Chiefs’ defense mostly contained the Eagles. Here’s why that wasn’t good enough
Holding a team to 216 total yards, about half of what they’d surrendered in their opener a week earlier, figured to bode well for the Chiefs.
It did not.
Despite an ears-pinned-back approach, the Chiefs couldn’t survive the Philadelphia Eagles in a Super Bowl rematch on Sunday afternoon at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
The 20-17 outcome that dropped the Chiefs to 0-2 was especially painful for some of the team’s defensive leaders, who vowed this week would be better than what they offered against the Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil.
“We came in with the mindset (that) we had to be better than we were in Brazil,” linebacker Nick Bolton said.
As in the Super Bowl loss to Philly last season, the Chiefs held star running back Saquon Barkley under 100 yards. This time he finished with 88, averaging four yards per carry.
The difference from last time these teams met: The Chiefs crafted a better overall defensive game, holding the Eagles to their fewest total yards in a game since 2021.
On Sunday, the Chiefs managed to be aggressive with blitzes without getting burned. Cornerback Trent McDuffie crashed in twice in the first quarter.
Although the Chiefs wound up with just one sack — rookie Omarr Norman-Lott felled quarterback Jalen Hurts with a physical takedown — their pressure forced Hurts into some short or incomplete throws during a 101-yard passing game.
The Eagles benefitted from short fields, covering 52 yards on their first touchdown drive after Harrison Butker missed a field-goal attempt, and 59 on their next, after a Patrick Mahomes interception and face-mask penalty pushed them quickly into KC territory.
They got a field goal when a Chiefs’ fourth-down call failed at their 33.
The Chiefs’ effort stood in sharp contrast to last week’s game in South America, when the Chargers rolled up 394 total yards in a 27-21 victory.
“A lot better,” Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie said. “I thought we took a big step moving forward.”
One blitz that didn’t get home proved costly: a 28-yard rainbow to DeVonta Smith over McDuffie, just as Hurts was about to get crunched by KC safety Bryan Cook. That set up the touchdown that gave the Eagles a two-score lead.
“When you have to make a play, you have to make that, and I wasn’t able to do it on the third-down play with the ball to DeVonta,” McDuffie said. “But the message was to stay the same. You have to keep growing.”
One play the Chiefs and every other Eagles opponent find difficult to stop is the Tush Push.
Philadelphia used it five times during this game, and Hurts got a brotherly shove in scoring the touchdown on a fourth down to gave the Eagles a 20-10 lead.
The Chiefs stopped it on the previous snap. And replays seemed to indicate Philadelphia offensive linemen were offside when the ball was snapped.
Some of the Chiefs appeared to make a case for a penalty on the field, but to no avail. Afterward, they looked ahead.
“A little adversity, it’s tough,” defensive tackle Chris Jones said. “We’ve got the guys, we’ve got the team that can figure this out.”
This story was originally published September 14, 2025 at 8:34 PM.