KC Chiefs vs. Eagles: Getting perspective behind enemy lines
By Matt Conner
As the K.C. Chiefs get ready to visit Philadelphia this weekend to take on the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field, the matchup is a bit interesting this season because there are a lot of unknowns for the average fan here. Unless someone follows the NFL very closely, it can be hard to know much about the Eagles given they place in the NFC East, a division that rotates through the Chiefs schedule once every four seasons.
The Eagles have a brand new head coach in Nick Sirianni and have recently turned the page from the short-lived Carson Wentz-era. They’ve got talented young players on both sides of the ball, but are in the midst of a two-game losing streak themselves as they struggle to put it all together on the field in a cohesive showing. In addition, given that it’s still so early in the season, it can be hard to get an accurate read on just how good (or bad) Philly really is.
Fortunately we have some good friends who can help here. Geoffrey Knox (follow him here on Twitter) is the editor at Inside the Iggles, a great Eagles fan site, and an expert on all the things we wanted to ask him. He gave us the inside scoop on underrated players to watch, defensive weaknesses to exploit and even gave us his prediction for the big game.
What is the perspective of this game for Philly with the Chiefs coming into town a bit exposed by two straight losses?
Truthfully, after a gut-wrenching loss to our rivals, everyone’s in a mini-funk about this Eagles squad. No one saw this team as having a better roster than Dallas. Heck, most of us were probably predicting that this one would be a loss, but you and I both know, there’s a way to lose if it’s going to happen. The product that this team put out there was inexcusable.
Naturally, when that happens, the first thing that you want to do is get a taste that’s as nasty as that one out of your mouth as quickly as possible. There’s just one problem. The next opponent is a far superior football team, one that’s better coached and is coming off of a two-game losing streak of their own.
The Chiefs aren’t a bad team. They could easily be 3-0. As for Philly, that isn’t the case at all. There are a lot of people here that are bracing themselves for another blowout loss.
Where did you expect the Eagles to be at this point?
I honestly expected the 1-2 start. Nothing’s looked as I expected though.
I thought they’d beat the Atlanta Falcons, albeit by a much smaller margin. I guess I thought they’d squeak by. I had the game versus the San Francisco 49ers and the game versus the Dallas Cowboys as losses. Again, however, what sickens me is the manner in which they’ve lost. I need to see some fight and soon.
Had they lost but been competitive, I’d be okay with that. The best team just won. But this? This won’t fly in Philadelphia.
I apologize. I’ve regressed. To answer your question, at this point of the season, I expected a sub-.500 team, but I did, however, with all of the talent that this team has, expect much better efforts and cleaner-looking games.