On Monday night the NFL saw a Super Bowl rematch between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. Unlike the offensive showdown in the big game last season, this was a defensive battle throughout. The combination of the Eagles’ defensive prowess and Chiefs receivers being unable to hold onto a football if their lives depended on it, Philly emerged victorious, beating the Kansas City in Arrowhead Stadium, 21-17.
Going into this game, it was heralded as the game of the year, and it very much lived up to the hype. The game started slowly, with both teams only having 7 points at the 2-minute warning. The Chiefs opened the lead with a throw on the run from Patrick Mahomes to Justin Watson. D'Andre Swift scored for the Eagles with an outside run from the 1 yard line. The Chiefs made use of the final two minutes of the half by putting up an additional 10 points via a touchdown pass to Travis Kelce and a field goal off a turnover to take a 17-7 lead into the half.
The second half was a completely different story, however. The Chiefs failed to score a single point in the second half, one of their worst offensive performances since quarterback Mahomes took the reigns. The Chiefs offense was plagued by drops by most of their receiving corps, with perhaps the most egregious one being a touchdown bomb to Marquez Valdes-Scantling that would have seen the Chiefs go ahead late in the 4th quarter. Kelce, usually so reliable for the Chiefs, also fumbled away the ball to make the Chiefs lose the turnover battle. The Eagles punched in two more touchdowns in the second half, both through runs from Hurts. They were able to, once again, utilize the infamous "tush push" quarterback sneak to devastating effect.
With both quarterbacks registering an interception in the game, the offenses struggled to get things going. Both defenses put immense pressure on the quarterback, and while the Chiefs defense registered 5 sacks on Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, it wasn’t enough to completely shut down the Eagles offense. Both offenses found success on the ground, with the Eagles rushing for 114 years and the Chiefs rushing for 168 yards.
With the Eagles winning this game they cement themselves at the top of the NFL for the time being, and favorites to win the playoff bye and make it to the Super Bowl in the NFC. The Chiefs will have some work to do in the coming weeks as their hunt for consecutive Super Bowl wins continues.
You can catch the Chiefs and Eagles next in action on Sunday as the Eagles host the Buffalo Bills and the Chiefs head to Allegiant Stadium to face a division rival in the Las Vegas Raiders.
(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)