Eagles come up with plays when it matters most to exact revenge on Chiefs

Outplayed, out-hit and out-coached in the first half, the Eagles moped into the locker room Monday like men … angry, wet men.

For the first two quarters, the Eagles were as passive as the Carolina Panthers, who are vying for the first pick in the NFL draft.

A.J. Brown couldn’t get open in the pouring rain, much less make a catch. With 5 minutes remaining in the game, he had just one reception.

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts threw an interception and luckily for the Birds, recovered his own fumble.

As poorly as the Eagles played early, they made play after play on offense, defense, and special teams in the second half, just the opposite of the Super Bowl when the Chiefs dominated the second half after having laid an egg in the first two quarters.

It gave the Eagles a 21-17 triumph, their first win over Andy Reid, who was 4-0 against them including the Super Bowl. With a 9-1 record, the Eagles top the NFL.

“We showed up when it mattered the most,” said Hurts, who threw for just 150 yards with one interception but rushed for two touchdowns. “It was a complete game effort. … We found a way to win at the end and that’s what matters.”

There were some tense moments for the Eagles down the homestretch. Patrick Mahomes lined the Chiefs up at their own nine-yard line trailing by four points with 2:49 left. There was nothing Mahomes could do about a drop by Travis Kelce, who earlier in the frame fumbled in the red zone.

Mahomes went back to Kelce for a first down, Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox drew a roughing the passer penalty moving the ball to the 49-yard line, and Mahomes lofted a perfect ball that Marquez Valdez-Scantling, past his defender, dropped in the end zone.

Josh Sweat pressured Mahomes into a grounding penalty, and on fourth-and-forever the Eagles played tight defense in the secondary.

The game ended at 1:26 a.m. in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where Kelce’s girlfriend Taylor Swift performed on her Eras Tour.

The first half was ugly, the Eagles outclassed across the board, a testament to the coaching plan of Reid and Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. The defense kept Hurts from being himself.

“They’re treating first and second down like it’s third down,” Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning said of the Chiefs at intermission. “They’re pressuring Jalen like they would on third down.”

Hence, five first-half sacks of Hurts, including four in a span of six plays and not one short-yardage Brotherly Shove conversion for the Eagles. The Birds ran 23 plays in the first half, having gone 0-for-3 on third-and-long snaps, significant as the Birds started first in the league with a 50 percent conversion rate on third down.

Not until the Eagles converted a tush push in the last five minutes of the third quarter were they able to cash in on third down, 0-for-7 to that point.

Minutes later Hurts scored on a 10-yard quarterback draw getting the Birds within 17-14 with 4:05 to go. A 35-yard run by D’Andre Swift set up that tally. Swift (D’Andre, not Taylor) amassed 107 yards from scrimmage.

The Eagles had hung in because the Chiefs’ offense was flagged for holding penalties every two or three snaps, and Kelce had fumbled the ball at the 10-yard line with 13:10 remaining.

The Eagles took their first and only lead with 6:20 left on their second tush push, a TD set up by DeVonta Smith’s 41-yard reception to the one-yard line on an underthrown ball by Hurts.

The Chiefs got on the board first, Mahomes throwing a three-yard Tim Tebow-like jump pass to Justin Watson. Almost all the Chiefs’ first scoring drive was on the ground.

The Eagles answered on the next possession, Swift rushing for 35 yards, including a four-yard touchdown run to knot the score. Replays showed Eagles receiver Olamide Zaccheaus got away with a hold, but let’s be honest, the Eagles would have brotherly shoved their way into the end zone.

The Eagles got another break when Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed picked off Hurts in the second quarter, only to be stripped on the runback by Brown. Replays showed it was a fumble the Eagles recovered. More troubling was the sideline confrontation between Brown, who beat coverage and ran deep, and Hurts, who was under pressure and threw short.

But the Eagles couldn’t maintain the momentum, though safety Kevin Byard saved the Eagles with his first interception since joining the team, staring down Mahomes down to pick it off in the end zone.

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NOTES >> Haason Reddick sacked Mahomes in the first half, giving him sack in each of his last three games. … Reid update is 4-1 versus the Eagles, including the Super Bowl, with wins over Chip Kelly (2013), Doug Pederson (2017) and Nick Sirianni (2022, twice). Brandon Graham appeared in his 188tg game as an Eagle, tying him with kicker David Akers (188 from 1999-2010) for the most regular-season games in club history, … The Eagles scratched DE Derek Barnett, G Sua Opeta, TE Dallas Goedert (broken arm), RB Rashaad Penny and DT Moro Ojomo. … The Chiefs deactivated WR Richie James, DE’s BJ Thompson and Malik Herring, DT Neil Farrell and OL Mike Caliendo.