We meet again — Eagles-Chiefs Week 2 Preview

For the fifth straight season, we’ve got Eagles-Chiefs.

For the first time since the Eagles’ blowout victory in Super Bowl 59, the Eagles and Chiefs are set to face off for some week 2 football.

Each of these teams saw some sizeable turnover in their rosters over the offseason, and each had an odd week 1. It’s only the 3rd time in the last 20 years the Eagles will play a game on the road against the Chiefs, with the last being a 21-17 victory on Monday Night Football in 2023.

Jalen Hurts vs. Patrick Mahomes Episode V

It’s the 5th time in Hurts’ career that he’ll be taking on the Chiefs. While quarterbacks play against teams and not other QBs, it is still worth noting the recent history between Hurts and Mahomes.

Hurts has an excellent history of performance against the Chiefs. His first-ever game against them in 2021 set the tone.

In what was ultimately a loss, Hurts threw for a career-best 387 yards and 2 touchdowns against KC’s defense. Unfortunately for the Eagles, Mahomes was also incredible that day. He totaled 278 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 1 interception en route to scoring 42 points.

The next edition came on the biggest stage there is. Super Bowl 57 was a battle for the ages. Hurts was incredible with 304 passing yards and a touchdown to give the Eagles 35 points, the most ever by a losing team in the Super Bowl. Mahomes, on the other hand, didn’t have to do as much. He still had a good game with 182 yards and 3 touchdowns, which was enough for the win.

They’d play each other again in 2023 in a Super Bowl rematch at Arrowhead Stadium. This game was an outlier where neither QB played particularly well. Hurts had only 150 yards and an interception, while Mahomes had 177 yards, 2 touchdowns, and a pick. The Eagles took the 21-17 win in a sloppy contest.

The last time these two faced, we all know what happened. The first and only time one QB significantly outplayed the other. Hurts was amazing with 221 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception, and brought home Super Bowl MVP. Mahomes, on the other hand, struggled. He had 257 yards, 3 garbage time touchdowns, and 2 interceptions, one of which was a pick six.

2 high-powered offenses

For all the moves that have been made by the Eagles since the Super Bowl, they benefited from an offense that, personnel-wise, remained almost the same. The biggest question mark was whether or not new offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo was fit to run the offense.

Through week 1, I think it’s fair to say Patullo is off to a very nice start. The Eagles scored a touchdown on their first 3 drives of the game and kicked a field goal on the 4th drive. However, after the weather delay, neither offense was able to do much of anything. Out of the 302 yards of total offense, the offense only had 59 in their 5 possessions after the delay had ended.

There were definitely a few oddities as to who was giving the Eagles production and who wasn’t. For example, the Eagles’ leading receiver isn’t A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, or Dallas Goedert; it’s Jahan Dotson. Dotson’s 3 catches for 59 yards led the team in the season opener.

Brown and Smith both had surpassingly quiet nights. Smith had only 3 catches on only 3 targets for 19 yards, while Brown had only 1 catch and 1 target for 8 yards. Their combined 4 targets are the lowest the two have combined for since Brown joined the Eagles.

It was Goedert who was Hurts’ favorite target, throwing the ball his way 7 times for 7 catches and 44 yards.

When asked about it, Brown said, “You know, that’s not something I can control. What I can control is my effort when the ball comes my way.”

#Eagles WR AJ Brown tells me he has seen all the crazy tweets and overreactions about his 1-catch game in Week 1:

“None of those things are true. I got zoned the entire game. … Just know I’m excited for Week 2.” pic.twitter.com/2kDvl11CRT

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) September 11, 2025

The Eagles also had uncharacteristic issues establishing the run. Saquon Barkley struggled with only 60 yards on 18 carries. While they did get some energetic playmaking from the backup Will Shipley, he’s now dealing with an olique injury. The Eagles haven’t shown any concern about Barkley, and a bounce-back week 2 is widely anticipated.

The Chiefs’ offense had a very concerning week 1 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, against the division rival Chargers. The Chiefs came out of the gates flat. They could only muster 6 first-half points in a game the Chargers were in control of. While the offense did wake up in the 2nd half, scoring on all 3 possessions, it turned out to be too late. As a result, it’s now only the 2nd time since 2015 the Chiefs are 0-1.

One positive that came out of that game for the Chiefs was the performance of Hollywood Brown. Brown was the team’s leading receiver with 99 yards on 10 catches. A negative is that they may be without Xavier Worthy, who suffered a dislocated right shoulder when he collided with Travis Kelce early on in the game. Despite their running game being incredibly effective when called upon, the Chiefs’ running backs Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt only had 10 carries the entire game.

All in all, for the Chiefs, it was a very sloppy game on offense, and they didn’t figure it out until it was too late.

2 questionable defenses

It is very difficult to fairly judge the Eagles’ defense after week 1. On one hand, they looked terrible before the rain delay, and Adoree’ Jackson especially struggled, which exemplified the hole at CB2. On the other hand, not having Jalen Carter definitely played a large part in the struggle. The team lost its best player on defense before a snap had even been played. The pass rush, as a result, struggled mightily. The Eagles didn’t record a sack and gave Dak Prescott way too much time to pick apart the secondary with his arm.

Should we be concerned about this? Yes and no. I think with Carter’s return this week, the pass rush will rebound to its usual form, which will be needed to beat the Chiefs. However, it is fair to be concerned about what the team would look like if they ever had to play a series of games with Carter out.

The Chiefs’ defense, in my opinion, had a much worse week 1. The same defense that has been one of the best in the NFL over the last 3 seasons and helped pick up an at times struggling offense, looked terrible.

Justin Herbert dissected the Chiefs’ defense in what was one of the best games of his career. He had 318 yards along with 3 touchdowns and a QBR of 88.9. And it isn’t like Herbert has the world’s best wide receivers either; Quentin Johnston led the team with 79 yards and 2 touchdowns. For all intents and purposes, Herbert was doing whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. Even a 33-year-old Keenan Allen still reeled in 7 catches in his return with the team.

All of this is to say, imagine what the Eagles can do with a group of skill position players that are significantly better than the Chargers’. If Johnston can have a great game against the Chiefs, imagine what Brown or Smith can do.

Not to mention that the Chiefs learned in the Super Bowl that you have to respect Hurts’ arm, which could lead to more room for Barkley to make an impact on the game.

You want to try not to overreact after just 1 season’s opening game, but on paper, the Chiefs’ defense is in for a long game against Kevin Patullo and the Eagles offense.

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