Game Preview – PHI at KC

Posted: November 19th, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 2 Comments »

There are a ton of storylines to Monday night’s matchup between the Eagles and the Chiefs. There’s the Andy Reid angle. There’s the Kelce brothers angle. There’s the Taylor Swift angle. There’s the Hurts-Mahomes angle. This is  also a Super Bowl rematch.

For Nick Sirianni, this is just the Eagles vs the Chiefs. That’s the mentality he wants his team to have. Some have asked if this is revenge for the Eagles. As Sirianni pointed out, an Eagles win wouldn’t mean the Chiefs turn over their Super Bowl rings. The goal here has nothing to do with the past. It is all about getting to 9-1.

Win the day.

I am conflicted about what’s going to happen. You can make a compelling argument for both teams to win. We’ll start with the Eagles. The pass rush, which wasn’t much of a factor in the SB, should have an impact on Monday night. KC has an outstanding trio of interior blockers, but their OTs are vulnerable. I would expect Haason Reddick and Josh Sweat will get pressure. Getting Patrick Mahomes on the ground is not easy. Getting into the backfield is the start of the challenge. The really hard part is finishing the play. Mahomes has great escapability.

KC didn’t have great passing success in the SB. They ran for 158 yards and that was a key part of their offense. The Eagles have the best run defense in football this season. They aren’t vulnerable the way they were last year. Limit the run game and make KC throw from known passing situations.

Mahomes is still an elite QB, but the Chiefs offense has taken a step back this year. They are 13th in points scored. KC just doesn’t have the weapons they’ve had in the past. Rashee Rice is their leading WR at 32-378-4. Those numbers don’t jump out at you. Rice has played better recently so maybe the light is going on for him.

Turnovers have been an issue for KC. They have at least one turnover in 8 of 9 games this year. They have multiple turnovers in five of those games.

The Chiefs have an outstanding defense, but you can run on them. They have given up 108 or more rushing yards in 7 of 9 games.

The Eagles OL will get a boost from the return of Jurgens. The replacement guards struggled in the run game so getting Jurgens back is important. Jalen Hurts and the passing game have been performing at a high level in recent weeks. If the run game can pick things up, that would be huge. D’Andre Swift has run for 180 yards over the past four games. You might remember he went for 175 yards in Week 2 against the Vikings. Jurgens won’t magically turn Swift into Barry Sanders, but he will make a difference.

Hurts and the offense are hot. The Eagles are third in the league in scoring. They average 32 points a game for the past three weeks. The Eagles put 28 points up on Dallas and their Top 4 defense so it isn’t like the team is just beating up on weak defenses.

There is a lot of reason to believe the Eagles are going to win this game.

Now let’s talk about what favors the Chiefs. Mahomes is still Mahomes. His numbers are down, but he remains the best QB in the league. And he’ll be facing a porous pass defense. The Eagles are 28th in the league in opposing passer rating (99.4). That’s not good. The Eagles are 28th in passing yards allowed and they are dead last in passing TDs allowed. Mahomes is going to make plays.

While KC doesn’t have great weapons, they still have Travis Kelce, the best TE in football. He is Mahomes favorite target and their best playmaker. The Eagles do have Kevin Byard, who has had some success in covering Kelce. It will be interesting to see what Sean Desai does. The Eagles will also have Bradley Roby back on the field. That gives Desai a solid group of veteran DBs to work with. They should at least be able to slow down the Chiefs.

Both teams are coming off a bye. Nick Sirianni is 3-0 in games after the bye in the regular season, 4-0 if you include the playoffs. That’s nice.

Yikes.

Big Red has always been masterful at fixing issues with his extra time. Desai will study the Chiefs offense and have an idea of how to attack them. But we don’t know what he’ll see on Monday night. Reid will have some new wrinkles. He’ll break tendencies. The Chiefs are never easy, but coming off a bye makes them even tougher.

Hurts and the Eagles offense will have their hands full with the KC defense. Steve Spagnuolo’s defense has allowed the fewest points in the league. No one has scored more than 24 points against them. They are also 4th in yards allowed. Nothing comes easy against the Chiefs.

Chris Jones is still their best player. Jurgens returns just in time to face arguably the best DT in the league. Welcome back, right? George Karlaftis and Mike Danna are the disruptive edge rushers. That trio has combined for 17 sacks.

The secondary has been terrific this year. KC played young DBs a lot last year and that experience has paid off this season. CB Trent McDuffie seems to make a play in every game I watch.

LB Nick Bolton came up huge in the Super Bowl, but he’s on IR. The Chiefs still have a trio of LBs who can make plays so don’t feel too sorry for them.

The Eagles feel like the better team, but playing Mahomes in KC when the Chiefs are coming off a bye is one heckuva tough task. Be careful about betting your lunch money on the Eagles in this one.

*****

The first miracle.

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Winning Ain’t Easy

Posted: November 18th, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 3 Comments »

The Eagles have the best record in the league at 8-1. Last year the Eagles went 14-3 in the regular season and made it all the way to the Super Bowl. That’s an impressive two-year stretch for Nick Sirianni and his Eagles.

You can really go back to the 2021 season. The team started 2-5. There were a lot of questions and doubts. Why did the Eagles pass on Josh McDaniels for Sirianni? Could Jalen Hurts do more than run?

Since that point, the Eagles are 29-7. That is a lot of winning and I don’t think that is an accident. Here is Sirianni talking to the media just days before the hot streak began.

That’s a coach who builds, who plans. He focuses on the day at hand, but also has an eye on the big picture. The last time the Eagles had a coach who was really like that was Andy Reid. I remember Reid talking about wanting to build a football program. That was the first time I heard a pro coach use that phrase. Reid wanted something that was sustainable. He didn’t want to get one group of players and ride with them. He wanted the ability to have players come and go and still be able to keep winning.

Sirianni and his staff put a big emphasis on culture. That’s something that isn’t based on having star players. Good culture helps all players to succeed. The coaching staff focuses more on teaching than emotions. Sirianni believes the difference in most games is a handful of plays and the difference on them can be execution. Teach players the details of how to succeed on those plays and you’ve got a better chance to win.

The Eagles have had a lot of good teams over the years. Four different coaches have gotten the team to the Super Bowl. Coaches like Buddy Ryan, Ray Rhodes and Chip Kelly all made multiple trips to the postseason even though they didn’t have much success in January. Even Rich Kotite won a playoff game. The winning Sirianni is doing is on a different level.

If the Eagles are able to win 12 games this year (which seems likely), it would be the first time for that since 2003-2004. Since then the Eagles have had good years and good stretches, but piecing together outstanding seasons just hasn’t happend in the last 20 years. And think how quickly this came together. Reid didn’t have an elite team until 2002 (his fourth season). He didn’t reach the Super Bowl until 2004 (his sixth season). Sirianni did both of those things in Year 2.

Sirianni did inherit some key talent, but he also took over a dysfunctional team coming off an awful season. He fixed a lot of problems in a hurry.

Do not take for granted the success the Eagles are having right now. This is a special time. We don’t know if there will be another trip to the Super Bowl this year, but winning like this is something to be celebrated.

I was one of the Eagles fans who went through the Andy Reid era. It was frustrating to never win it all, but it was fun to have a team that won a lot of games and had success in the postseason. Make sure you enjoy the wins. It can be easy to expect them and then to just be angry when the Eagles lose. That’s the worst way to follow sports.

There will be ups and downs, this season and into the future, but this is a great time to be an Eagles fan. The team is winning big and it looks like that should continue for the next several years.

Enjoy the ride.

*****

One of the keys to the recent winning is the development of Jalen Hurts. He got benched at Alabama because he wasn’t a good enough passer. Now watch him in action.

https://twitter.com/EaglesXOs/status/1721896050397765666

That is a QB who is smart, accurate and physically gifted. He adjusted post-snap, was patient and then made a terrific throw. It had good touch, which makes it easier for the WRs to catch.

Hurts is playing the best football of his career. And he’s gotten better as this season has gone along. You feel like anytime he takes the field, the Eagles have a good chance to win.

*****

The Eagles will be playing their second Monday night game of the year. The first one came on a mini-bye (off a TNF game). This one comes off a full bye. I appreciate a chance for the team to rest and get healthy, but waiting and waiting and waiting for the games is a bit torturous. As I’m writing this we have another 48 hours to kickoff. That feels crazy.

****

Dallas Goedert won’t play in KC. He’s going to be out against Buffalo. After that? We’ll see.

The Eagles know he’s a key player and want him back ASAP. They also know he plays a tough, physical position. You have to give that arm time to heal. DG is a good blocker. He likes to mix it up in the run game. You need him healthy before he is fully effective.

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