Eagles vs Chiefs: 5 matchups to watch in Week 2 battle

After a 24-20 win over Dallas last Thursday to open up the season, the Philadelphia Eagles have extra time to prepare for their Week 2 Sunday game against Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium. Here are five matchups to watch.

1) Eagles' secondary vs. Chiefs' wide receivers, or lack thereof

The Chiefs knew they would be without their top wide receiver in Rashee Rice for this early season clash due to serving a suspension after being convicted for causing a "multi-vehicle chain-reaction collision" back in March of last year according to NFL.com where he pleaded guilty to two third-degree felony charges.

Rice had a strong rookie season in 2023 scoring seven touchdowns hauling in 79 catches for 938 yards. Last season, he was off to another fast start, catching 24 passes for 288 yards with a pair of touchdowns in the first three weeks of the season. However, he missed the rest of the season with an LCL and hamstring injury.

Kansas City was not expecting to perhaps be without their next best option in speedy Xavier Worthy. Worthy collided with tight end Jason Kelce running a route in the Chiefs 27-21 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil in Week 1.

Worthy, who accounted for 742 total yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie, is dealing with a dislocated shoulder due to the collision and his status for the game is unknown, although it seems unlikely he would play Sunday.

That leaves Patrick Mahomes with Hollywood Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster as his top two targets at wide receiver. Brown was the clear favorite target for Mahomes getting a whopping 16 targets last week finishing with 10 catches for 99 yards. Smith-Schuster has not been the weapon that he used to be, coming off two lackluster seasons with the Chiefs last year with 18 catches for 231 yards and two touchdowns after spending the 2023 season with New England where he failed to rack up 275 receiving yards and scored just once touchdown.

Quinyon Mitchell, who did not have his best game as an Eagle last week and Adoree' Jackson, who is getting another shot at starting CB2, have a chance to bounce back and ensure that the Eagles only have to worry about future hall of fame tight end Travis Kelce in the Chiefs passing game.

2) A.J. Brown vs. Trent McDuffie

What most likely would have been the biggest storyline from the win against Dallas if not for Jalen Carter spitting on Dak Prescott was that A.J. Brown did not get his first target and catch until 1:51 left in the fourth quarter. The star wide receiver made it known that it is something he cannot control and he can only control his effort with his route running and creating separation.

The Eagles will need to get the ball to Brown this week and to get both him and DeVonta Smith involved. However, if McDuffie shadows Brown, that will be a battle to watch throughout the game.

In Week 1, the former 21st overall pick back in 2022 played 45 snaps at outside cornerback and 11 snaps at slot corner. The cornerback is looking for a new contract, so he is playing this season with added incentive to cash in on a big payday.

Against the Eagles in Superbowl LIX, McDuffie was targeted four times, allowing two catches for 31 yards. Last week, he was targeted seven times, allowing four catches for 35 yards, but did allow a touchdown.

Last Thursday marked the fourth time Brown has had less than five targets in a game with the Eagles, excluding one game when he was injured. In the following games, he never had less than seven targets. Expect a heavy dose of Brown Sunday.

3) Kevin Patullo vs. Steve Spagnuolo

There is a lot to unpack between the chess match these two will play on Sunday, but the main focus will be how the Chiefs' defensive coordinator will attack the Eagles this time around. "Spags" and his defense sold out stopping Saquon Barkley in Super Bowl LIX, holding the league's leading rusher to just 57 yards, his lowest total in 15 games and his 2.3 yards per carry was by far the lowest mark Barkley posted in his historic first season in Philadelphia.

Many believe that Spagnuolo has created the blueprint in stopping Barkley and in turn, potentially the Eagles here in 2025. Of course, Jalen Hurts lit up the Chiefs' secondary in the Super Bowl en route to Super Bowl MVP.

However, there is room for growth for Patullo, who called his first game of as the offensive coordinator. The first four drives were fantastic. Three touchdowns and a field goal. Yet, after the weather delay, the offense struggled to move the football. Brown and Smith combined for four catches and 24 yards while Barkley only ran for 60 yards but did find the endzone.

As Shane Haff points out, the Eagles struggled mightily when running the football in heavy personnel.

Barkley shared his confidence with Patullo who is the fourth different offensive coordinator for the Eagles in the last four years and Nick Sirianni said he and the staff have to be better at getting their playmakers more involved moving forward.

4) Jalen Carter vs. Patrick Mahomes

All eyes will be on the Eagles' talented defensive tackle after his antics in Week 1. The NFL fined Carter $57,222 which equates to his game check. Now, he will get his first taste of the 2025 regular season action against Mahomes.

The savvy quarterback gets the benefit of the doubt by officiating crews drawing unnecessary roughness penalties especially near the sidelines. Last week, Mahomes received some criticism when he threw a shoulder at Chargers' cornerback Donte Jackson who was giving up on his pursuit of the quarterback.

The Chiefs will certainly try to get under the skin of Carter after seeing what he did in Week 1. Carter needs to stay poised and under control this week and make his impact felt by combatting the double team that will surely come his way to allow his teammates to get in the backfield and when he has his chances, to capitalize with his strong pass rush skills to disrupt Mahomes.

5) Tyler Steen vs. Chris Jones

Steen is in his first season as the starting right guard for the Eagles and will draw a tough task trying to help contain the talented defensive tackle in Jones. Landon Dickerson will also be helping Steen out, but Dickerson's health has been a question mark so far this season with the meniscus injury and surgery and then leaving Week 1 with a back injury.

Dickerson was seen practicing on Tuesday at the NovaCare Complex, but if Dickerson has to leave the game for any extended time Sunday, that will put a lot of pressure on backup Brett Toth and the offense as a whole.

The Eagles will not want to see Toth going up against the six-time Pro Bowler and three-time first-team All-Pro pass rusher.

The Eagles and Chiefs will be "America's Game" for Week 2 with a national kick off time set for 4:25 p.m.