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Eagles vs. Chiefs Week 2 Observations and Reaction with Videos

Adrian Fedkiw|

The decisions from Doug Pederson were head scratching, he’s learning on the job and his tendencies bit him in the ass at an inopportune time.

Again!

The Philadelphia Eagles spent several year’s worth of draft picks to take Carson Wentz No. 2 overall in last year’s NFL Draft, they paid Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith to give the weapons their franchise quarterback needed which lacked in 2016. That’s why on 3rd-and-12 in a fourth-quarter tie you’d think that the kid is letting it rip beyond the sticks.

But those damn tendencies!

Chris Jones intercepted Carson Wentz on a screen pass intended for Darren Sproles, leading to a Travis Kelce 15-yard touchdown reception on the signature Andy Reid shovel pass to put the Kansas City Chiefs up for good on their ensuing drive and Big Red is now 2-0 against his former team following a 27-20 victory on Sunday over the Eagles.

The running back situation and how Pederson managed it was a mess. Wentz threw the ball 46 times and ran it four, with the other 13 snaps being designed runs.

Just 13.

Darren Sproles led the team with 10 carries for 48 yards, while Wendell Smallwood toted it just three times for four yards. LeGarrette Blount technically didn’t register a carry and when he was in there, he was used as a decoy in the play-action game. This was after leading the team with 14 rushes last week in the season opener against the Washington Redskins. I’ve got no explanation.

Blount spoke of his role after the game.

That’s just how the game went. It’s just how the game went. The game wasn’t going the way we wanted it to, so we had to make some changes. I can’t argue with how the game is going, the flow of the game, or anything, when your number is called, it’s called.

Pederson stated that the running game is an area the Eagles need to get fixed.

It’s an area we have to fix. I wasn’t pleased with it the first two weeks. It’s not one individual. It’s a team effort. We’ve got to fix that moving forward … I mean when you play good teams, like we did, against good defenses, you have to be able to run the football. This is two weeks in a row that we’ve had trouble.

Trouble indeed!

Perhaps Pederson is reluctant to run the ball up the middle because the strength of the offensive line is blocking along the perimeter using Kelce pulling and their tackles Jason Peters and Lane Johnson and the interior has looked like a disaster. Isaac Seumalo was a human turnstile, allowing four of the Chiefs’ six sacks. Wentz didn’t do the offensive line favors by holding onto the ball at times, but Seumalo was obliterated consistently. I expect a change at left guard next week.

The running woes were overshadowed by a dominant defensive effort in the opener, but it was the other way around on Sunday. Jim Schwartz’s unit was exceptional, racking up four sacks for a second consecutive week. Fletcher Cox, Chris Long and Mychal Kendricks all recorded sacks, while Brandon Graham and Timmy Jernigan split one. Schwartz also knew when to ratchet up the pressure with well-timed blitzes again.

Rasul Douglas also made a big impact in the secondary. He’s progressing nicely.

Wentz didn’t go without his struggles. He was 25-of-46 for 333 yards with a touchdown and interception, with seven completions going to Alshon Jeffery for 91 yards and that score. He was 5-of-5 for 70 yards on the game’s first touchdown drive late in the third quarter. He found Jeffery lined up in the slot on a wheel route and he outmuscled Phillip Gaines before hauling in the reception and falling at the one. Since he wasn’t touched, Jeffery walked into the end zone, giving the Eagles a 10-6 lead with 4:08 to go in the frame.

The Chiefs, however, answered back with a Kareem Hunt 53-yard touchdown run and a 13-10 advantage. The third-round rookie from Toledo struggled to find traction in the running game early, but had success late. He finished with 81 yards and a pair of TD runs on 13 carries.

Philadelphia was able to move the ball into field-goal range on its next touch, using a key 3rd-and-13 scramble from Wentz to move the chains and Jake Elliott split the uprights from 40 yards out to knot the game at 13-13 early in the fourth.

The Eagles’ defense then forced a three-and-out, but then the screen blunder happened, Kelce scored from 15 yards out and Philly was toast. They quickly went three-and-out and Kansas City quickly went right down the field again. Alex Smith, who was 21-of-28 for 251 yards and a touchdown, hit Chris Conley perfectly in stride for a 35-yard reception down the right sideline. Hunt was able to pick up a critical 3rd-and-3 with a 12-yard run off the left side and then powered in for a two-yard TD run one play later for a 27-13 advantage with 2:14 to play.

Nelson Agholor was a complete no-show after an encouraging Week 1 performance. His lone catch came on a garbage-time touchdown. Mack Hollins on the other hand saw more snaps and I loved it.

Trey Burton miraculously recovered the onside kick, but Wentz’s final Hail Mary heave fell incomplete.

Earlier, the Chiefs led 6-3 at the break in a defensive slugfest over the first 30 minutes. Cairo Santos gave KC its margin with a 39-yard field goal and 17 ticks on the first-half clock. Zach Ertz miraculously hauled in a 53-yard reception on a desperation fling and tip-drill along the left sideline, but in typical Philadelphia sports fashion, the ghost of Alex Henery came out and Elliott misfired from 30 yards away.

 

You can follow Adrian Fedkiw on Twitter (@AdrianFedkiw) and e-mail him at [email protected]. Subscribe to The Bitter Birds on YouTube here. Follow Philly Influencer on Twitter (@PHL_Influencer), Facebook and Instagram.

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