The Kansas City Chiefs hosted the Philadelphia Eagles in a Super Bowl 57 rematch on Monday Night Football in Week 11. The big game was won by the Chiefs 38-35, but the second meeting was won by the Eagles this time, 21-17.
It was a tale of two halves for Kansas City, who were excellent in the first two quarters of the game. They were dominant on both sides of the ball, taking a 17-7 lead into halftime as the offense was clicking and the defense was holding Jalen Hurts and company in check.
However, the script was flipped in the second half. It was the Eagles who started finding success in every facet of the game. Hurts scored two rushing touchdowns, creating an NFL first in the process of the come-from-behind victory.
Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce took some of the onus for the loss on his shoulders after the game. “I have to be better,” Kelce said in the locker room after the game. “I’m just not playing up to the level I have in the past. I have to be better.”
Kelce suffered a fumble deep in Philadelphia territory early in the fourth quarter that kept points off the board for the team. Some untimely drops occurred as well on his part, as he wasn’t as impactful as we have seen him be in the past.
Part of that is due to the scheme the Eagles were running defensively. Knowing Kelce is the only player capable of beating them consistently, Philadelphia bracketed him in coverage and routinely sent double teams in his direction.
But, it wasn’t anything they were doing that knocked the Chiefs out of rhythm, in Kelce’s opinion. They beat themselves with costly mistakes, such as turnovers and penalties.
“No. Turnovers,” Kelce said when asked if the Eagles did anything differently. “Turnovers and penalties on our half. It’s nothing that they [Eagles] did. It’s all us.”
For the third consecutive game, the Chiefs failed to score a point in the second half. It has cost them twice, as they lost to the Denver Broncos in the first instance before defeating the Miami Dolphins in the second. Despite being 7-3, there is a lot that Kansas City has to clean up going forward.
Self-inflicted wounds are a quick way to watch their lead in the AFC West disappear and tumble down the standings in the uber-competitive AFC, where five teams have at least seven victories and only three losses.
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