The Chiefs are hosting the Eagles in a Super Bowl rematch on Monday Night Football. Follow along with The Athletic’s NFL experts and insiders.
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Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco’s 24-yard rush earlier on the drive was his longest since Week 4 against the Jets (48-yard touchdown) and third longest of the season.
All three of Pacheco’s rushes of 24-plus yards this season came on drives that ended in touchdowns.
Many fantasy managers came into this game hoping for a Monday Night Miracle, but Justin Watson had other plans, as his touchdown catch kept Travis Kelce, Isiah Pacheco or Rashee Rice from generating a touchdown on this drive.
From inside the Eagles’ 5-yard line, two defenders went with tight end Travis Kelce on the Chiefs’ pivotal third-and-goal play.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes noticed the Eagles’ coverage and found receiver Justin Watson wide-open for an easy 3-yard touchdown. Mahomes’ movement in the pocket was quite impressive, too, as he waited to release the ball until the last second possible to avoid being sacked.
The Chiefs lead the Eagles, 7-0, after Mahomes completed all five of his passes to five different teammates during the team’s 80-yard drive.
It makes sense that the Chiefs would bring added pressure on Eagles QB Jalen Hurts. Hurts entered Week 11 ranked 25th in passer rating against the blitz this season (82.8) and his five interceptions against five or more pass rushers are two more than any other QB.
Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo wasted no time blitzing Jalen Hurts on the Eagles’ first third-down play. Cornerback Trent McDuffie recorded the sack.
Eagles force a quick three-and-out on the Chiefs’ opening drive, something Philly has not done often this season.
The Eagles entered the night ranked 26th in the NFL in opponent three-and-out rate (28.6% of drives) and had forced a three-and-out on their first defensive drive once in their first nine games.
Each team has had one possession so far in this game, but each offense has done very little with the opportunity as the first six plays of the contest have netted a combined -8 yards of offense.
The Eagles didn’t sack Patrick Mahomes once in the Super Bowl in February. That won’t be the case tonight. Haason Reddick is up to 8.5 sacks on the season after getting around the edge to take Mahomes down on the Chiefs’ opening drive.
When the Chiefs get on the board first, they win… at least that’s been the case recently.
Kansas City has won 17 consecutive regular-season games in which it has scored first the longest active streak in the NFL. The Chiefs’ last loss after taking the first lead came in Week 17 of the 2021 season against the Bengals.
NFL Football Operations
Here is the weather report for tonight’s game, per NFL Football Operations.
It looks like there will be some rain early in the contest and from then on it could rain on and off. It will be interesting to see how this impacts the game plans, as both teams are capable of running the ball if need be.
Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce has been a lot more hit-or-miss in his production rates this year than usual, as he racked up 124 and 129 yards in Week 6 and 7, respectively, but outside of those games Kelce has yet to post 70+ receiving yards in a contest.
That trend goes up against an Eagles defense that ranked 23rd in the league in PPR points allowed per game on tight end targets in Weeks 7-10.
Merge those elements and it is likely why Kelce has an over/under of 76.5 receiving yards in pregame betting at BetMGM. That wager has -110 odds on the over and -120 odds on the under, so the betting public is leaning a bit toward Kelce not hitting that total despite what looks to be a favorable matchup.
The Eagles are 8-1 through nine games for the second consecutive season, the first team to start back-to-back seasons 8-1 or better since the 2005-06 Colts.
This is the fourth time Philadelphia has started at least 8-1 since 2000 (also 2004 and 2017) and the Eagles reached the Super Bowl in each of the previous three such seasons (won in 2017, lost in 2004 and 2022).
The Chiefs and Eagles are meeting tonight in a rematch of Super Bowl LVII, the first such rematch in the following regular season since 2017 when the Patriots beat the Falcons in Week 7 after beating Atlanta in Super Bowl LI.
It’s the ninth overall matchup of the previous season’s Super Bowl participants and the reigning champion has won three straight and six of the previous eight such games.
The over/under in the passing yards prop bet for Jalen Hurts is 234.5, with -115 odds on either side of that wager (per BetMGM).
That number seems a bit low considering that Hurts threw for 277 or more passing yards in six straight games prior to Dallas holding Hurts to only 207 passing yards in Week 9.
To be fair, the Chiefs’ pass defense has been very good this year and Kansas City’s rush defense has been less than stellar. Those would seem to point the Eagles in the direction of rushing the ball more, but considering how pass-centric the team has been this year, and how pass-centric Philadelphia has indicated it wanted to go in previous years (partially due to the analytics world’s lean towards throwing the ball as often as possible), it is quite possible that Nick Sirianni will press to put the ball in the air in spite of what the matchup says.
If that happens, this number will end up being too low, so it’s something to keep an eye on in this game.
Fantasy managers who need a Monday Night Miracle from Eagles running back D’Andre Swift may be in luck, as the Kansas City defense could afford Swift a path to huge scoring success tonight.
From Weeks 7-10, the Chiefs defense ranks 26th in fantasy points allowed on rushes by opponent’s running backs (15.27, per TruMedia). In that span, Kansas City allowed opponent’s running backs to post an average of 23.3 carries and 112.7 yards, both of which bode well for Swift given that he is the lead running back in this offense.
The Chiefs (7-2) host the Eagles (8-1) in a matchup of No. 1 seeds on Monday.
It will mark the first time two teams 7-2 or better have met in the regular season since Week 14 of 2019 when the 10-2 49ers beat the 10-2 Saints 48-46 in New Orleans. The last interconference matchup of 7-2-or-better teams was in Week 11 of 2018 when the Rams beat the Chiefs 54-51, also on Monday Night Football. In both cases, the winner advanced to the Super Bowl that season.
There will be plenty of star power on display in tonight’s ManningCast.
It begins with Mark Wahlberg, whose film credits include playing Eagles wide receiver Vince Papale in the 2006 movie Invincible.
The Chiefs’ side of this ledger is represented by the second guest, who is Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark. She just broke the NCAA women’s record for most 30-point games and is a lifelong Chiefs fan.
Closing out the night will be former Eagles quarterback Mike Vick, who also has a connection with the Chiefs since he was a starting quarterback for Andy Reid.
