KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jalen Hurts ran for two touchdowns, including a go-ahead goal in the fourth quarter, and the Philadelphia Eagles rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat the Kansas City Chiefs 21-17. in Monday night’s Super Bowl rematch.
The Eagles (9-1) insisted all week that they weren’t looking to avenge February’s 38-35 loss, but Nick Sirianni’s team did a little of it anyway. He shut out Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs (7-3) in the second half, defeating former coach Andy Reid for the first time in five games since coming to Kansas City after being fired from Philadelphia.
Eagles center Jason Kelce also got his brother Travis Kelce’s vest for the first time. The Chiefs tight end could have taken advantage of the good fortune of pop star and girlfriend Taylor Swift, who was forced to miss the game — in the first half as Kansas City was about to extend the lead to 17-14. In the 4th quarter, he fumbled the ball in the red zone and sent it away.
With less than two minutes left, the Chiefs still had a chance, converting on fourth down and then being helped by a roughing the passer penalty. But Mahomes’ perfectly placed ball went through the hands of Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a 51-yard touchdown, and the Eagles stopped Kansas City on fourth down to tie the game.
Hurts threw for just 150 yards on the pick, but he made plays in the second half that Mahomes couldn’t. He also got help from D’Andre Swift, who ran for 76 yards and one score, and DeVonta Smith, who caught six balls for 99 yards.
This will be the ninth time the Super Bowl teams have met in the following year’s regular season, with the champion winning the previous four meetings. Their last loss was against Dallas during the 1993 season.
Mahomes was held to 177 passing yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the end zone. Isaiah Pacheco rushed for 89 yards for the Chiefs, but they couldn’t overcome two turnovers in the red zone and a slew of penalties.
Unlike the Super Bowl, where the Eagles blew a 10-point lead at halftime, the Chiefs entered intermission with a 17-7 lead on Monday night.
The game was tied at 7-all after Hurts and Mahomes traded touchdown throws in the first quarter, but it was still tied when Mahomes beat Kelce on third down for a TD with 1:45 left. And when the Eagles got the ball back, they quickly gave it back with sacks of Trent McDuffie and George Karlaftis with 44 seconds left.
For Mahomes, there was enough time to get the Chiefs within range for Harrison Butker to add a 43-yard field goal.
But while the Chiefs get a lot of credit for their prolific offense, they have had a terrible second half this season, scoring a league-low 53 points entering Monday night. And after two quick punts to start the first half, Philadelphia finally took advantage of its good field position and marched downfield before Hurts ended the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run.
The Chiefs continued to outdo themselves and the Eagles continued to take advantage.
In addition to penalties derailing the first two drives of the second half, Kelce fumbled the ball at the Philadelphia 8 early in the fourth quarter. And when the Chiefs got the ball back and had to punt a few minutes later, Justin Watson failed to get the ball down at the Philadelphia 1, resulting in a touchback and giving Hurts and others some breathing room.
They went 80 yards in the opposite direction and Hurts’ sneak gave Philadelphia a 21-17 lead with 6:20 left.
