The Best Team in the NFL
If you beat Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs on the road in the most highly anticipated matchup of the 2023 regular season, then you deserve to be crowned the best team in the NFL. The Philadelphia Eagles did just that. Their performance wasn’t flawless as it arguably required a 51 yard touchdown drop from Marquez Valdez-Scantling during the Chiefs’ last possession, but it was enough. In comparison to all the other contenders in the NFL right now, Philadelphia is the best.
Hurts gets redemption
Jalen Hurts did enough to win against the Chiefs. He fought through poor weather conditions, a quiet A.J. Brown performance, and sub-par play calling from Brian Johnson in order to come out on top. The conditions were far from perfect and Hurts still managed to outlast Patrick Mahomes. Not enough can be said about his performance.
Keeping Kelce At Bay
Travis Kelce had a productive game with seven receptions for 44 yards and a touchdown, yet he didn’t take over the Philadelphia defense by any means. He had no explosive gains and even turned over the ball with a fumble at the end of the third quarter. Kevin Byard, who matched up against Kelce for the majority of snaps, had a really impressive outing with eight tackles and an interception in addition to his superb coverage against Kelce.
Eagles defense flourishes
The Philadelphia Eagles’ defense didn’t allow a single point in the second half. They forced two turnovers in the red-zone and made the Chiefs punt six total times. Sean Desai deserves a ton of credit for Kansas City’s scoreless second half. He made adjustments to their struggling first half run defense. He successfully executed a game plan in slowing down Travis Kelce. He didn’t let a number of arbitrary penalties deter his defense at any point down the stretch of the game. Also– the Eagles’ didn’t struggle defending the slot at all, nor did they get exploited against motion. The contrast from Gannon last year to Desai this year was evident against the Chiefs.