Chiefs 0-2 for first time in Patrick Mahomes era after losing 20-17 to Eagles

https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/chiefs-0-2-for-first-time-in-patrick-mahomes-era-after-losing-20-17-to-eagles-232204809.html

The Kansas City Chiefs‘ offense hasn’t been great for the past couple seasons.

There have been reasonable excuses, like this season with some receivers being out, but it’s not the offense that everyone got accustomed to with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback. The Chiefs haven’t been able to blow past anyone they want for a while.

The magic the Chiefs had in close games last season is great, but it’s hard for that to be the foundation of success. The Chiefs, as presently constructed, don’t have the depth on offense to scare anyone. Mahomes is still scary. But that’s not enough.

Kansas City had a tough time moving the ball consistently against the Eagles and lost 20-17 at home. The key sequence came when a Mahomes pass was dropped by Travis Kelce and the Eagles intercepted it near their goal line.

Philadelphia scored a touchdown on its next drive to push the lead to 10 points. The Chiefs are 0-2 for the first time since 2014. Mahomes was a freshman at Texas Tech that season.

It’s also the first time Mahomes has lost three straight starts, a skid that began with the blowout defeat he and the Chiefs suffered in Super Bowl LIX against the Eagles in February.

The Chiefs will get better when wideouts Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy return. They’ll be a team nobody wants to see in the playoffs, assuming they make it. But everything looks like a struggle right now, and the Chiefs find themselves in an unfamiliar hole to start the season.

Chiefs and Eagles have tight 1st half

The Chiefs were underdogs coming into the game and for good reason. They were without receivers Rice, who is suspended for six games, and Worthy, who suffered a shoulder injury in the season opener. Also, the last time these teams met, the Eagles blew out the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

This game was different. The Eagles took a 7-0 lead on a Saquon Barkley 13-yard touchdown run, but that was the last Philadelphia touchdown of the first half.

[Get more Chiefs news: Kansas City team feed]

Mahomes had never had more than 63 yards rushing in a regular-season game in his career. On Sunday he had 60 in the first half, including a 13-yard score on the ground. Usually Mahomes saves his rushing for the playoffs, but there was urgency Sunday as the Chiefs tried to avoid an 0-2 start. Mahomes wasn’t great throwing the ball, with only 51 yards in the first half, but he kept his team in the game.

The Eagles kicked a field goal as the half expired to tie the game 10-10. In last season’s Super Bowl, the game was practically over at halftime. The Chiefs were still having trouble moving the ball against Philadelphia, but the game was a lot more competitive. The Chiefs just didn’t make the key plays they needed to take advantage in the second half.

Chiefs offense doesn’t generate much

The Chiefs had a couple of big offensive mistakes in the second half. Early in the third quarter they went for it on fourth-and-1, and Kareem Hunt was stopped cold. The Eagles took over at Kansas City’s 35-yard line, and the Chiefs held them to a field goal. Philadelphia led 13-10.

That was the score in the fourth quarter when the Chiefs got to the Eagles’ 6-yard line. But Kelce had Mahomes’ pass bounce off his hands, up in to the air and it was picked off by rookie safety Andrew Mukuba and returned 41 yards. Instead of at least a field goal to tie it, the Chiefs got nothing.

On the Eagles’ next possession DeVonta Smith had a 28-yard catch on third-and-10, and back-to-back tush pushes got the Eagles a touchdown with 7:48 to go.

The Chiefs scored on a 49-yard touchdown to Tyquan Thornton, but the Eagles ran out the clock with the help of another tush push for a first down just after the two-minute warning.

The Eagles have a good defense but it’s still surprising to see Kansas City have to exert maximum energy for every first down. The Chiefs were shut out for most of the second half of a key game to avoid an 0-2 start. That’s a bad sign.

Kansas City can look forward to better days. But they can’t afford to fall too far behind in the AFC West.

https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/chiefs-0-2-for-first-time-in-patrick-mahomes-era-after-losing-20-17-to-eagles-232204809.html