After getting demolished by the Eagles in the Super Bowl, the Chiefs head back home after a brutal Week 1 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers during their matchup in Brazil, in which they gave up almost 400 yards of total offence.
Kansas City will be without wide receiver Xavier Worthy after he was listed as doubtful with a dislocated shoulder despite being limited in practice on Friday.
As for Philly, they'll be without starting tight end Dallas Goedert due to a knee injury. Goedert led the Eagles with seven receptions last week in their win over the Cowboys, posting 44 total yards in a game where quarterback Jalen Hurts was held to 152 yards through the air.
The Eagles are one-point (-1.0) favourites over the Chiefs with the over/under set at 45.5 at the time of this article.
Should the Chiefs lose, they've been given a 9% chance of going back to the Super Bowl. Only four teams in NFL history have ever reached the Super Bowl after an 0-2 start (1993 Cowboys, 1996 and 2001 Patriots, 2007 Giants).
Now, let's break it down by each team for this heavily anticipated matchup and what each has to do in order to secure a win.
Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City hasn't lost two straight games to start the season since 2014 - never under quarterback Patrick Mahomes. However, prior to this season, the Mahomes-led Chiefs had only lost one season opener - in 2023 against the Detroit Lions. They would eventually win the following week against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Safe to say, the reigning Super Bowl champion Eagles are a little better than the Jags from 2023. Despite the Chiefs playing this rematch in their own stadium, rather than in Brazil, will a home-field advantage really be enough?
They gave up the third-most passing yards (304) of any team in Week 1 and the eighth-most points while not forcing a single turnover. That kind of performance won't cut it against this Eagles team, especially if they couldn't stop an aged Keenan Allen and a two-year slot man in Ladd McConkey, who put up 142 yards and a touchdown combined.
Here's what the Kansas City Chiefs need to do to beat the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2.
First, they have to find a way to contain the Eagles' run game by any means necessary. Their front unit ranked 4th in run blocking last week, but ranked 22nd in pass blocking, allowing 12 pressures, most from the weak (right) side - tied for the most the Eagles have let up in a game since October 2023.
And this time around, it was without Micah Parsons on the Cowboys.
They're a stout offensive line, but they aren't an iron wall right now. Never let up on the gas. Stack the box, always anticipate run, and play press man-to-man coverage. Hurts barely averaged six yards per completion in Week 1. He completed 19 of his 23 passes, but only one of them was for more than 10 yards - a 51-yard bomb to Jahan Dotson, who had two other catches for a total of eight yards.
Second, keep a safety over top at all times to contain A.J. Brown. The Cowboys practically eliminated Brown from existence in Week 1 to the point that social media was making memes wondering where he was. The Eagles' receivers will beat the Chiefs' secondary at times; it's just going to happen. If the Chargers could do it, the Eagles' receiving core certainly will.
Third, on offence, sell the living daylights out of the play action. Without Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice, Philly is not going into this game scared of getting beat by Juju Smith-Schuster and Hollywood Brown. Kansas City needs to find a way to establish a consistent run game. They rushed for 98 yards last week - Mahomes made up for 57 of them.
That's a recipe for disaster against the Eagles. They will cook the Chiefs alive and eat them with Arthur Bryant's barbeque sauce poured on top.
Philadelphia Eagles
Had it not been for some crucial drops and a fumble in the red zone by the Cowboys, we could've been looking at both reigning Super Bowl teams entering Week 2 with a 0-1 record.
Philly by no means had a dominant Week 1 performance against a very average Dallas squad. They did a lot of things wrong before the lightning delay, and that includes their secondary looking like Swiss cheese at times - especially starting cornerback Adoree Jackson, who gave up 103 yards on seven targets (five receptions).
Jackson was rated 110 out of 113 cornerbacks last week. Now, is he going up against CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens this week? No. But best believe Mahomes and Reid are going to find a way to target him.
Here's what the Philadelphia Eagles need to do to beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2.
First, I said this last week for the Chargers - do not play zone coverage and/or let tight end Travis Kelce get into any sort of open space. It happened last week and the Chiefs got a touchdown out of it.
Philly's rookie linebacker Jihaad Campbell posted the fourth-best coverage grade out of 100 linebackers in Week 1. Even if he is a rookie, Kelce isn't the stud he used to be.
Have the young Campbell on Kelce like glue, no matter what. Taking away Kelce and forcing Mahomes to throw to anyone else is the best-case scenario. Campbell made a great stop here during this Cover 2 defence that most linebackers will never make - just put him on Kelce to put begin with.
Secondly, find a way to put Mahomes on the grass. The Chargers put up 11 pressures on Mahomes last week and recorded two sacks - it can be done. Philly, on the other hand, despite putting pressure on Prescott, left Week 1 as one of only three teams that didn't record a sack.
They're also one of two teams (Lions) in the entire NFL that haven't recorded both a sack and an interception yet. This week would be a perfect time to do so.
So what's the formula?
Attack the Chiefs' strong side. Left tackle Josh Simmons and left guard Kingsley Suamataia gave up seven of the 11 pressures and five of the eight QB hurries in Week 1. Mahomes was the top-rated quarterback last week when given more than 2.5 seconds to throw the ball.
When he was given less than that? He ranked 26th - and the one time he was forced to throw under that time, it was, you guessed it, the TD throw to Kelce in open space.
And if Philly wants Mahomes to scramble, which I doubt they do, considering he's very smart running with the ball, and it's drastically the most underrated aspect of his game, force him left. Both of the Chargers' sacks came from Mahomes scrambling out through the B and C gaps on the left side.
Lastly, throw the ball down the field. Wanting to keep Mahomes off of it for as long as possible is, indeed, smart. And in doing so, establishing the run game (which the Eagles are experts at) is key. However, the Chiefs have too smart a defence to let Hurts constantly throw the short ball or let him and Saquon Barkley do as they please.
They will be expecting the run, so utilize the play action for shots down the field against their weak safeties.
Chiefs' Chamarri Conner was graded 66th out of 69 safeties last week, while five of the top seven coverage grades went to other players on the team who aren't in the secondary. If cornerback Trent McDuffie is not lined up wide, or safety Bryan Cook is in the slot or box, Hurts needs to let his receivers do their thing on a deep ball like Herbert did here with Quentin Johnston against Jayden Hicks - who was rated the 68th safety out of 69 last week.
Eagles vs. Chiefs preview roundup
Both teams have their strengths, but they undoubtedly have their weaknesses - specifically in the secondary and offensive line. While some talking heads say the Chiefs didn't look motivated, the Eagles were also on the brink of a Week 1 upset themselves.
Call it rust or call it how the teams actually are, in the end, it doesn't matter. Any given Sunday, right? Nobody knows what will happen. And nobody knows these teams better than the ones preparing to play the game themselves.
Either way, we're all in for a treat on Sunday.
The game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs on September 14th will be available to watch on FOX and NFL+.