The pivotal plays from Andrew Mukuba's big day, Eagles' win over the Chiefs

From Andrew Mukuba's pick to DeVonta Smith's big catch, the Tush Pushes, and one last cause to hold your breath. Here's how the Eagles beat the Chiefs.

By Nick Tricome
PhillyVoice Staff

Jay Biggerstaff/Imagn Images

Eagles rookie safety Andrew Mukuba made a crucial interception in the second half of Sunday's game against the Chiefs.

The Eagles were up, down, and everything in between, but they held on.

They beat the Chiefs, 20-17, in Arrowhead on Sunday to take the Super Bowl rematch and move to 2-0. 

Andrew Mukuba had a rollercoaster day as the rookie safety, but came up with the timely pick in the second half. Jalen Hurts struggled to find the big play, but found DeVonta Smith just in time for the crucial catch to go up 10, and the Tush Push remained unstoppable and an ever-fueling source of controversy for the league. 

Still, it's an Eagles win. Here's how it happened...

He'll get you eventually

Sunday was a stalemate in the early going, with the Eagles and Chiefs trading off punts until Kansas City kicker Harrison Butker missed the first shot at points on a 58-yard field goal attempt that sailed wide. 

The Eagles' offense took back over in a very favorable spot at midfield and chipped away, using a mix of short-yardage runs and passes to work their way down to the Kansas City 13-yard line. 

Then a hole opened up for Saquon Barkley, and he took off through it for the opening score, 7-0.

The Chiefs notoriously stacked the box in the Super Bowl to keep Barkley as contained as they could on the run. They did succeed, but at the cost of getting torched everywhere else across the field as Jalen Hurts and the rest of the offense pummeled them.

It wasn't the same scenario this time. The Eagles and Chiefs are both different teams now and were hardly expected to run the exact same game plans. 

But Barkley still loomed as that ever-present threat for the Chiefs, and on Sunday, he finally got them.

Hey, rookie! Welcome to the NFL! 😎

To a similar extent on defense, the Eagles probably weren't going to be as suffocating as they were back in February. There was just too much offseason turnover for that, along with a lot of youth getting thrown into the fire. 

To the Eagles defense's early credit, though, they didn't give Patrick Mahomes much room to move the ball around through the air. But he was seeing opportunity to tuck the ball and run. 

On a 2nd and 10 at midfield early into the second quarter, Mahomes kept the ball and ran downfield on a 22-yard scramble that brought the Chiefs into striking distance.

The Eagles kept consecutive handoffs that followed from going anywhere, though, to set up a 3rd and 8. Then, on the ensuing snap, rookie safety Andrew Mukuba blitzed straight after Mahomes and got to him untouched, bringing the QB down 11 yards backward alongside Za'Darius Smith, who was plenty noticeable himself in his Eagles debut. 

The sack limited Kansas City to only a field, a 56-yard attempt that Butker would make this time, but would keep the Eagles ahead. 

It was a huge play from the rookie, and the new guy.

Hey, rookie! Welcome to the NFL... 😦

But the NFL is a merciless league. 

The Chiefs got the ball back following an Eagles punt, and Mahomes started finding his outlets to spread the ball around, particularly toward Mukuba's way. 

Mahomes dropped a pass off for his star tight end Travis Kelce, who took the ball for 18 yards and a first down deeper into Eagles territory after Mukuba got dragged along struggling to make the tackle.

Then on a 3rd and 5 just within the red zone, Mahomes went on the run again and trucked through Mukuba for the first down, which set up for the Kansas City QB's 13-yard touchdown run on the very next play for a 10-7 KC lead late in the first half.

The highs and the lows both come fast.

Critical kicks

Hurts and the Eagles' offense, backed by unstoppable slants and one-handed catches from A.J. Brown, ran a two-minute drill to get kicker Jake Elliott on the field with only seconds to go to halftime.

After a false start moved the marker five yards back, Elliott was looking at a 58-yard field goal attempt for the 10-10 tie. He nailed it. 

Then, coming back out from the intermission and after the Eagles' defense forced a big turnover on downs, the offense pushed far enough into range again, allowing Elliott to hit on another kick from 51 yards out and for a 13-10 lead. 

Elliott, notably and uncharacteristically, struggled from 50-plus yards out last season, but between Sunday and his successful attempts from Week 1 against Dallas, he seems to be fully back to form, which is huge for the Eagles' ability to steadily produce points regardless of where a drive halts.

Hey, rookie! What a save! 🤯

Mukuba wasn't shaken coming off that bad series that led to a Kansas City touchdown.

On a 3rd and 1, Mukuba cracked down on a checkdown to receiver Hollywood Brown, and stopped him short of the first-down marker to set up a 4th and 1 at KC's own 36, which immediately got stopped upon the Chiefs' call to line up and go for it. 

Later on, after Elliott's second field goal and an exchange of punts, Mahomes marched their way down to the Philadelphia 6 with momentum seeming to swing well in their direction. 

On 2nd and goal, Mahomes went looking for Kelce over the middle and fired the pass to guide him toward the goal line. 

However, Kelce bobbled the ball and knocked it straight into the hands of Mukuba, who was in the right place at the right time for a crucial interception in the end zone. 

Mukuba had room after, and took off running to midfield to flip the game on its head until rookie tackle Josh Simmons could knock him out of bounds. 

Mukuba fought through struggle and came up big, again. 

His ball or nobody's

And the Eagles' offense was back in business, but not before their own fight. 

The Chiefs' defense was locking in on Barkley to ensure that he wouldn't beat them again, and Hurts had trouble finding any passes that stretched more than a few yards, which left the Birds facing a major 3rd and 10 pressing into the fourth quarter. 

On the snap, Kansas City sent the blitz, and Hurts threw up a prayer down the right sideline with pressure caving in. DeVonta Smith, with Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie trying to stick to him, leaped up and made the catch for the huge 28-yard gain and a reset of downs in goal-to-go territory.

A four-yard run from Barkley spotted the ball at the 1 a couple of snaps later. Everyone knew what was coming next. 

Push

And there was little Kansas City could do.

Hurts and the Eagles punched in the "Tush Push" after two 3rd- and 4th-down tries for the touchdown to go up 20-10 with less than eight minutes left. 

They had put Mahomes and the Chiefs on their heels, and forced them into a three-and-out punt after Mahomes was rushed into consecutive incompletions from pressure closing in. 

The Eagles' offense tried to shift into its signature clock-killing mode from their to take off as much time as possible, but they left their defense needing to make one more stop.

Hold on

And getting that last stop was much easier said than done, especially when flags come into play. 

Rookie linebacker Jihaad Campbell got to Mahomes too late and too up high (contact to the head) to gift Kansas City 15 yards and a first down on a pivotal 3rd and long. 

Then, after steadily chipping away but with a couple of near misses downfield, Mahomes launched a pass up toward the end zone for receiver Tyquan Thornton. 

Cornerback Quinyon Mitchell made an admirable attempt to catch up to him to try to break up the pass, but Thornton fought through the disruption and fell down with the ball for the touchdown. 

The Chiefs cut the lead to just three, 20-17, with three minutes left. 

The Eagles would have to hold on and keep Mahomes from getting the ball again. 

A recovered onside kick from A.J.Brown, a clutch nine-yard run from Barkley, and then the Tush Push took care of that.

https://www.phillyvoice.com/eagles-chiefs-score-highlights-andrew-mukuba-interception-devonta-smith-catch-tush-push/

I actually thought Makuba’s best actual play was that 3rd and 1 play on Hollywood Brown. The way he got to him so quick and stuffed him from the first down was super impressive.

I know the INT was a huge play and all credit to him there. He was in the right place and the return was fantastic (and crucial because the offense was struggling). But it needed a bit of fortune with Kelce not making the catch and so I think the 3rd and 1 play to me was more impressive and more of a glimpse of what he can do as a player.