The Super Bowl rematch is here - is NFL season on the line for Chiefs?

The Kansas City Chiefs were dismantled, demoralised and dispatched with ease by the Philadelphia Eagles to fall short of Super Bowl history in February - but a chance to counter-punch awaits on Sunday. They must not miss. 

An Eagles-heavy Superdome erupted in largely-undisturbed delight to the sight of Jalen Hurts, the league's best Lane Johnson-anchored blockade and Philly's throttling defense denying Patrick Mahomes' Chiefs a third straight Lombardi Trophy with a 40-22 victory.

It served as sweet revenge for their marginal Super Bowl defeat against Andy Reid's dynasty team two years earlier, an ice-cold Hurts ousting Steve Spagnuolo's famed defense while Vic Fangio's attack dogs had Mahomes running for his life with little in the way of receiver assistance.

New Orleans had witnessed a ruthless mismatch in physicality, roster depth, pass rush power, pass-catching talent and high-octane football on both sides of the ball.

Was Kansas City's chapter of supremacy at its end? That is what the NFL is seeking to determine this year.

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"I mean, it sucks that you lose the game, but in order to progress and to be better next time, you have to watch and learn from it," said Mahomes. "And so, I don't know the exact amount of times, but you watch it, and then you watch it in the offseason with the team and with the coaches, and then you watch it obviously this week as well."

Alarm bells ringing for Chiefs

The Chiefs opened their 2025 campaign in defeat last week as they fell 27-21 to the Justin Herbert-inspired Los Angeles Chargers in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Familiar frailties resurfaced once more in the form of pass protection issues, a feeble pass rush, leaky coverage and - perhaps most notably - separation problems amid an understaffed receiving core. Flashes of wizardry from Mahomes remained on the menu, but, as the Chiefs have learned by now, not even No 15 can compensate for the roster holes around him.

Mahomes and Kansas City now face the prospect of falling to 0-2 for the first time since 2014, which marked the last time they missed out on the playoffs. They enter Sunday both blessed and burdened by the lessons of February's painful loss, which they hope to avoid becoming a defining full stop in the Mahomes and Reid era.

"That's part of playing the game," Mahomes said on Wednesday. "You learn from your failures, just like you learn from the positive things you do, and then you come back and play better football this week, and it's going to take our best football to go out there and get a win."

Only five of 40 teams to start their season 0-2 since 2020 - when the NFL playoff field increased to 14 teams - have reached the postseason, while 35 of 288 teams to start 0-2 have made the playoffs since 1990, when the postseason field was increased from 10 to 12.

Kansas City have visited five of the last six Super Bowls while winning nine straight AFC West division titles as successors to New England's perennial dominance. But between their Super Bowl slump, their loss to the Chargers and an 81-point opening week epic between AFC foes Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, they look alarmingly off the pace.

Philly's pass rush vs Chiefs o-line

Among the staples to February's victory and to Howie Roseman's roster construction has been the depth and rotation of premium talent up front for the Eagles' defense.

Nick Sirianni's side logged 16 pressures and six sacks on Mahomes during the Super Bowl, while relying solely on a four-man pass rush to mark just the fourth time in the Next Gen Stats era that a team did not send a blitz.

"They had a great game plan," Mahomes said. "They played hard and did a great job of disrupting my timing. I have to learn from that, find ways to get the ball out of my hand.

"When the opportunities are there, I think that's something I did miss early in the game, is there was opportunities to make plays and you've got to make those plays because if you don't, they're not going to allow those opportunities again."

Jalen Carter - who swerved further suspension for his spit on Dak Prescott - has established himself as one of the NFL's luxury game-changing wrecking balls alongside old Georgia friend Jordan Davis, while Nolan Smith Jr appeared to supersede doubts over his size with elite bend, speed and precision off the edge to showcase potential as a stalwart pass rusher towards the end of last season.

But there is a new look to Philly's defense following the offseason departures of Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, CJ Gardner-Johnson, Darius Slay and retired cornerstone Brandon Graham. In came former New York Giants' Azeez Ojulari as a rotational option alongside former Chief Josh Uche, the latter of whom registered the highest pass rush grade in the league in Week One.

The personnel change showed in their opening-day win over the Dallas Cowboys as they failed to register a single sack on Prescott, as much prompting the signing of veteran free agent pass rusher Za'Darius Smith as they seek to retain the four-man rush ability customary to any modern contending team.

For Kansas City, it is the latest test of a porous offensive line they sought to address by using their first-round pick on rookie left tackle Josh Simmons. They re-signed guard Trey Smith, but between the loss of Joe Thuney and early struggles for Jawaan Taylor and Kingsley Suamataia, a weakness of last year remains a major concern.

Who can Mahomes trust?

Kansas City's problems in the trenches might not feel as accentuated were Mahomes surrounded with more playmakers and supplemented by a more dynamic running game.

Hollywood Brown and Rashee Rice missed a combined 28 games in the regular season last year, prematurely warranting an expanded role for then-rookie wideout Xavier Worthy, who suddenly had to bolster straight-line speed with a stretchier route tree. What's more, an ageing Travis Kelce lacked the juice of previous campaigns as he put up a career-low 823 yards, he and mid-season pick-up DeAndre Hopkins visibly struggling to get off the line of scrimmage in the face of a rampant Eagles defense at the Super Bowl.

Mahomes again finds himself short on support. Rice, fast-becoming Mahomes' new most trusted target prior to his injury in 2024, is in the middle of a six-game suspension, while Worthy faces time out after dislocating his shoulder during a crossing route collision with Kelce after playing just three offensive snaps against the Chargers.

"I just got to be better, man. I'm 13 years in the league," said Kelce this week. There's no excuse for me running into my own guys like that. Worthy has his guy beat and we're out the gate, and that game starts completely different."

Brown, in turn, enjoyed his best day in a Chiefs jersey with 10 catches for 99 yards to preview the heightened responsibility that awaits. JuJu Smith-Schuster was the next busiest receiver with five catches for 55 yards, while Tyquan Thornton went for 41 yards off two receptions. It does not make for pretty or hope-fuelling reading.

"He'll be big these next couple of weeks," Mahomes said of Brown. "It's something I think he's ready for."

Mahomes has operated two different offenses since entering the NFL, as much stemming from the league's effort to clamp down on his influence. A once-explosive deep-threat attack spearheaded by Tyreek Hill was forced to evolve into a more methodical, patient, drive-building system built on clock control and short-to-intermediate routes, both down to Hill's departure and defensive coordinators turning to four-man rushes and two-high safety coverages to squeeze the field.

Mahomes notably had a passer rating of 117.1 on passes to receivers 20-plus yards downfield from 2018-22, compared to a rating of 44.8 across 2023 and 2024. He and Reid adapted necessarily and as successfully as they could have hoped, rewarded by two more Super Bowls, even if the football was not as pretty or absorbing. But the cracks have widened and the league's best play-caller needs more help.

Among the last things a stuttering offense needs to see is what might be the NFL's most accomplished linebacker duo in Zack Baun and rookie Jihaad Campbell. And while there are still questions at safety, Quinyon Mitchell remains a no-throw-zone.

Can the Chiefs blunt Hurts and co?

For all that continues to be said of their regression on offense, scrutiny is bubbling for Spagnuolo's defense and its ability to rediscover the levels that saw them define Kansas City's road to the last three Super Bowls.

Where they could once rely on the veteran and tempo-switching knack of winning match-ups Chris Jones offered Joe Alt's success is neutralising the Chiefs focal point for the Chargers turned an unflattering light towards the lack of production outside of him.

George Karlaftis signed a new four-year, $93m deal as Jones' primary support in the offseason, but could not prove enough of a factor to grant Spagnuolo a licence to trust in his four-man rush. Spags committed more bodies, and Herbert willingly took advantage to punish them through the air.

The loss of Justin Reid delivered a dent at safety, while Tershawn Wharton's exit in free agency has also left a hole on the interior of the Chiefs front. If not Jones, it has become difficult to identify a consistent source of pressure.

The beauty of Spagnuolo's defense at its best has been the freedom to disguise and rotate his coverages in a bid to tarnish a quarterback's field diagnosis. He also dials up the most creative, most exotic blitzes in the NFL; he does not want to be drawn away from as much by a failure to win one-on-one up front. Karlaftis hitting double figures in sacks feels a necessity if the Chiefs are to be successful this year.

Spagnuolo's game plan in February had largely centred around stuffing the NFL's 2,000-yard man Saquon Barkley in favour of daring Hurts to beat him. Sure, Barkley had one of his quietest days with 57 rushing yards off 27 carries. But Hurts did, in fact, beat him.

The Super Bowl MVP finished 17 of 22 for 221 yards, two touchdowns and a pick, while rushing for 72 yards and a score in the latest instalment of his big-stage prowess. He led the way again versus the Cowboys as he threw for 152 yards while rushing for 62 yards and two scores as Barkley ran for just 60, a bizarre sub-plot, though, coming in the form of AJ Brown's one catch from one target. A head-scratcher.

Neither team will buy into the 'rematch' or 'revenge' title. Victory will not nurse Kansas City's wounds, but it will kick their season off amid the threat of an ominous 0-2 start.

"It's just another opportunity for us," said Hurts this week. "That's how I'm approaching it. We've got a long [way to go], we can learn from this past week. We know we're playing a really good team. It's a new team, and we're a new team."

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