The Kansas City Chiefs marched into Week 11 coming out of a bye week poised for a Super Bowl rematch with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Monday night game had many storylines surrounding it: Kelce rematch, clash of No. 1 seeds, battle of (maybe) the best teams in the NFL, and of course the Super Bowl rematch.
Both rosters looked different, with each team losing and acquiring key players. Some of these new players shined in the game.
The Chiefs struck first with Patrick Mahomes throwing a unique jump pass to Justin Watson in the back of the end zone. Not long after, the Eagles scored on a four-yard run from D'Andre Swift. That's all the Eagles would be able to do in the first half, though.
Kansas City, however, found paydirt again and added a Harrison Butker field goal as time expired to go into halftime, 17-7. However, the second half told a different, but familiar story for the Chiefs.
The Chiefs were held scoreless in the second half, and the Eagles would add two rushing scores from Jalen Hurts. The Eagles won the Super Bowl rematch, 21-17, improving to a league-best 9-1 record.
The story for the Chiefs was and is the mistakes made. Travis Kelce fumbled in the red zone, stalling the Chiefs' momentum. Also, many drops put the team in bad positions, including a deep drop to Marquez Valdes-Scantling that would've given the Chiefs the lead.
Patrick Mahomes offers blunt, true assessment of Chiefs issues
Patrick Mahomes summed it up perfectly after the game.
"Simple as we just have to get better at the second half," Mahomes said to the media, per NFL.com. And the stats support this.
In their last two games, one in a win against the Miami Dolphins and the other a loss against the Denver Broncos, the Chiefs did not score any second-half points. Another disturbing stat is that the Chiefs have now put up five fewer points than the 3-8 Chicago Bears this season (230 to 225).
The Chiefs need to address their offensive struggles as they try to defend their Super Bowl championship. They now fall out of the No. 1 seed in the AFC, with the Baltimore Ravens now occupying the throne.