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Eagles can’t overcome Arrowhead crowd, fall to Chiefs 27-10

     On Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles flew into Arrowhead Stadium looking to knock off a Chiefs team that has gone from perennial playoff contender to Super Bowl favorite in a matter of days. Ultimately, the Eagles came up a little short, as Carson Wentz’s Hail Mary fell incomplete as time expired. This gave Kansas City a 27-20 win, advancing their record to 2-0 while the Eagles fell to 1-1.

     There was a lot of attention on the coaching match-up in Sunday’s game. Andy Reid (former Eagles head coach, 1999-2012) faced off against former assistant Doug Pederson. Pederson coached with Reid in Philly, and was Kansas City’s offensive coordinator from 2013-2015. Now, the Eagles run a system similar to what the Chiefs currently operate. This gave both teams an intimate knowledge of the others offensive scheme. The Eagles used this knowledge to keep the game close, even as Philadelphia lost two more pieces to injury in an already depleted secondary.

     At first, this game projected to be a shootout, as the Chiefs marched right down the field on their first possession, kicking a field goal to start off the scoring. Beyond that quick first drive, however, Kansas City only managed another three points in the first half. The Eagles were equally as bogged down, only managing a field goal themselves, making the halftime score 6-3 in favor of the Chiefs.

     The second half marked when the scoring started to pick up, as the Eagles took the lead on a pass to Alshon Jeffery. Jeffery looked much more in sync with Wentz in this game, as he posted seven receptions for 92 yards. Chiefs rookie running back Kareem Hunt immediately responded to Philadelphia’s touchdown, ripping a 53-yard run to make the score 13-10 in favor of the Chiefs with 1:20 remaining in the third quarter. Hunt has impressed in his short career, building off of a 256-yard performance in last week’s 42-27 win on the road over the New England Patriots, who are of course the defending Super Bowl champions.

    The Eagles kicked a field goal to even the score on the next possession, but after going back and forth with the Chiefs, Wentz threw an interception to Chris Jones that gave the Chiefs great field position deep inside Eagles territory. A few plays later, dynamic tight end Travis Kelce took a shovel pass 15 yards from Alex Smith, tumbling into the end zone to put the Chiefs up 20-13. The Chiefs added to their lead with another touchdown on their next possession, but the game was far from over.

    Wentz threw a touchdown to the much-improved Nelson Agholor with 14 seconds remaining in the game. The Eagles miraculously recovered the ensuing onside kick, giving them one last chance to tie the score up, or potentially go for the win with a two-point conversion. Wentz launched the ball into the end zone, where he had receivers waiting, but the pass fell incomplete and the Eagles trudged back to Philadelphia after suffering a hard-fought loss. Reid now owns a 2-0 record against the Eagles since becoming Kansas City’s head coach in 2013.

     The Eagles will take solace in the fact that they went toe-to-toe with a surefire playoff team on the road in the hostile environment known as Arrowhead Stadium. Coming up, the Eagles roll to a division showdown with the New York Giants in Philly next Sunday at 1:00 pm. The Chiefs have a rivalry game of their own to look forward to next week, as they take on the Los Angeles Chargers in LA at 4:25 pm.

 

While quarterback Carson Wentz led the Eagles in rushing on Sunday, running back Darren Sproles ran for 48 yards on 10 carries.
 

 

 

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