Penalties Negate 3 TDs, Eagles Lose Third Straight Game with Loss to Chiefs
PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles were kicking field goals while the Kansas City Chiefs were scoring touchdowns in their matchup on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
That’s not a recipe for victory against one of the best teams in the AFC, and predictably the Eagles lost their third straight game, this one a 42-30 loss to visiting Kansas City.
Penalties led to three Eagles TDs being negated.
The mistakes didn’t help their red-zone efficiency, either. The Eagles turned just three of their six trips inside the 20 into touchdowns – a 3-yard TD catch from Dallas Goedert, a 7-yard TD run by rookie Kenny Gainwell, and a 15-yard catch by Greg Ward with four seconds to play in the game.
It was the second TD of the season for all three players.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts threw for a career-high 387 yards and two touchdowns with 32 completion on 48 throws. His passer rating was 105.1. He also ran for 47 yards.
The loss was the third in a row for Philadelphia and dropped its record 1-3 with a trip to the Carolina Panthers set for next week.
Kansas City, meanwhile, snapped its two-game losing streak and improved to 2-2. The Chiefs scored a touchdown on six of their seven offensive possessions and gave head coach Andy Reid, who spent 14 years in Philadelphia, his 100th win in Kansas City.
Overshadowed in the loss was the first 100-plus yard receiving game from rookie DeVonta Smith, who had seven catches for 122 yards, and yet another sack from defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, who now has five on the season.
Smith, however, was to blame for one of those TDs being called back when he stepped out of bounds on what would have been a 34-yard throw with just over five minutes to go in the fourth quarter and the Eagles down 35-23.
It was the second time this year that has happened. Jalen Reagor stepped out of bounds on what would have been a 36-yard TD against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 2.
Patrick Mahomes threw five touchdown passes in the win, three to Tyreek Hill, who had 11 receptions for 186 yards. The KC quarterback also ran for 27 yards. The Chiefs ran for 201 yards with Clyde Edwards-Helaire gaining 102 yards on 14 runs.
Patrick Mahomes
USA Today
The first penalty that negated a TD for the Eagles came late in the second quarter when it appeared Dallas Goedert had scored his second touchdown of the game.
Andre Dillard, however, was ruled to be illegally downfield. It would have given the Eagles a 17-14 lead with a successful PAT.
The second came midway through the third quarter, with the Eagles down 21-13 and looking to take advantage of Eric Wilson’s interception of Mahomes. It was the Eagles' first pick of the season and just their second forced turnover.
J.J. Arcega-Whiteside was called for offensive pass interference on a fourth-and-goal TD throw to Zach Ertz. The Eagles’ sideline was livid at what looked to be a questionable call.
Dallas Goedert scores a 3-yard TD against the Chiefs
USA Today
Penalties have hurt the Eagles all season.
They committed nine for 49 yards and now have 44 this season.
Josh Sweat was offsides twice, including midway through the fourth quarter when KC was in third-and-6. The call made it third-and-one, and the Chiefs easily converted.
Rodney McCleod's illegal use of hands also negated a Josh Sweat that would have put the Chiefs into a third-and-long.
Kansas City was 9-for-10 on third-down conversions.
The Eagles had a chance to overcome the penalty on Dillard because Kansas City was called for a face mask violation that gave them a first-and-goal at the 3.
On the first play, QB Jalen Hurts rolled right. He had Greg Ward open, but Hurts didn’t appear to set his feet and threw a difficult catch for Ward to make. Still, Ward should have made it.
On second down, Miles Sanders lost four yards on a run.
On third down, Hurts appeared to throw the ball in the direction of Quez Watkins, but Watkins was already well over the backline.
So, the Eagles settled for a 25-yard Jake Elliott field goal to close to within 14-13 with 3:35.
That’s when the boos began and picked up in intensity when the team left the field at halftime trailing 21-13.
On the TD to Ertz that was overruled, the Eagles took three points off the board when the Chiefs were called for offsides on Elliott’s field goal make in an attempt to go for it on fourth-and-goal at the three.
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.
