Week 2 Blueprint: Eagles Make it Vertical, Chiefs Stretch Thin, and Barkley Breaks Loose

Week one was a win. Nobody’s mad about 1-0.

But one target for A.J. Brown and three for DeVonta Smith is asking for trouble against better teams. That cannot be the Eagles’ offensive identity. It cannot be the game plan moving forward.

Brown’s first look didn’t show up until the final two minutes, and Smith finished with three catches for 16 yards. The Eagles survived Dallas, but they will not survive with that approach at Arrowhead.

Kansas City is fresh off a 27-21 loss in Brazil against the Chargers. They flew home cranky, short a receiver after the early collision between Xavier Worthy and Travis Kelce, and they’re very aware that Justin Herbert threw for 318 yards and had 8.2 yards per attempt. They’ll be hungry, and you can be certain that they circled this game in their calendar as soon as they saw it after the Super Bowl last February. 

One thing that Los Angeles proved about the Chiefs is that they are vulnerable to the run, but only once they fear the deep pass.

They will come in angry and flying all over the place. Match that energy with explosive over-the-top passes, not checkdowns.

Dallas didn’t solve the Eagles; the Eagles shrank their own offense. The play calling became one-dimensional, and there’s no reason to be that predictable. The ceiling was a self-inflicted problem, which is a big issue with two wide receivers that are taking up nearly 1/10 of your cap space. Neither Brown nor Smith is a decoy; they are features, so it is time for the coaches to treat them like it.

Kevin Patullo and the staff basically admitted that the game is supposed to flow through A.J., DeVonta, and Dallas Goedert. That didn’t happen last week, and needs to change before kickoff on Sunday, or this will be a very long game for the Eagles.

Adding to this is that Godeert missed practice on Wednesday with a knee sprain and is questionable for Sunday’s game.

Waiting until the 59th minute of the game to get Brown his first target is unacceptable. Smith only having three catches is unacceptable. The play-calling script must have at least one shot play in the first 10 plays on offense. This will give Saquon Barkley bigger holes and better cutback lanes, along with shorter pass chances.

We have to acknowledge where the Chiefs are strong, their interior. Chris Jones remains the bully in this defense. The Chargers ran 25 times for 90 yards, that’s 3.6 yards per carry. Granted, the Eagles’ offensive line is incredibly talented and much better than the Chargers’ line; however, if the Eagles try to establish the run up the middle right at Jones from the beginning, you’re playing right into their strength. Make them defend in space first and then hand it to Saquon once the safeties are cheating up.

This is where the Eagles can shine on Sunday. The intermediate and deep windows will be open because of the lack of deep cover safeties on the Chiefs. Herbert torched them for 318 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to Quentin Johnson. Not to disparage Quentin Johnson, but he is no A.J. Brown, and he is no DeVonta Smith. The Chargers closed out the game by passing, which opened up running lanes for Herbert. If he was able to do this, Jalen Hurts should be able to break off chunk plays at will.

Stress out the beleaguered Chiefs secondary, and give Steve Spagnuolo something to think about. You better believe they want revenge, and they come in with the chip on their shoulders bigger than the Eagles’ championship rings. All the more reason to land haymakers early, take the crowd out of it, and keep Spags away from his favorite place to be, which is third and medium. 

Putting their corners into retreat mode is paramount to getting the linebackers off the line and cheating back. This is how you turn Jones from a game wrecker into somebody who’s chasing Saquon. Hurts has proven throughout his career with the Eagles that he can throw the deep ball, and you have two wide receivers on the outside who can stretch out the defense and keep them backpedaling all game. Using them like they are intended will help the Eagles overcome not just their Week 1 performance through the air, but also overcome the Chiefs’ defense. For the Eagles to leave Kansas City with a victory, they will have to make the Chiefs defend every inch of that field when the Eagles are on offense.

I think it’s important early in the game to get a deep ball to each wideout just so Kansas City knows it will come. Get them over the top, even if it’s a DPI or a near-miss, keep going deep, and it will open up the inside. A lot of noise has been made this week about the lack of targets for the wideouts, but it’s far too early to panic. A solid performance with the deep passing game will quiet the naysayers and give all other defensive coordinators indigestion when it comes to game planning for the Eagles in future games this season.

The Chiefs’ defense looks like they have lost a step based on their week one performance, so it’s time for the Eagles to go in there and once again show the AFC champions why they have the big rings from last year.

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