Sep 14, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) looks on from the sidelines during the second quarter of the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images Denny Medley
Everybody exhale.
The reigning Super Bowl champions are 2-0. The reigning Super Bowl losers AFC champions are 0-2.
The Philadelphia Eagles did just enough to secure a 20-17 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday afternoon at GEHA Field. It certainly wasn't without its mistakes – there were many of those, in fact – but the Birds walked away from Arrowhead with the win.
Here are a few takeaways from Sunday's nailbiter:
With the offseason departure of former Eagles' offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, Patullo was always going to have big shoes to fill. And even though the Eagles are 2-0, the offense isn't exactly humming; it's actually doing quite the opposite.
The Birds generated just 216 yards of total offense. Jalen Hurts went 15-for-22 with 101 yards passing. The longest play on offense – DeVonta Smith's sideline catch in the fourth quarter – went for just 28 yards.
DeVonta Smith got the Birds inside the 5-yard line with this catch! pic.twitter.com/kCWoKhZGP7
There were times during the game when Hurts stood in the pocket untouched for at least five seconds, scanning the field for options. None of his receivers were open.
Patullo, who was the Eagles' passing game coordinator from 2021 to 2024, is indeed a rookie playcaller, but with the offensive weapons Howie Roseman has bestowed upon him, he has to do better than that. Smith was the Eagles' leading receiver with four receptions for 53 yards, and A.J. Brown had five catches for just 27 yards (although he had a great one-handed grab:)
What a GRAB by A.J. Brown🤯 pic.twitter.com/V9i4blefhy
Saquon Barkley rushed for 88 yards and a touchdown, but those 88 yards came on 22 attempts. He ended up running into a wall of Chiefs numerous times. Patullo is definitely experiencing his growing pains right now, so the Eagles hope he learns from them and draws up some better schemes for next week's game.
After going just 1-for-7 on field goals from more than 50 yards out in 2024, Jake the Make has returned to his clutch ways:
Thank god for Jake Elliott. pic.twitter.com/YsRpJOw4oh
Elliott nailed a 58-yarder against the Dallas Cowboys last week, and Sunday afternoon, he picked up right where he left off.
Elliott closed out the first half with what was originally supposed to be a 52-yard field goal. However, the referees (whom we will get to soon) called a false start on Eagles' long snapper Charley Hughlett, moving the kick back to 58 yards. Even so, Elliott added three more points to tie the game at 10-10 heading into the half.
Then, on the Eagles' first drive of the second half, he did it again, knocking in a 51-yarder. It's safe to say that Eagles fans can put Elliott's long-distance woes in the rear-view mirror.
Alex Kemp's crew will catch a good bit of flack from both Eagles and Chiefs fans after Sunday's game, and perhaps rightfully so. They had quite a few questionable calls.
For once, Chiefs fans will have a few gripes with the refs. As the FOX broadcast team noted, the Eagles' offensive line got away with multiple false starts on tush push plays:
The Eagles whole O-Line appears to false start on the tush push
Should the play be banned? pic.twitter.com/ZPMDJKmVOW
With just under four minutes to play in the game, on a 3rd & 13 during the Chiefs' last drive of the game, Patrick Mahomes couldn't connect on a deep ball. It didn't matter, though, since the drive continued thanks to this roughing the passer call on Jihaad Campbell:
Should Jihaad Campbell have been flagged for roughing the passer?
(via @Rate_the_Refs)pic.twitter.com/0P0NykouHm
Even the broadcasters were shocked. Tom Brady pointed out during the replay how Mahomes looked for the referees right away, and he got the call he was looking for.
This was America's Game of the Week. The NFL will surely not be pleased with this crew's officiating performance, especially during a Super Bowl rematch on a national stage.
It may not have been pretty (it wasn't pretty). It may not have been clean (it wasn't clean). But the Eagles just knocked off Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs on their home turf. That isn't easy.
Prior to Sunday, Mahomes had yet to lose three consecutive games as a starting NFL quarterback. Now he has.
The Eagles' mission is to keep the main thing the main thing. A win is a win, and the Eagles will fly back to Philadelphia with a 2-0 record.
Chris Jones: “You don’t even have 100 yards.”
Jalen Hurts: “We won the fucking game shut your ass up.”
Hard to argue with that.
(Via @ThePhillyPod)
pic.twitter.com/6p8ojZPipt
