With kickoff fast approaching, we’re previewing the afternoon matchup with John Dillon of the Chiefs Wire, as we find out if Kansas City is still the best team in the AFC
Philadelphia and Kansas City will have a regular-season meeting on Sunday for the second time in the past three years, and it’ll be the second time that it’s followed a Super Bowl clash. In 2023, the Eagles overcame a 17-7 Chiefs lead at the half and held Kansas City scoreless in the second half, as the Birds moved to 9-1 on the season.
The Chiefs are looking to avoid a 0-2 start, while the Eagles are looking for a 2-0 start with games against the Rams, Buccaneers, and Broncos to close out the first quarter of the season.
With kickoff fast approaching, we’re previewing the afternoon matchup with John Dillon of the Chiefs Wire, as we find out if Kansas City is still the best team in the AFC.
1. If you count the Super Bowl, Kansas City is on a losing streak. Experts and pundits are predicting the fall of this dominant dynasty. What’s going on with the Chiefs? Is the yearly Super Bowl window closing?
CW: The Chiefs have been ‘the team to beat’ in the NFL for the better part of a decade. I think Kansas City’s recent struggles are more indicative of opponents’ success rather than the Chiefs’ failures. Teams seem to have no problem winning the time of possession battle against K.C., and have developed excellent strategies to limit Patrick Mahomes downfield. This team won 15 games last year and looked mediocre in every game they played. I expect the team to (eventually) hit its stride and compete, though I’m not sure that will start against the Eagles in Week 2.
2. Including the two Super Bowl matchups, Philadelphia and Kansas City have met five times since 2021, including Sunday’s matchup. Would you consider the Eagles-Chiefs a rivalry?
CW: I think Andy Reid’s connection to both teams kind of makes it a rivalry, but there’s no ill will from Kansas City’s end — at least that I’m aware of. The teams are .500 against each other in the Super Bowl, and at least from my perspective as a Chiefs guy, both teams just kind of happen to be good at the same time. I don’t like watching the Eagles lose the same way I do the Raiders or Broncos. I don’t tend to think about the Chargers.
3. Andy Reid is a legendary figure and the person most responsible for both of these teams being among the league’s elite. Has ‘Big Red’ lost a step? What do you think Reid could improve on going forward?
CW: My response here will be roughly the same as my answer to the first question… I don’t know that Reid has ‘lost a step,’ I think that other teams have just kind of ‘figured out’ how to win games against the Chiefs. Sure, Kansas City lost to the Chargers in Week 1, but it isn’t like the Chiefs are now somehow ‘irrelevant’ or ‘washed up’ or ‘past their prime.’ If we end the season under .500 then yeah, maybe we can talk about Andy Reid. Until then, I’ll keep the faith.
4. The Chiefs made it a point to stop Saquon Barkley in Super Bowl 59. Dallas followed that similar blueprint in the season opener. Which poison should Kansas City pick regarding containing Barkley or dealing with the Philadelphia passing game?
CW: I know exactly how to stop Saquon Barkley, but will only reveal the blueprint when an NFL team hires me for $1 million. But seriously, I have no idea how to stop a generational talent, I wish I did. I’d say Kansas City’s best bet is to keep him between the tackles, but the interior of the Chiefs’ defensive line was… underwhelming against the Chargers, to say the least. We should offer him a burnt ends sandwich from Gates Bar-B-Q (with fries and a yammer pie, a Kansas City classic) in exchange for him to feign illness and not play. That’s my $1 million pitch, to anyone willing to cut me a check.
5. Which player has to step up if Xavier Worthy is unavailable in Week 2?
CW: Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown and Tyquan Thornton will have a huge opportunity to carve out more defined roles for themselves in Andy Reid’s system, if Worthy doesn’t play. Nikko Remigio is a fan-favorite wideout who has never really gotten a chance to show what he can do on offense, but is unlikely to get as much playing time as Brown or Thornton.
6. One under-the-radar player to watch in Week 2?
CW: Can any Chiefs player really be considered to be ‘under the radar’? The aforementioned Thornton is probably the best answer, but he was a second-round pick a couple years back and ran a blazing-fast 40 yard dash, so he should be squarely ‘radar-ed.’ Maybe defensive back Jaden Hicks?
7. Who wins and why?
CW: The Eagles will almost certainly win this game. Kansas City has looked rusty for like two years running. Hopefully, we’ll meet again in the Super Bowl and I’ll have a job paying off Philadelphia’s players with elaborate barbecue spreads. Final score: Eagles 30, Chiefs 21
