Defense And The Tush Push Carry The Eagles To A Win In KC

Stop me if you have heard this before. That game was ugly, but the Eagles escaped with a win. It was their mantra for most of last year, and it has been the case in both games so far this season.

The Eagles' offense never really got going. They scored just 20 points, and 10 of those points came when they started already in great field position thanks to a turnover forced by the defense. The passing game struggled, and Barkley only had an ok game by his standards.

But the defense showed up. They held Patrick Mahomes and company to under 300 total yards and only 17 points. They were only really able to move the ball on 2 drives. The Eagles' defense stopped them on 8 of the 12 3rd-down chances.

And when things got really tight, with the Chiefs in the Red Zone threatening to take the lead, the rookie Drew Mukuba came up with a pick and ran 40+ yards to help set up a TD drive for the Eagles.

There will be a lot of talk this week about the play on offense. Kevin Patullo will face questions about his conservative play-calling. But none of it will change the fact that the Eagles are 2-0.

It took the Eagles a while to get going on offense last year. To be honest, they didn't show their full potential until the NFC Championship Game and then the Super Bowl. But in the moments they had to, they got things done. They responded to the Mukuba pick with a TD, and ran the clock out on the final drive thanks to the Tush Push.

The Tush Push was most of their offense. It was why they scored that final TD, and it was why they ended the game. They also converted a 4th down earlier in the game with it.

They need to be better. No one will deny that. There is too much talent and too much money invested in that side of the ball for the offense not to look more explosive. But we learned the importance of patience last year. Until it costs them games, they have earned a little more of it.

For large parts of last season, the defense carried them. That was certainly the case this week.

The D-Line looked disruptive with Jalen Carter back in the fray. Jordan Davis looked great again and tipped the ball at the line twice. Za'Darius Smith had a great debut. And Moro Ojomo got his first sack this season.

This was the playbook for the Eagles last year in a lot of games. It will likely be the playbook in games later this season. It might not look pretty, it might give people all over the tri-state area heartburn. But you can't argue with the results.

They went to Kansas City and beat a Chiefs team desperate to avoid going 0-2. The Chiefs look like a mess, but they are still a tough team to beat in their house. But the Eagles' defense mostly shut them down. A couple of broken plays represented most of the Chiefs' offense.

There are things to work on. But for now, the Eagles are coming back to Philly with a 2-0 record. As we know after last season, that is all that really matters.

Keep stacking up the wins, and figure everything else out along the way. Until that stops working, you kind of have to go along with it.