Eagles come from behind and capitalize on Chiefs turnovers, winning 21-17 in a Super Bowl rematch

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sometimes the sequel is even better than the original.

In a Super Bowl rematch Monday night at Arrowhead Stadium, the Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 21-17, spurred by a second-half comeback that served as the inverse of the game these two teams played nine months ago.

The win moves the Eagles to 9-1 — squarely atop the conference — and marks the first time they’ve notched a win against their former coach, Andy Reid.

Here’s our instant analysis:

In the biggest game of the season so far, the Eagles’ new-look secondary may have found its footing.

Kevin Byard and Bradley Roby, both midseason additions to shore up a shaky back end, came up with timely turnovers to keep the Eagles in the game. Byard’s came in the second quarter, when he snagged an underthrown pass from Patrick Mahomes intended for wide receiver Justin Watson in the end zone, saving at least three points for the defense. Byard came into the game with no pass breakups or interceptions all season, but finished with two pass breakups and the pick while also leading the team with eight tackles.

Roby was in his first game back since suffering a shoulder injury last month, and his big play came in an even more pivotal part of the game. The slot cornerback executed a perfect punch-out on Travis Kelce after the tight end caught a 5-yard pass in the fourth quarter at the Eagles’ 14-yard line.

The Eagles weren’t able to capitalize on either turnover with points of their own, but the lack of Chiefs points helped stem the tide as the offense struggled to find its footing.

“It was a good team win where everyone just stayed together,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “The defense just kept making plays waiting for the offense to make a play, and we did in some critical times.”

Explosive plays aside, a secondary coming off several suspect outings successfully rebounded against a talented Chiefs offense. Kelce finished with just seven catches for 44 yards and a score, with Roby and Byard each spending meaningful time lined up across from him.

“[Byard] did a great job on Kelce today,” Eagles cornerback Darius Slay said. “He was making a lot of plays on him today. So, man, we appreciate them, Roby brings his veteran presence on the inside, he did an amazing job as well.”

The Eagles held the Chiefs scoreless for the duration of the second half, which was quite a departure from the team’s meeting in February when Kansas City managed 24 second-half points in a comeback effort.

“It was a great message to send to the league,” Slay said. “That’s a great team over there. Guys have been rolling, playing well, Patrick Mahomes — two future Hall of Famers over there. That’s a tough team. We had to tip our hat off to them, it was a tough game, but we had the fight a little longer.”

With the game hanging in the balance, DeVonta Smith seized the opportunity.

The Eagles wide receiver, going through a quiet stretch of games as A.J. Brown took the lion’s share of targets, came up huge for the Eagles midway through the fourth quarter. Smith had catches on consecutive plays to net the Eagles 54 yards and set up a Brotherly Shove touchdown for Jalen Hurts.

Smith had a pivotal 13-yard catch on third-and-5 to keep the drive alive and then followed it up with a 41-yard reception on a go route with Chiefs safety Mike Edwards in coverage. It set up a Hurts touchdown that gave the Eagles the decisive 21-17 lead with six minutes left in the fourth quarter.

After the game, Sirianni said Hurts changed the play at the line on Smith’s 41-yard completion.

“That’s what good quarterbacks do,” Sirianni said. “They make three or four plays that change a game with their mind. They got to do a great job throwing the ball, running the show, but they make three or four checks a game with their mind that can make big differences and Jalen did that tonight.”

Smith also had a 20-yard catch in the first quarter on the Eagles’ first scoring drive of the evening. He finished with six catches for 99 yards.

Despite a notable absence at Arrowhead Stadium, there was an effective collaboration between a Swift and a Kelce on Monday night.

After a multiweek stretch in which the Eagles struggled to run the ball, D’Andre Swift and the Eagles offensive line found daylight.

» READ MORE: Taylor Swift got lucky when she missed her Eagles and her Travis Kelce in an ugly Super Bowl rematch

One of Swift’s best runs, a 17-yard scamper to get into the red zone, was sprung by Jason Kelce as a lead-blocker, throwing Chiefs safety Justin Reid to the ground as Swift skated by. The former St. Joseph’s Prep standout scored on the following play from 4 yards out to give the Eagles their first touchdown.

Swift had a handful of runs go for over 10 yards, including a 35-yarder off a jet sweep in the third quarter that proved to be the catalyst for another scoring drive. He finished with 76 yards and a touchdown while also logging 31 receiving yards on three catches.

As well as the Eagles secondary played, there were a few lucky breaks and early miscues.

Most notably, Marquez Valdes-Scantling failing to reel in a last-ditch bomb from Mahomes on the Chiefs’ final drive. Valdes-Scantling gained separation against Roby but couldn’t hold onto the ball as he fell to the ground in the end zone, keeping the Eagles ahead.

Reid also stayed a step ahead of the Eagles secondary, breaking out the now-infamous orbit motion that tormented the group in February. This time, it turned out to be mostly window dressing in the Super Bowl sequel.

Eagles defensive backs swallowed up Chiefs running back Jerick McKinnon on his flat route, but blew a coverage elsewhere as Kansas City tight end Justin Watson ran a deep crosser without anyone picking him up.

The next quarter, Reid dialed up another well-designed play to free up Kelce on a flat route, sprung by Valdes-Scantling running a rub route to occupy the safety Byard.

It was a tale of two halves for the Eagles offensive line.

Hurts was sacked five times in the first half — one off his career high in a full game — as the offensive line struggled with the creativity of Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

The former Eagles DC dialed up simulated pressures (blitzes in which a defensive lineman drops into coverage with a linebacker or defensive back blitzing) and sent extra rushers at times as well.

Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson said most of the miscues were a result of communication errors brought on by the crowd noise in the stadium. On one of Chris Jones’ sacks conceded by Johnson, the Eagles’ offensive front was expecting a quarterback draw play, but Hurts dropped back to pass.

“Jalen thought it was a pass but we all called it a run,” Johnson said. “It was loud, it’s hard to hear in this [bleeping] place.

“A lot of it was just miscommunication. When we knew our assignments, nobody really beat us clean.”

Pressure was also to blame for a few miscues in the first half as well, particularly on Hurts’ interception in the second quarter. Brown gained separation against Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed and started working upfield on his route, but Hurts had a rusher bearing down on him and threw to where he expected Brown to be. The pass went straight to Sneed and resulted in Hurts’ ninth pick of the season, which ties his career high set in 2021.

The pressure also led to a pivotal swing toward the end of the second quarter, when Hurts was strip-sacked on the first play of the Eagles’ two-minute drive to close out the half. The Eagles went three-and-out and gave the Chiefs the ball back with 44 seconds left near midfield for a drive that ended in a field goal, giving Kansas City a 10-point lead going into halftime.

Coming out from the half, the Eagles made a few adjustments, but were also the beneficiary of an Arrowhead crowd that grew uneasy in the second half. Hurts wasn’t sacked at all in the second half.

“[We] looked at some of the things they were doing and getting everybody on the same page,” Sirianni said. “Jason and Jalen did a good job of getting everybody on that and getting everybody together and having a good second half.”