Week 4 Game Recap: Philadelphia Eagles 37, Kansas City Chiefs 31

What you need to know

Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles looked horribly out of synch in all phases of the game in the early action on Sunday. Their run defense was dominated as they allowed the Chiefs and Priest Holmes to march down the field for a touchdown on Kansas City’s first possession. On special teams they had a field goal attempt blocked, botched an extra point, allowed a Dante Hall return touchdown on a kick-off, and fumbled a kick-off that led to an Eddie Kennison touchdown – all in the first half.

On offense, Donovan McNabb had accuracy issues during much of the early going, as he missed numerous open receivers. Towards the end of the first half, however, he began to find his touch, as he hit Terrell Owens in the front of the end zone for his first touchdown. In the second half, McNabb found L.J. Smith and long snapper Mike Bartrum in the end zone for his second and third touchdowns, respectively. McNabb finished the day with 369 total yards in the air, his third straight game with more than 300 passing yards.

Among the Eagles’ receivers, Terrell Owens was McNabb’s favorite target once again. Owens found ample room to run against the Kansas City secondary, with a large portion of his 171 total receiving yards coming after the catch. L.J. Smith continued his emergence as a top fantasy tight end, notching 67 yards and a touchdown on nine catches. Brian Westbrook was held in check by the Chiefs, as he had just 48 combined rushing and receiving yards and no touchdowns.

After allowing the Chiefs to jump out to a 24-6 lead, the Eagles’ defense seemed to find the answer to Kansas City’s multi-pronged offensive attack. Aside from Dante Hall’s return touchdown, the Eagles’ defense prevented the Chiefs from scoring on eight successive drives, allowing the Eagles to put up 31 unanswered points.

Kansas City Chiefs

On the heels of their lopsided loss to the Denver Broncos on Monday night, the Kansas City Chiefs started this game firing on all cylinders. Trent Green began the game eight of eight, and Priest Holmes seemed virtually unstoppable, as the Chiefs jumped out to an early 17-0 lead. However, this was a game of momentum swings, and in the end, four Chiefs’ turnovers proved costly, as Kansas City allowed the Eagles to score 31 unanswered points and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The Fox commentators noted that this was the biggest collapse in the history of the Chiefs’ franchise.

Priest Holmes broke off multiple long runs early in the game. He scored his lone touchdown of the day on the Chiefs’ first drive, a three yard goal line plunge. Larry Johnson struggled to find running room against the Eagles, and was also responsible for a costly fumble that led to an Eagles’ touchdown and set up their unlikely comeback.

Trent Green played well at times, but also made several costly mistakes. After moving the ball efficiently with accurate throws to Priest Holmes and Eddie Kennison, Green made a poor decision on a slant route that was intercepted and run back for a Philadelphia touchdown. He did find Kennison for a touchdown, and also found Dante Hall in the end zone at the end of the game. Hall also returned his sixth career kick-off for a touchdown. Tony Gonzalez was not a factor in the game.

What you ought to know

QB Donovan McNabb, Pass: 33 - 48 - 369 - 3 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 4 - -1 - 0

Despite being limited by a sports hernia and bruised sternum, McNabb came out throwing early and often against the Chiefs. He appeared off his game throughout much of the first half, badly missing open receivers on several occasions. Toward the end of the first half, however, things started to click for McNabb. After he threw a seven yard touchdown pass to a wide open Owens, he never looked back. Before it was all said and done, McNabb threw for 369 total yards and three touchdowns. His lone interception came on a long bomb to Owens that was slightly overthrown.

RB Brian Westbrook, Rush: 9 - 15 - 0, Rec: 6 - 33 - 0 (7 targets)

Westbrook never seemed to get it going as either a rusher or receiver against the Chiefs. Kansas City did a good job neutralizing Westbrook in the short passing game, and prevented him from breaking free in the run game. Westbrook did catch a pass to convert a two point conversion.

RB Lamar Gordon, Rush: 4 - 14 - 0, Rec: 2 - 33 - 0 (2 targets)

Gordon was in the game in the first half primarily to protect McNabb in passing situations. His first carry of the game did not come until the third quarter, and he did not play a significant role in the offense until the fourth quarter, when Philadelphia was trying to run time off the clock. He did have two red zone carries, including a run up the middle from the one yard line that was stuffed.

RB Josh Parry, Rec: 1 - 12 - 0 (1 targets)

Parry caught a 12 yard pass in the middle of the field for a first down for his lone reception of the day.

WR Terrell Owens, Rec: 11 - 171 - 1 (22 targets)

Owens made big plays all over the field against a Kansas City secondary that seemed to have no answer for his strength and athleticism. McNabb threw an incredible 22 passes in Owens’ direction, which translated into 11 catches for 171 yards and a touchdown. Many of Owens’ yards came on short underneath routes on which he was able to break multiple tackles. Owens’ touchdown came on a seven yard pass from McNabb on which he was inexplicably left wide open in the middle of the end zone. Owens would have had even gaudier statistics were it not for a bad drop in the red zone and several poorly thrown passes by McNabb. Owens also had a 21 yard catch wiped away by an offensive holding penalty.

WR Greg Lewis, Rec: 3 - 50 - 0 (6 targets)

Lewis was targeted by McNabb six times, with the bulk of those attempts coming on deep throws downfield. On the first downfield attempt, Lewis was tripped up by the defender, but it was ruled to be incidental contact by the officials and pass interference was not called. Lewis was also overthrown badly on a deep sideline route on which he had beaten his defender. He did have a bad drop on a pass that went through his hands in the red zone in the fourth quarter.

TE L.J. Smith, Rec: 9 - 67 - 1 (10 targets)

L.J. Smith was McNabb’s second favorite target in this game, and he made the most of his opportunities. Smith made big catches in the center of the field, helping the Eagles sustain drives time and again. He also had an incredible catch for a big first down at the Kansas City one yard line on a ball tipped by the defender. His touchdown came two plays later on a play fake that left him wide open in the end zone.

TE Mike Bartrum, Rec: 1 - 3 - 1 (1 targets)

The Eagles’ long snapper made the most of his sole offensive opportunity, finding open space in the back of the end zone for a pass from a scrambling Donovan McNabb.

PK Todd France 3 - 4 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 11 points

With David Akers inactive due to a torn hamstring, France made his NFL debut. After a nightmarish start marred by a blocked 41 yard field goal attempt and a botched snap on an extra point try, France came through with three clutch field goals. He hit from distances of 44, 37, and 26 yards.

PHI Rush Defense

After a bad start, the Eagles’ rush defense bunkered down and found a way to hold the Chiefs’ run game in check. They allowed 144 total yards on the ground, but the bulk of this yardage came in the first half. They also came up with a key Larry Johnson fumble that proved a critical turning point in the game.

PHI Pass Defense

The Eagles’ pass defense allowed several big plays early on, but ultimately found a way to contain Green and his receiving corps. A key moment in the game occurred when Sheldon Brown jumped a slant pass and took it to the end zone for the Eagles’ first touchdown. The Eagles sacked Green three times and came up with two interceptions.

QB Trent Green, Pass: 19 - 30 - 221 - 2 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 1 - 3 - 0

Trent Green began the game with pinpoint throwing accuracy, as he started eight for eight and led his team down the field on three successive scoring drives. Unfortunately for Green, it was a game of momentum, and once his team lost its momentum, he had great difficulty completing passes and moving the chains. Green did manage two touchdowns on the day, the first to Kennison on an eight yard slant, and the second to Dante Hall late in the game. His first interception came on a horrible throw that was returned for a touchdown. Green’s second interception was not his fault, as the ball bounced into the air off the chest of Kennison.

RB Priest Holmes, Rush: 18 - 84 - 1, Rec: 5 - 24 - 0 (9 targets)

Holmes began the game on fire, notching 41 total yards on the first series, capped off by a three yard touchdown plunge. The second series continued with more of the same, as Holmes was able to gain large chunks of yardage to the left, right, and up the middle against the Eagles’ defense. At some point in the first half, however, the game changed, and Holmes struggled to find any running room thereafter. He finished the day with 84 yards on the ground and 24 yards receiving. Sixty of those 108 total yards came on the first two series of the game.

RB Larry Johnson, Rush: 7 - 34 - 0

As is becoming the Chiefs’ custom, Johnson saw his first action in the backfield on Kansas City’s third offensive series of the game. He managed a few nice runs, but his performance was tarnished by a costly fumble at the end of the first half. The fumble, which occurred when Johnson was met head on by Jevon Kearse, let to a Philadelphia touchdown. Notably, on the Chiefs’ first possession following the fumble, Vermeil came right back with a running play to Johnson.

WR Eddie Kennison, Rush: 1 - 23 - 0, Rec: 7 - 109 - 1 (8 targets)

Kennison was Trent Green’s favorite wide receiver target. He had several nice catches on the day, including a 49 yard catch on a sideline route. Kennison’s touchdown, his first of the year, came on a quick slant on a perfect eight yard pass from Green. Kennison also had a 23 yard gain on a reverse. He did have a costly drop, which resulted in a Philadelphia interception.

WR Dante Hall, Rec: 4 - 45 - 1 (4 targets)

Hall was both a hero and a goat in this game. He started things off on a positive note with a 96 yard kickoff return for a touchdown, the sixth of his career. However, in the fourth quarter Hall lost a critical fumble on a kickoff with his team trailing by three points. Hall’s receiving touchdown came at the end of the game with the Chiefs attempting to overcome a late 13 point deficit.

WR Marc Boerigter, Rec: 1 - 38 - 0 (2 targets)

Boerigter’s only catch of the game came late in the fourth quarter during desperation time for his team.

WR Samie Parker (2 targets)

Parker had no catches in the game and dropped one pass that hit him in the chest as he was coming out of his break.

TE Tony Gonzalez, Rec: 2 - 5 - 0 (3 targets)

Gonzalez was a complete non factor in the Chiefs’ offense, marking the continuation of a disturbing trend for his fantasy owners. Gonzalez’s first target did not come until there were five seconds remaining in the first half. The TV commentators noted that Gonzalez was used as a blocker more than usual against the Eagles’ blitzing defense, although it also appeared that Gonzalez was unable to get open when he was used as a receiver.

PK Lawrence Tynes 1 - 1 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 7 points

Tynes was successful on his only field goal attempt of 38 yards.

KC Rush Defense

The Chiefs’ rush defense may have been the only bright spot for them in this game. They allowed just 29 total yards on the ground. However, it should be noted that this figure is somewhat misleading, as the pass happy Eagles only called 13 running plays all afternoon.

KC Pass Defense

The Chiefs’ pass defense had a miserable day. They allowed McNabb to throw for 369 total yards, and seemed completely unable to stop the Eagles’ passing attack. They managed one sack and one interception, but failed to get much in the way of pressure on McNabb. On the positive side, the Chiefs did a nice job of defending Westbrook in the short passing game.