Eagles Defense Hits Bear Market in Shootout Loss to Chiefs
PHILADELPHIA - You knew it coming in and that's how it unfurled at Lincoln Financial Field.
Patrick Mahomes and Tyreek Hill were just too explosive for the Eagles and Kansas City pulled away down the stretch, scoring six touchdowns in seven possessions during a 42-30 shootout.
Mahomes finished with five TD throws and Hill caught 11 passes on 12 targets for 186 yards and three of those scores.
The Eagles were impressive as well at times offensively, piling up 461 yards of total offense in a game where neither punter, Arryn Siposs or Tommy Townsend, was forced to ply their trade.
The Bulls:
Nick Sirianni's Game Plan - We were back to Week 1 mode with quick throws and making sure the football comes out quickly from Jalen Hurts. That's the way to play with this young quarterback right now who is still a little too inconsistent throwing the football from the pocket.
Kenny Gainwell - With all the talk of getting the football to Miles Sanders, Gainwell was the difference-maker in the backfield, mainly as a receiver but he also took a 3rd-and-goal from the 7-yard line in the fourth quarter. Gainwell also caught all six of his targets for 58 yards. Sanders, meanwhile, was stymied with just 13 yards on seven runs.
DeVonta Smith - Smith bounced back with his best game as a pro easily beating the overmatched Kansas City cornerbacks with his route running and showing off his sneaky length of a couple of catches. He finished with his first 100-yard game, with seven receptions for 122 yards with the lone major mistake being pushed out of bounds on a potential TD throw, mush like what happened to Jalen Reagor in Week 2.
“We are a good team. We still have things we have to clean up," Smith said. "We are still right there. The mistakes we made, the things we have to do. It is all credit to the team getting better each week. The little things we leave out there, we need to correct."
The Offensive Line: The Eagles were up against it. Set to come in 60 percent down from the Week 1 offensive line due to injuries, that turned into 80 percent when Lane Johnson was a late scratch due to a personal matter. The revamped unit, which had Landon Dickerson shifting to left guard, Nate Herbig at right guard, and Jack Driscoll at right tackle performed admirably and was hardly the reason for the setback.
Andre Dillard did get flagged too much but the illegal man downfield and illegal formation penalties could be the fault of others.
The Bears
The Eagles Linebackers - Running the football might not be en vogue but it is on game days when the opposition coaching staff comes in and realizes the defense has a donut-sized hole right in the middle. No one knows better than Philadelphia what Andy Reid wants to do offensively but the Chiefs were still able to pile up 200 yards rushing by mistake.
“You know, they are a good team. We wanted to force them to drive the field," Alex Singleton said. "They played a good game. If you watch a lot of their games, if you force them to drive the field they give you opportunities. I don’t think we had a ton of them today, but it was a good football game.”
The Bend But Don't Break Philosophy - Everyone wants to keep the Chiefs' explosive plays in check and the Eagles' play a ton of zone against everyone. The goal, though, is to stiffen up and force field goals. Kansas City cashed in with seven far too often, on six of seven possessions with the only outlier being a Josh Sweat pass rush that forced a Patrick Mahomes interception to Eric Wilson. A late Mahomes kneel down doesn't count.
"We all [have to get better]," CB Darius Slay said. "We just have to find what we need to do. I just try to play my hardest, whatever call [Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon] gives, I just give it my all and compete, but we just have to go back to the table and figure this out.”
Third-Down Defense - If you're asking if 90 percent efficacy (9-for-10 for K.C.) is good on third downs the answer is yes. unless you're on the opposing defensive side.
“They’re explosive but, I mean, we just had a bad game," DT Javon Hargrave said.
Stagnant Stocks
Jalen Hurts' Downfield Accuracy - On the first drive of the game Hurts had Zach Ertz for a touchdown and badly overthrew the lengthy target. The QB also had Greg Ward in the flat for an easy score and was too wild making the catch way more difficult than it had to be. His best throw downfield was to Ertz in the fourth quarter.
Penalties - Nine penalties for 49 yards seems like an improvement but there are a few wiped out due to other things happening. It's still far too many and some of it can be attributed to the league as a whole going in a more ticky-tack direction. Things like Josh Sweat offsides and illegal downfield penalty can be corrected.
Game Ball
It's gotta go to Andy Reid, who recorded his 100th career win with the Chiefs making him the only coach in history with 100 with two different franchises. And he did coming off a week in which he was hospitalized for dehydration.
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
