Philly thwarts KC, extends winning streak over Chiefs.

As has been pointed out before, today marked the first time since the merger that teams from opposite conferences have met five consecutive seasons. Philly now has the edge over KC with three wins in a row (two in Arrowhead). This game was remarkably like the Eagles' win in 2023 in several key ways: 1) bad weather, 2) KC outgained Philly (294-217 today), 3) the Birds flipped the traditional script and got a favorable officiating moment that helped swing things (more on this in a minute), 4) Philly made the biggest plays and the fewest bad plays. How did this all play out? Let's talk about it:

BAD NEWS FIRST

• Jalen had one of his best regular season games as a pro in week 1; in week 2? Not so much. Hurts averaged 4.6 yards per attempt (his 4th lowest since 2020) and did put the ball on the ground on the first series. He never quite seemed to get in rhythm as a passer and was stuffed multiple times on the Brotherly Shove. I get that the Chiefs are noticeably better than Dallas on defense, but it looked like two different guys out there.

• Devonta's big catch that set up the second TD was the one big play that the Eagles' offensive starts made all day. Not sure if that's a flaw in the scheme or if someone is hurt (besides Goedert, who was certainly missed today) or if the Chiefs were really dialed in on defense. Barkley ground his way to 88 tough yards and seemed to get stronger as the game went on.

• Alex Kemp's officiating crew is known for missing obvious penalties (I still haven't forgotten their disastrous effort in the Eagles-49ers game in 2023), but the Eagles were the beneficiaries of multiple uncalled false starts today. Don't worry, I'm going to talk about the other side to that coin in a bit, but for this purpose we need to acknowledge that the uncalled false start with about six minutes to go did give the Birds an unearned first down that cost Kansas City three timeouts.

THE GOOD NEWS

• Just win, baby! Naturally, you don't want to see too many of these games (saw way too many in 2023, for example) but in September the goals are simple: avoid crushing injuries and win enough games to stay in the divisional and conference races. Goals achieved! Recall from the preseason schedule overview that slow starts are not in any way proof that a championship is out of reach.

• This was one of the few games from the schedule that I would have struggled to justify picking the Eagles in. I felt that way all the way till kickoff. Kansas City is still dangerous, still smarting from that Super Bowl shellacking, was on their home opener and in inclement weather that usually bodes poorly for the Eagles (remember last year's Tampa game?). Banking wins like this give the team a little insurance for potential upsets down the road.

• I mentioned KC's edge in the box score already, but what needs to be mentioned here is how the Birds made all the high leverage plays. Philly was superior in 3rd down conversions (35.7-33.3%), 4th down conversions (100-66.7%), red zone percentage (100-50%) and won the turnover battle. I lost count of how many open receivers Mahomes missed or dropped passes the Chiefs had. Don't forget special teams, where Butker missed his long FG but Jake the Make hit both of his from 50+. These kinds of plays make a huge difference; in this case, a game winning difference.

• Let's talk about that officiating. There were two notable uncalled false starts that benefitted Philly. The first I'm not concerned with as it effectively was a make up call for erroneously calling Jalen short of the end zone on the previous play. The second one took what should have been a third and six to a first down for the Birds, which effectively forced Kansas City to waste their timeouts. Did that error throw the game? Not necessarily. First, as sluggish as Philly was on offense, they easily could have gained those six yards in two plays (they did average 3.7 yards per play, after all). Even assuming they failed, Kansas City was no lock to get the scores they needed, even with six minutes and three timeouts to go (up to that point they had scored ten points in their eight drives). Once the Chiefs did get possession, they were completely uninspired; their first five plays from scrimmage netted -3 yards and the drive was only kept alive from a really weak roughing penalty that even KC fans struggled to justify. Besides that, the Chiefs themselves didn't like their own chances (why else would you punt the ball back to the Birds down ten with only seven minutes left, and why would you try the onsides kick with three minutes to go? Neither decision showed confidence in the team); why should we disagree with them? One last point: no team has benefitted more from timely officiating decisions than the Chiefs have. No pity for them.

All in all, this team is 2-0. Quit a few contending teams would like to say them same.

FLY EAGLES FLY!!!