Chiefs vs Eagles: Grading Kansas City’s Win Over Philadelphia

Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Andy Reid’s Kansas City Chiefs took down Chip Kelly’s “high-flying” Philadelphia Eagles 26-16 tonight in Philly. This victory, however, was won differently than Reid’s former Eagle teams. Tonight it was Reid’s defense that stepped up and played brilliantly, not the offense.

This game will be broken down intensely in the coming week (and deservedly so), but for now let’s hand out some grades:

Offense

This offense isn’t pretty, and probably won’t be. There were a number of ugly stretches during the game, especially from the offensive line. Illegal formation penalties, holding calls, and plain missed blocks made it hard for this squad to find a rhythm.

Additionally, Andy Reid likes to throw. A lot. I knew this was true, but it was nearly to the detriment of this team tonight. There were times when the Chiefs provided Philly with no threat to run, and as a result, the Eagles were pinning back their ears and coming right after Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith.

The saving grace for this unit was that final drive. It was, simply put, clutch. Backed up inside their own 10, Smith took his boys on a long, 8+ minute drive that ended in a monster field goal and basically sealed the game.

Just like last week, it wasn’t pretty, but the job got done.

Grade: C+

Defense

In 2012, the Chiefs let up 40 points in their opening game against Atlanta. This year, they’ve allowed 35 in the first 3 games played.

In 2012, they had 27 sacks in 16 games. Through 3 games this year, they have 14.

After week 1, the NFL community was enamored with Chip Kelly’s fast-paced offense, and was anointing the Eagles’ as an offensive juggernaut. The Chiefs held this same offense to 16 points tonight.

The bottom line is this: The man coverage on the outside is working; the Chiefs are leveraging the unique skills of their defensive players, and the defense is showing us they are special.

Grade: A+

Special Teams

Not sure how many times I can say that Dustin Colquitt is the man, so I’m going to consider that a given at this point, and move on.

Quintin Demps is an excellent return man, and had two solid returns in this game. Not sure why McCluster came in to return a kick late in the game. Dave Toub doesn’t seem sold on Demps as the full-time returner, as last week he tried to shoe-horn Knile Davis into that spot as well.

As far as the kicking game goes, I haven’t looked at hard numbers, but Ryan Succop’s accuracy at anything longer than forty yards has to plummet.

This week, Succop’s miss and McCluster’s poor return attempt keep this unit from an A.

Grade: B+

Coaching

As I mentioned above, Reid loves passing. Though the play calling could have come back to burn the Chiefs, it didn’t, so it’s hard to complain. Bob Sutton’s defensive scheme is fun to watch, and you’ve got to hand it to this team for being themselves, and forcing the opponent to play their game, and not the other way around. The penalties need to come down, but overall, a good game for the coaching staff on a short week.

Grade: B

Okay, that’s my take on Week 3. Let me hear you below, Addicts.