Tim McManus and Adam TeicherNov 21, 2023, 00:20 ETReading: 4 min.
While Philly reaffirmed its lead in the NFC, Kansas City lost the first place in the AFC seeding with the result
KANSAS CITY — Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles got their Super Bowl LVII revenge on “Monday Night Football” with a 21-17 victory over Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
It marked head coach Andy Reid’s first loss to his former team, and center Jason Kelce’s first win over his brother, Travis Kelce.
Philadelphia Eagles
A point of emphasis for the Eagles heading into their Super Bowl rematch against the Chiefs, according to head coach Nick Sirianni, was that the Chiefs “were not going to give us our rings back if we beat them this week.” It was a way to put an asterisk on all the hype surrounding the game, and force the Eagles to look at it as just another building block on which to build the current season.
Anyway, this one was pretty nice.
The Eagles escaped Arrowhead with a hard-fought 21-17 victory. And, while it doesn’t alter what happened in Super Bowl LVII, it does leave Philadelphia in a great position as it pushes to get back to the title game. The Eagles maintain the best record in the sport (9-1) despite tests against playoff-caliber teams like the Miami Dolphins, Dallas Cowboys and Chiefs in recent weeks. The noise surrounding the Super Bowl rematch is behind us, and the race for the top seed in the NFC continues.
Surprising NextGen Statistic: Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones faced double-blocking on 70 percent of his pass snaps, and still managed to generate four hurries and two sacks. Hurts was sacked five times by the Chiefs in the first half.
Worrying trend: Philadelphia came in as the NFL’s best run defense (giving up 66.3 yards per game) but was overwhelmed for 121 yards in the first half alone. The Eagles suffered similar problems against the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII when Kansas City rushed for 158 yards.
Quarterback analysis: Hurts was under pressure for most of the first half, managing just 46 yards passing and suffering an interception. He made some key plays in the second half, however, most notably a pinpoint 41-yard pass down the line. right back for DeVonta Smith midway through the fourth quarter, setting up the go-ahead touchdown courtesy of Hurts himself. The quarterback finished 14 of 22 through the air with 150 passing yards and ran for two of the Eagles’ scores. –Tim McManus
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs’ lack of offensive production, a detail at the beginning of the season when they went on a six-game winning streak, is now a problem. A big problem.
The Chiefs were shut out in the second half for the third straight game Monday night and fell out of the AFC lead in the race for the top playoff seed with a 21-17 loss to the Eagles. The Chiefs at 7-3 are now a half-game behind the Baltimore Ravens in the race for the only bye in the AFC.
The Chiefs were ahead 17-7 at halftime, but like in the Week 8 game against the Denver Broncos and Week 9 against the Dolphins, they failed to score in the final two quarters.
Quarterback analysis: Mahomes threw two touchdown passes but, beyond that, it was a lackluster night for him and the passing game. Mahomes threw his only interception in the end zone when the Chiefs were in field goal range. He finished 24 of 43 for 177 yards with a passer rating of 71.6.
Surprising Next Gen Stat: The Chiefs sent a defensive back charging six times in the first half. Hurts went 1-for-3 on those plays, with one interception and three sacks.
Critical move: On second and 10 with less than two minutes left, Mahomes threw a pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling that would have been the lead, but the ball slipped through the receiver’s hands. The Chiefs have dropped 26 passes so far this season, the most in the entire NFL. –Adam Teicher
