6 winners and 4 losers from Chiefs’ Week 2 matchup vs. Eagles: Positives outweigh the negatives despite loss
All is not lost.
We are in uncharted territory for this era of Kansas City Chiefs football.
They have begun the 2025 season with an 0-2 record and is the only team in the AFC West without a win. The Chiefs fell to the Philadelphia Eagles 20-17 on Sunday, and a couple more key players sustained injuries. However, there were many positive things to takeaway from the game, giving us hope for an eventual turnaround.
Here are six winners and three losers we identified from Kansas City’s Week 2 loss to the Eagles.
Winner: DC Steve Spagnuolo
After coming out flat and getting shredded by the Los Angeles Chargers last week, Spagnuolo had his defense ready for the Eagles’ offense. The unit started the game fired up, forcing punts on Philadelphia’s first two possessions.
Spagnuolo was bringing the heat all day on quarterback Jalen Hurts, as the Chiefs’ defense sacked him twice and forced several errant throws. The Eagles’ offense accumulated just 216 total yards on the day, and converted on only five of 13 third downs.
Winner: Chiefs’ secondary
Spagnuolo has a hand in this as well, but the secondary was particularly impressive. Hurts threw for a lowly 101 yards (4.6 yards per completion) and zero touchdowns on Sunday. When Hurts did complete a pass, Chiefs defensive backs were quick to close in and make the tackle.
That was very encouraging to see after witnessing multiple missed tackles last week. The most impressive of the bunch was rookie cornerback Nohl Williams, who stepped in for the injured Kristian Fulton and recorded two pass breakups against Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Brown.
Loser: TE Travis Kelce
It’s tough to criticize the future Hall of Famer who has reached legendary status, but Sunday was a day for Kelce to forget. In the most crucial play of the game, Kelce let a perfectly thrown pass from quarterback Patrick Mahomes bounce off his hands, resulting in a goal line interception.
Instead of K.C. scoring and taking a four-point lead, the turnover led to an Eagles TD that ultimately sealed the game. Last week Kelce chewed out right tackle Jawaan Taylor for committing too many penalties, and this week he was shouting and throwing his helmet on the sidelines in frustration of how the offense was executing. Those things ring hollow when you’re also making big mistakes.
Winner: Patrick Mahomes
For the second straight week, Mahomes put the Superman cape on and carried the Chiefs’ offense. Like he did against the Chargers, Mahomes led the team in rushing yards with 66, which included an impressive 13-yard TD run late in the second quarter.
Mahomes’ performance against Philadelphia wasn’t anything to write home about statistically, but remember he is down three of his top four wide receivers, and the offensive line still being a bit of a work in progress. The numbers may not be there, but Mahomes has been every bit the superstar that we’re accustomed to watching.
Loser: Chiefs’ rushing attack
Mahomes being the team’s leading rusher through two games, by far, isn’t a good thing. Running backs Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt totaled 13 less rushing yards (53) than Mahomes had against the Eagles (66).
Pacheco and Hunt are only averaging a combined 3.3 yards through the first two games of the season. That is putting a lot of extra pressure on Mahomes as defenses are bringing extra blitzers on him and not respecting the threat of play-action.
Winner: DT Omarr Norman-Lott
The rookie made his regular season debut in Week 2, and his impact was felt. Norman-Lott recorded two tackles (one for loss), one sack, and one quarterback hit. The sack that he got on Hurts was a memorable one.
The Chiefs’ defensive line needed some extra juice after a poor showing against Los Angeles, and Norman-Lott provided that.
Loser: DT Chris Jones
Unfortunately, Norman-Lott’s counterpart didn’t do much to help him out. Like Kelce, Jones had his own tirade on the sidelines early in the game. However, Jones went on to commit multiple penalties on the day.
When the Eagles put the game away and took a knee on the final play, Jones embarrassingly yelled at Hurts for not having 100 yards (Hurts had 101 passing yards), to which Hurts responded, “We won the (expletive) game, shut your (expletive) up.”
Winner: WR Tyquan Thornton
The Chiefs puzzlingly waited until the fourth quarter to take a shot downfield with Thornton. He broke wide open on the first try, but Mahomes missed him.
However, Thornton blew pass the Eagles’ secondary again, catching a 49-yard TD pass on K.C.’s final possession. Last week against the Chargers, Thornton recorded a 38-yard reception from Mahomes.
Loser: K Harrison Butker
Butker is one of the best kickers in the league, but is off to a bit of a shaky start in 2025. He missed a PAT against L.A. in Week 1, and missed a 58-yard field goal attempt against Philadelphia in the first quarter of Sunday’s game. That’s certainly a long distance, but in a big game such as that, the Chiefs need him to come through.
Winner: OT Josh Simmons
Simmons hasn’t been perfect throughout his first two NFL games, but he has impressed. He brings and energy and toughness you love to see in a franchise left tackle, and he hung tough against an elite Philadelphia defensive line.
Simmons also showed grit by returning to the game after briefly being injured. You wouldn’t know he was injured after Simmons ran down Eagles safety Andrew Mukuba after he picked off Mahomes, reaching a top speed of 18.35 MPH before making the tackle.