Eagles-Chiefs Instant Reactions: Vic Fangio’s defense, DeVonta Smith deep ball improves the Eagles to 2-0

The Philadelphia Eagles headed to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs for a Super Bowl rematch in Week 2. And just like most of us figured, the game was much tougher this time around. But the Eagles improved to 2-0 on the 2025 season with a 20-17 win over the Chiefs.

There were not many fireworks (and not much spit!) in the first half, as both the Eagles and Chiefs defenses flexed their muscles. Vic Fangio and the Eagles defense blitzed much more than we saw in New Orleans, and Patrick Mahomes had to beat the Eagles with his legs. Mahomes did at times, including an incredible 13-yard touchdown scramble down the right sideline. But at the same time, the Eagles had Patrick Mahomes scrambling a crazy amount. They were dictating the terms of the game.

The Eagles offense, particularly the passing game, looked out of sync for long stretches. In that way, it felt a lot like the 2024 Eagles. But two plays swung the game for the Eagles: Andrew Mukuba’s interception in the end zone (after the ball bounced off Travis Kelce’s hands), and then a deep shot from Jalen Hurts to DeVonta Smith against what looked like an all-out blitz from Steve Spagnuolo.

But the Eagles prevailed 20-17 and are 2-0 in the 2025 NFL season. Here is what the PHLY Eagles staff saw.

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EJ Smith

The Eagles leave Arrowhead with plenty of questions left to answer, but Sunday’s 20-17 win over the Kansas City Chiefs was an encouraging one nonetheless. It was a clean game for the Eagles rather than a pretty one, which is plenty good enough against a Kansas City team out for revenge in a Super Bowl rematch.

It’s fair to wonder how things may have shaken out had Travis Kelce not dropped a pass near the goal line directly into the hands of an opportunistic Andrew Mukuba for a game-changing interception, but the Eagles made enough plays and avoided enough negative ones in a hostile environment. There’s room to grow for the Eagles offense, but a 2-0 start is nothing to sneeze at given the circumstances.

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Bo Wulf

I know this will not be the thing that matters most from this game, but I’m still mad about the way the Eagles ended the first half. Yes, they were boned by the refs on the picked-up pass interference flag on the Chiefs defensive back covering DeVonta Smith (the guy who threw the flag was the one looking right at it the whole time, how on Earth did he get talked out of that?) downfield (for ONCE!). And yes, the refs/New York boned them again in not reviewing A.J. Brown’s third-down catch on which it looked like he rolled over the Chiefs defender into first-down territory.

Those caveats noted, there were 33 seconds left in the half with the ball on the 34-yard-line and the Eagles had two timeouts. That is PLENTY of time to try to potentially score a touchdown or, at least, shorten the length of the pending field goal. And yes, I’m counting the Tush Push 4th-and-1 conversion as a fait accompli, as Nick Sirianni did in going for it in his own territory earlier in the first half. Instead, Sirianni opted to meekly let the clock run down before a weird false start penalty on Charley Hughlett turned Elliott’s field goal in a 58-yarder, which he gamely converted.

So much for acting like the champs.

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Fran Duffy

I’m really excited to get into the film of this game. Offensively, I want to see what the route concepts looked like downfield. I thought Jalen Hurts performed really well last year with his decision making. Was that the case again? Watching the broadcast it seemed like he was really poised vs the blitz, standing tall with his eyes downfield. Even if the numbers don’t paint a pretty picture I thought his process was very good.

Defensively I was taken aback by how aggressive Vic Fangio was with his pressure schemes. The Eagles felt comfortable playing man-to-man against a depleted Kansas City receiving corps. That was abnormal by his standards. Mukuba obviously popped a handful of times, I’m excited to watch that back on tape. To me, it seemed like Jordan Davis continued to shine. It was a hot one out there for the big boys up front but I thought Davis flashed into the second half again, much like last week. Big win for the Birds.

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Jamie Lynch

Typical Kansas City Chiefs first half with some head scratching flags picked up *DeVonta Smith PI call, wutttt and AJ Brown’s clear first down NOT reviewed by the booth with under 2 minutes to go. Rog went deep into his “bag” for this script.

Za’Darius Smith’s presence was there in the first half, nice to see a new Bird make an immediate impact with a TFL & a half a sack. Defense overall kept that Chiefs offense in check, outside of Mahomes’ legs carving them up. Also, a quick appreciation H/T to Drew Mukuba as well who’s impact may have won the Birds a game.

Kevin Patullo’s offense as of halftime left some healthy head scratching. It also continued into the 3rd quarter with more cowardly draws & an unwillingness to throw further than 15 yards downfield. I know you have to give the defense credit sometimes but into the 4th quarter, Jalen Hurts didn’t have a completed pass 6 yards past the LOS until DeVonta Smith’s play down by the goal line. The passing game has lacked inspiration in the first two weeks all while Jalen Hurts has looked pretty good. Weird times.

All that being said, the Eagles may have broken the Chiefs and for that, we’re all thankful.

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Rich Hofmann

What stood out to me the most is the tale of the two Eagles’ play-callers.

I think the Eagles defense had a personnel advantage against the banged-up Chiefs offense, but I was so impressed by how Vic Fangio completely deviated from his Super Bowl game plan and sent blitzes from every angle. Jihaad Campbell, Zack Baun, Drew Mukuba, it did not matter. The Eagles were sending pressure from every angle.

It will be interesting to see what Fran and the rest of the film grinders have to say about the passing offense. It felt like the offensive line did a nice job on the whole against Spags’ pressure packages. It felt like Jalen Hurts hung in the pocket. But the Eagles did not seem to make Chiefs pay down the field, struggling to find A.J. Brown and, one play aside, DeVonta Smith.

But these are relatively good problems to have. The defending champs are 2-0.