The Philadelphia Eagles secured a 20-17 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, improving their record to 2-0. The Eagles’ defense limited the Chiefs’ offense, led by Patrick Mahomes, for most of the game. On offense, Philadelphia managed key plays at important moments.
A significant moment occurred in the fourth quarter when Jalen Hurts completed a 28-yard pass to DeVonta Smith on a third-and-10 situation, leading to an Eagles touchdown. Offensive Coordinator Kevin Patullo addressed questions about the team’s approach to big plays after only producing two explosive plays in their first two games.
“I think there’s a fine line,” Patullo said. “Because you don’t ever want to put the quarterback in harm’s way. If you do that and the protection doesn’t hold up or it doesn’t add up to what they’re doing, you could have a catastrophic problem. Both offenses — it was a tough game for both of us. So if you put somebody in harm’s way and kind of say, ‘I’m taking a huge chance right here,’ that negative play could be a major issue and really could be the deciding factor in the game.”
The Eagles avoided turnovers during the game, while rookie Andrew Mukuba intercepted Mahomes in the end zone for the game’s only turnover. Patullo emphasized how critical it was for his team not to make costly mistakes.
“Ultimately, one turnover in that game was the deciding factor,” Patullo said. “And when you look at the times we’ve played them, even back to ’23 and whatever, it’s been like one turnover, it’s been an issue. Obviously in the Super Bowl, that was kind of what blew it open were the turnovers, so you could sense that in the game, even from them on their offense. The way the game was flowing, any mistake was going to be kind of one of those things that got you the win.” — Matt Ryan
