The Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs were the two best teams in the league last season. You wouldn't know it from their Week 2 matchup on Sunday. In the end, the Eagles outlasted the Chiefs in a messy slugfest.Β
As always, win, lose, or tie, we hand out 10 awards.
### **1) The 'Make Him Beat You With His Arm' Award πββοΈ: Patrick Mahomes**
In the first half, Mahomes had 6 rushes for 60 yards and a TD. He was almost looking to run instead of going through his progressions. That made sense, given that Mahomes was missing his top two wide receivers in Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy.Β
In the second half, the Eagles seemed to make a concerted effort to maintain rush lane integrity, trying to keep Mahomes from escaping the pocket and making him beat them with his arm instead of with his legs.
It worked, as Mahomes only had 6 rushing yards in the second half, and he was forced to beat the Eagles D with Travis Kelce and an assortment of backups.
### **2) The 'Mmmmmm Drrrrrrop' Award π§ποΈ: Travis Kelce**
The biggest play of the game was a mistake by the Chiefs in the Eagles' red zone. Mahomes fired a pass to Kelce that got to Kelce perhaps a little more quickly than he was anticipating. It bounced off of Kelce's hands and into the waiting arms of Andrew Mukuba, who returned it 41 yards.
The biggest play of the Eagles' win Week 1 was a Cowboys mistake, also in the Eagles' red zone, when Jihaad Campbell forced a Miles Sanders fumble that was recovered by Quinyon Mitchell.
It's not pretty, but simply not making mistakes and capitalizing when your opponents do is a tried and true way to win games.
### **3) The 'Resiliency' Award π : Andrew Mukuba**
Mukuba had a rough play in the first half when he got run over by Mahomes, who was able to get a first down on 3rd and long.
But, he regrouped, and made several nice plays. His INT aside, Mukuba also timed up a blitz well and shared a sack with Za'Darius Smith. He also made a really nice tackle on Hollywood Brown to stop him short of a first down.
### **5) The 'Non-Threatening' Award π₯Ί: The Eagles' passing attack**
Opposing defenses are predictably seeking to take away Saquon Barkley first and foremost, and so far, both Eagles opponents have held him under 100 yards.
The passing game should be capitalizing on that, but so far, they haven't.
Jalen Hurts had just 101 passing yards on the day. If you include sacks, the Eagles as an offense had just 94 net passing yards. It's not like they're the Chiefs, missing their top two wide receivers. They have one of the best wide receiver duos in the NFL in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. How can they not be making plays in the passing game?
In Week 1 against Dallas, there just wasn't much down the field that was open for Hurts, so he was forced to make plays with his legs. The tape will tell soon enough if Hurts was missing open receivers against the Chiefs. But what does feel evident is that the Eagles' staff is not consistently scheming receivers open. That must improve, and fast.
### **6) The 'OK, Well, There Was One Explosive Play' Award π§¨: DeVonta Smith**
Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo effectively dialed up blitzes all evening, but the Eagles finally burned him on one:
Credit Smith for making a play on the ball, and although it wasn't the prettiest throw you'll see this weekend, credit Hurts for recognizing that he had a one-on-one down the sideline, and giving his good receiver a chance to make a play on the ball.
### **7) The Unstoppable' Award π«Έπ: The Tush Push**
How many Tush Pushes did the Eagles run? Like, six? That play must be absolutely brutal to watch if you're a fan of the other team.
While FOX was in commercial break before the Eagles' Tush Push touchdown, the Chiefs' defensive linemen were digging their heels in, getting ready to stop the play that they knew was coming. The Eagles' players were in the huddle, except for A.J. Brown, who was pretty clearly talking smack to the Chiefs' linemen. I hope he was mic'd up for that.
### **8) The 'He's Back! Award π₯Ύπ: Jake Elliott**
Elliott connected on field goal attempts of 58 and 51 yards. Those points mattered, obviously. He is now 3/3 on 50+ yard field goal attempts after going 1/7 on 50+ yard attempts a season ago.Β
Elliott also cleared both kicks with plenty of room to spare. He looks like his old elite self again, and dare I suggest, maybe even a little stronger?
### **9) The 'Shut Your Ass Up' Award π€«: Chris Jones**
After the Eagles converted one last Tush Push, they were able to kneel out the final seconds of the game. Chiefs DT Chris Jones continued talking through until the final whistle, but Jalen Hurts had a pretty simple and effective comeback, [via FOX Sports](https://x.com/NFLonFOX/status/1967379995229081600):
The Eagles did indeed win the game, and any win in Arrowhead is a big deal. Hurts is now 39-10 in the regular season since 2022, 6-2 in the playoffs.
### **10) The 'Anti-Revenge Tour, Part III' Award: The Rams**
In Week 1, the Eagles played the Cowboys, a team they swept by a combined score of 75-13 last season.
In Week 2, they played the Chiefs, who, you know, they absolutely wrecked in the Super Bowl.
Both of those teams were no doubt hoping to get some revenge on the Eagles, but it wasn't to be.
In Week 3, the Eagles will play the Los Angeles Rams, yet another team whose season was ended by the Eagles in 2024. They'll have revenge on their minds as well.