Philadelphia Eagles @ Kansas City Chiefs
Final Score: Eagles 20, Chiefs 17
Writer: Chris Helle (@ChrisHelleQBL on Twitter/X, Reddit)
A Super Bowl rematch in Arrowhead slated for the afternoon window set the stage for a grudge match between two of the NFL’s best. After a couple of short-drive punts, Harrison Butker missed a 58-yard field goal. The Eagles took advantage of the field position to march down and cap the drive off with a 13-yard touchdown from Saquon Barkley. Kansas City responded with a field goal, forcing a 3-and-out, and then a 13-yard touchdown of their own by the scampering Patrick Mahomes to take what would be their only lead of the game. Jake Elliott was able to knock in a 58-yarder to tie the game going into the half. The Chiefs started the second half off with an aggressive decision to go for it on a 4th-and-1 on their own 36, to no avail. Another short field for the Eagles handed them a free 3 points to retake the lead. Mahomes used his legs often in this one, especially on a 14-play, 74-yard drive to march down to the 6-yard line. A would-be TD pass to Travis Kelce was bobbled off his hands into the arms of the Eagles’ rookie safety, Andrew Makuba, who returned the interception to nearly midfield. Under pressure, Jalen Hurts lollipopped a throw to DeVonta Smith to get the Eagles down inside the 5. You probably know how this story ended – a brotherly shove TD for Hurts. Back-to-back punts left the Chiefs down 10-20 with 4:24 on the clock. Just when their drive seemed to be stalling, Mahomes launched it from midfield into the breadbasket of Tyquan Thornton. The ensuing onside kick was recovered by A.J. Brown, and Philly was able to ice the game from there.
Two Up
- A.J. Brown – It wasn’t a full-on breakout from AJB, but it’s good to see his target share take a meaningful uptick after Week 1’s stinker.
- Tyquan Thornton – An insane contested catch on a 49-yard bomb cut Philly’s lead to only a field goal with 3 minutes left on the clock.
Two Down
- Hollywood Brown – The volume from last week did not continue, and it was made clear that he’s not a guy this team wants to game plan around despite a respectable 5 receptions.
- Travis Kelce – It was a chance to tie the game and the pass was right at his face with him crossing the goal line, but the vet bobbled it away straight into the hands of the Eagles’ safety. This led to a two-score lead for Philly that the Chiefs could not overcome, so this play alone could take the blame for costing KC the game.
Philadelphia Eagles
Quarterback
Jalen Hurts: 15/22, 101 Yards | 9 Carries, 15 Yards, 1 TD, 1 Fumble (Recovered)
It was a fairly low-volume day for Philly’s passing game, but that should be no surprise. Hurts keeps his streak of no-turnover games alive by playing steady, conservative football. His incompletions came on a drop, two potential defensive pass interferences, and throwaways. The only criticism to give him is that his deep balls lacked juice – he lobbed the ball just as high in the air as it went downfield multiple times. One of those deep balls was caught by DeVonta Smith, who was taken down at the 3-yard line, but it set up his rushing TD via the patented tush push. The pass protection provided to him was much improved from Week 1, but Kansas City’s defense was all over his receivers for the most part.
Running Back
Saquon Barkley: 22 Carries, 88 Yards, 1 TD | 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 6 Yards
Another respectable but not jaw-dropping game from Saquon was all we could ask for from him. The Chiefs’ defense stuffed him at the line of scrimmage on most of his carries. But, being Saquon, all he needs is a small gap to accelerate into a nice chunk gain. Their bread and butter is running wide zone to allow Saquon to use his vision and be patient, often times cutting it upfield to the backside. This offense will continue to lean on him until it’s proven that he can be stopped, which may never come.
A.J. Dillon: 3 Carries, 19 Yards
With Will Shipley out with a broken rib, A.J. Dillon was this team’s number 2 in the backfield. Dillon is what he is – a strong runner who’s reliable to earn a few hard-earned yards or pick up a block in pass protection. He wasn’t on the field enough to be fantasy relevant, but Philly refrained from employing newly acquired Tank Bigsby.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
A.J. Brown: 8 Targets, 5 Receptions, 27 Yards
This wasn’t quite the bounce-back game Brown owners would have hoped for, but 8 targets is nothing to complain about. He made an incredible one-handed grab as he was falling to the ground, reminding us just how strong his hands are. The three missed targets were a pass breakup by the DB, a potential DPI that somehow wasn’t called on a 20+ yard target, and a throwaway that was in his vicinity. His reliable slant routes were the source of almost all of his catches, and we should be happy to see more volume going his way.
DeVonta Smith: 6 Targets, 4 Receptions, 53 Yards
Smith also had a deep ball thrown his way where the defender crashed into him, but the refs picked up the penalty flag they threw. He was shaken up on the play after a hard landing on his tailbone, but it didn’t stop him from returning to the game. Smith reeled in a 28-yarder later to salvage his stat line. Typically, when this offense is without Dallas Goedert, Smith sees an uptick in usage; unfortunately, this matchup didn’t lead to quite as many of those opportunities.
Jahan Dotson: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 4 Yards
Dotson returned punts as well as being in the receiver rotation. His lone catch of the day was a designed swing screen to him. Even without Goedert, there are too many mouths to feed, and this is still a run-first offense.
Grant Calcaterra: 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 6 Yards | 1 Fumble Recovery
Kylen Granson: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 5 Yards
John Metchie III: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 0 Yards
Kansas City Chiefs
Quarterback
Patrick Mahomes: 16/29, 187 Yards, 1 TD, 1 INT | 7 Carries, 66 Yards, 1 TD
The stage was set for Mahomes to get redemption from the Super Bowl loss back in February, and it was clear just how much he wanted it. Philly’s pass rush failed to contain him in the pocket, and Pat took advantage of that by using his legs often in the first half. 60 of his rushing yards and his rushing TD came from scrambles in the first half. The second half was rougher tides, though. There were several throws he was simply off the mark – throws at the feet of Isiah Pacheco and Noah Gray, and overthrowing two 20+ yard, one of which was a busted coverage that Tyquan Thornton could have taken to the house. Mahomes is not to blame for the interception, as the pass would have been a 13-yard TD to Travis Kelce, but was bobbled straight off his hands. This is the first time in his career that he has lost 3 consecutive games, so we can expect that fire in him to continue into next week.
Running Back
Isiah Pacheco: 10 Carries, 22 Yards | 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 7 Yards
While Pacheco is the “lead back” for this team, it is definitely a committee backfield on an offense that doesn’t shy away from passing the ball. This was also a tough matchup, with many of Pacheco’s carries being stuffed for little or no gain. Both of his targets came on checkdowns, and the incompletion was at his feet while Mahomes was under pressure. He also doesn’t have the short-yardage situations to earn himself some valuable touches if they’re near the goal line, so he’s likely a matchup-dependent option as far as fantasy is considered.
Kareem Hunt: 8 Carries, 31 Yards, 1 Fumble (Recovered) | 1 Target, 1 Reception, 3 Yards
Hunt is the 1B to this backfield and is given most of those aforementioned short-yardage opportunities. He did break off a strong 11-yard run up the gut of Philly’s defense, but he’s shown not to have many explosive plays in the tank at this stage of his career. His reception was also a checkdown for a short gain, but we know he’s hardly used as a primary option in their passing game.
Brashard Smith: 1 Carry, 2 Yards | 1 Target, 0 Receptions
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Travis Kelce: 6 Targets, 4 Receptions, 61 Yards
Sure, Kelce is in the later stages of his career and isn’t putting up the crazy numbers that he has in years past, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say he’s “washed”. His second catch was on a shallow crosser that he outran Cooper DeJean, and stiff-armed him for 10 yards as he rumbled for a strong 23-yard gain. One of his incompletions was a throw off the mark from Mahomes, but he should have had a game-tying TD on a simple angle route that was right at his hands, and he simply muffed it away into an interception. That one is going to haunt him, but as far as the eye-test goes, Kelce is still a savvy and strong TE who is one of the top QB’s number one option.
Hollywood Brown: 5 Targets, 5 Receptions, 30 Yards
The hottest waiver pickup going into Week 2 didn’t see anywhere close to the same workload he got in Week 1, but Hollywood caught every pass that came his way. His first catch of the day was a simple hitch, but he made the DB miss the tackle to gain 11 yards and repeated the same play later in the game. Brown also hauled in a tight-window contested slant that Mahomes somehow fed past tight coverage. It’s clear that Brown isn’t the de facto number one option for Mahomes to feed, but he’ll likely be a consistent role player even after the WR room gets Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice back.
Tyquan Thornton: 5 Targets, 2 Receptions, 59 Yards, 1 TD
If we were hoping for this offense to have a deep-threat WR, Thornton emerged as the one to fill that role. One of his targets was broken up from a good play by the DB, but two other targets were overthrown by Mahomes. One of those two could have been an easy 50-yard TD due to broken coverage, but the ball was a good 5 yards over his head. Mahomes redeemed himself a few plays later with a dime into the breadbasket that Thornton impressively held onto despite Quinyon Mitchell getting an arm in between his body and his ball-grasping hands. He likely won’t see enough volume to trust in fantasy, but the speedster provides big-play potential.
JuJu Smith-Schuster: 3 Targets, 1 Reception, 5 Yards
Noah Gray: 5 Targets, 1 Reception, 1 Yard
Nikko Remigio: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 21 Yards, 0 TDs