October 01, 2021
Coming off a short week following a blowout loss to a division rival on Monday Night Football, this is probably not the matchup the Eagles want to see as they head into Sunday's game against the Chiefs as seven-point home underdogs.
And it's not even like Nick Sirianni's team can catch Kansas City sleeping or overlooking them. Sure, the Chiefs have a primetime matchup of their own next week against Josh Allen and the Bills, but currently sitting at 1-2 and in last place in their own division, you know Andy Reid is going to have his team fired up for this one as Big Red looks for his 100th win with the organization.
Last week, despite the Eagles being underdogs and without some key starters, especially on the offensive line (which will again be the case), there was still some difference of opinion on how the game might play out. This week, there's no such split for Eagles vs. Chiefs. We've rounded up more than 60 picks from both the local and national media, and every single person save for one brave soul is going with the road favorites in this one.
With that mini-spoiler out of the way, let's take a look at who sees a close game, who sees a blowout and which outlet has a writer daring enough to pick an Eagles' upset...
• PhillyVoice staff: For the first time all season, all seven of our writers agree on the outcome of this game — and none think it will be particularly close. Here's John McMullen's prediction for Sunday afternoon's matchup with the Chiefs.
Not only has the big, bad bully set his sights on the Eagles this week, but he also stubbed his toe twice walking down the hallway en route to the projected beating. Philadelphia doesn't only face a better team on Sunday, it will be facing an angry team intent on cleaning things up quickly.
On paper, everything points to a blowout and if Nick Sirianni sticks to his Dallas sentiment and tries to keep up with the Chiefs' high-powered offense the Eagles are DOA. A perfect game plan executed brilliantly probably keeps you within a score until Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, and Co. wear you down late. Another amateurish one will give Andy Reid his 100th win with Kansas City by three touchdowns. Chiefs 35, Eagles 18.
• Inquirer.com: All three of their Eagles beat writers are picking the Chiefs in this one, including newcomer Josh Tolentino, who sees a 33-21 victory for Andy Reid's team on Sunday...
The Chiefs and Eagles might have identical records at the moment, but there’s no hiding this week’s visitors are the far superior team. The Eagles offense has generated just three touchdowns over the past two games, which has raised many questions about first-year coach Nick Sirianni’s play-calling decisions and his game planning. NFL fans and pundits were left dumfounded in Week 3, when the Eagles rushed a franchise-low three times.
It is possible Sirianni and quarterback Jalen Hurts get on the same page at some point this season, but it’s unlikely that’ll happen this weekend against a Chiefs squad which has advanced to the Super Bowl in consecutive years. Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon insists the Eagles have created a good game plan to contain Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Co. But it’s tough to put any faith in Sirianni’s unproven offense right now.
• NJ.com: It's 6-for-6 over at NJ.com will all of their football experts taking the Chiefs. That includes Eagles beat writer Mike Kaye, who along with fellow beat Chris Franklin see the closest outcomes of the group. Here's what Mike has to say...
The Eagles will host an angry Chiefs team that’s looking to show it is still at the pinnacle of the NFL mountain. Sirianni, Gannon and Hurts will have a tough time bouncing back against a Super Bowl contender, but weirder things have happened, and the Ravens and Chargers have created a cheat sheet of how to neutralize -- or at least hinder -- Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense. Still, if the Eagles thought going score-for-score with Dallas would be hard, the Chiefs are going to be quite the hurdle on Sunday.
PICK: Chiefs 31, Eagles 23
• Bleeding Green Nation staff: Typically an Eagles-heavy field of predictions, just one BGN writer is picking the Birds. As mentioned in the lead, it's the only one you'll find in this post — but you'll have to click over to see which writer made the pick.
• Gregg Rosenthal, NFL.com: Chiefs 31, Eagles 23
This isn't about catching the Chiefs at the wrong time. The two-time defending AFC champions don't need more motivation; they need to clean up their turnovers and provide some defensive resistance in the red zone, where they have given up 12 touchdowns in 13 opponent trips. The Eagles were overwhelmed in Dallas, picked apart by a quarterback who didn't need a bunch of big plays to walk them up and down the field. Here comes another!
• ESPN staff: It's a clean sweep over at the Worldwide Leader, with all 11 of their NFL experts taking Kansas City.
• Tim McManus, ESPN.com: Chiefs 30, Eagles 22
• Adam Teicher, ESPN.com: Chiefs 34, Eagles 25
• Pete Prisco, CBS Sports: Chiefs 34, Eagles 21
The Eagles looked awful in losing to the Cowboys Monday night, while the Chiefs are coming off a turnover-plagued loss to the Chargers. The Eagles tried to get into a shootout with the Cowboys, and it backfired. They can't do that here, but they will have no choice when they are forced into it. Patrick Mahomes will get back on track to lead the Chiefs to a big victory.
• CBS Sports staff: No surprises here as all eight of their experts are picking the Chiefs.
• Mike Florio, ProFootballTalk: Chiefs 44, Eagles 27
Andy Reid returns to Philadelphia to remind the Eagles again of what they let get away.
• Michael David Smith, ProFootballTalk: Chiefs 38, Eagles 20
The Chiefs have underperformed this season, but I think they’ll put it all together in Philadelphia.
• USA TODAY Sports staff: Another sweep, with all seven of their experts going with KC.
• Bleacher Report, NFL staff: Chiefs 30, Eagles 21
In their last 14 games, the Kansas City Chiefs are just 2-12 against the spread. And now they've lost back-to-back straight-up, which has them in an unfamiliar position (known as last place in their division) entering October.
The majority of the gang believes it's time for Patrick Mahomes and Co. to make a statement as a seven-point road favorite against a Philadelphia Eagles team that was just embarrassed by the Cowboys on Monday Night Football. [...]
That said, it's understandable that two of our six pickers are apprehensive because the Chiefs have been quite flawed this season and that recent ATS record is terrifying.
• The Athletic staff: All five of their experts* are picking the Chiefs. (*This does not include their two Eagles beat writers, Zach Berman and Bo Wulf. Their picks are not up as of this writing.)
• Sheil Kapadia, The Athletic: Sheil picks games against the spread every week, and this week he's taking the Chiefs, even though their giving up seven points to the Eagles in Philly.
The Eagles had a number of issues that contributed to a blowout loss in Dallas. The coaching staff didn’t do enough to put Jalen Hurts in position to succeed. Hurts didn’t play well. The offensive line was banged up. And the defense got steamrolled. There was one snap when they trotted out a defensive line of Ryan Kerrigan, Milton Williams, Hassan Ridgeway and Tarron Jackson. With all due respect to those players, that was a reminder of how many of the Eagles’ issues are simply due to a roster that’s not very good.
The Chiefs’ defense has been a disaster, but offensively they’re fine. Kansas City ranks second in EPA per play and nearly beat the Chargers last week despite turnovers on its first three possessions. The Chiefs are 2-12 against the spread in their past 14 games going back to last year, but I just have a hard time seeing a scenario where the Eagles keep up in this one.
• Bill Bender, Sporting News: Chiefs 34, Eagles 21
Is this an early-season must-win for the Chiefs? Kansas City is a few plays from being 0-3, and the Eagles' defense has played well for the most part. The Chiefs finally got the running game going in Week 3, but turnovers were the problem. Look for Patrick Mahomes to clean it up on the road. Andy Reid, who was released from the hospital Monday, improves to 3-0 against his former team.
• Vinny Iyer, Sporting News: Chiefs 31, Eagles 27
The Chiefs return to where ailing coach Andy Reid almost won his first Super Bowl. The Eagles are coming off a short week but have the running game and unique receivers to move the ball well on Kansas City as Jalen Hurts is up for a shootout with Patrick Mahomes. It takes a little Mahomes magic to finally escape with victory in the fourth quarter.
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