September 15, 2017
In Week 2, the Eagles will face off against a familiar face – even if it's only familiar to the head coach and a handful of players – when they visit Andy Reid and the Chiefs on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.
Most of the players who were here under Reid have since moved on, and the longtime Eagles coach hasn't faced his former team since Week 3 of the 2013 season, when the Chiefs came in to the Linc and beat up on Chip Kelly's Birds, 26-16, despite 264 rushing yards for the home team, 158 coming from LeSean McCoy and another 99 from quarterback Michael Vick.
But now, instead of facing the guy who replaced him, Reid will be going up against a former protege in Doug Pederson, who spent several years under Reid as both a player and assistant coach for the Eagles, as well as three seasons as his offensive coordinator in Kansas City, including during that 2013 win over the Birds.
As we said, a lot has changed since then.
In addition to this game being played in Kansas City as opposed to Philly, the Eagles are coming in as the underdog – back in 2013, they were a 3.5-point favorite to beat the Chiefs.
Can they return the favor and hand Big Red his first loss of the season?
TV: FOX | RADIO: 94.1 WIP
SPREAD: Chiefs (-6) | TOTAL: 47.5 (via Bovada)
Beating an Andy Reid-coached team that has had three extra days to prepare for you is not an easy task. With three serious weapons in Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, and now Kareem Hunt, the Chiefs are more dangerous on offense than they were perhaps given credit for at the start of the season.
They're too much to handle for an improving Eagles team.
Last week, when I (correctly) predicted an Eagles win over Washington, I also essentially locked in my pick for this week.
I think the Eagles open their home schedule (Week 3 vs. the Giants) with a 1-1 record, no matter how Sunday's game plays out. If they beat the Redskins, I could easily see them losing to a Kansas City team that upset the Patriots on Thursday night. If they lose, I could easily see them bouncing back with a win against a Chiefs team that is probably feeling pretty good about itself right now.
Since I then went on to say that the Eagles would beat the 'Skins, I guess that means I have to take the loss this time around.
Unfortunately, that's how I see Sunday's game playing out anyway – with the Eagles falling to the Chiefs on the road. Although they were able to finish Week 1 on a high note defensively, the loss of Ronald Darby is going to be an issue with Tyreek Hill out there. Add in Kareem Hunt, who torched the Patriots in their opener, and Travis Kelce, and Alex Smith's supporting cast starts looking much more impressive than what Kirk Cousins and the Redskins threw at the Birds last week.
Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz probably spent a lot of time this week game planning for those guys, but Andy Reid and the Chiefs, who opened on Thursday night, had a couple extra days to prepare. Typically, that doesn't work out too well for his opponents.
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