mahomes bailout call.
- The refs seemingly missed A.J. Brown rolling over a Chiefs defender for a first down late in the second quarter.
- It was hard to understand how the replay of Hurts’ Tush Push effort on third-and-goal didn’t show a touchdown since the ball was clearly over the goal line. It didn’t end up mattering but that mistake cost the Eagles a timeout and a challenge.
AZEEZ OJULARI and OGBO OKORONKWO
I don’t know if the Eagles really need seven edge rusher roster with two of them being healthy scratches … and both of them being vested veterans! It’s not like the Eagles are worried about them getting claimed off waivers. Feels like at least one of these two won’t be around for much longer?
