Chiefs top error-prone Eagles in Reid's return
PHILADELPHIA -- Andy Reid returned to Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday night, and after the home fans gave him a standing ovation, the home team gave him something even better.
Five turnovers that helped Reid's new team, the Kansas City Chiefs, beat his old team, the Philadelphia Eagles, 26-16.
Reid downplayed his return to Philadelphia, where he coached the previous 14 seasons. He praised the Philadelphia fans and new Eagles coach Chip Kelly, but he refused to take a long stroll down memory lane.
"Fourteen years is a long time, and I enjoyed every minute here," Reid said. "I didn't really think about it until the game was over. It was great to see the (Eagles) players, but it really hasn't settled in yet."
But this has: The Chiefs are 3-0, which means they've already won more games than they did all of last season, when they finished 2-14.
"That's what matters, and I know that's what means the most to Coach Reid," Chiefs cornerback Brandon Flowers said. "He didn't say much this week, but we knew this game was special to him and we really wanted to win it for him. It means a lot to us, and I know it means a lot to him, even though he'd never say it."
The five turnovers gave the Chiefs 13 of their 26 points. Kansas City made two interceptions, and one of them, by safety Eric Berry, was returned 38 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.
Kansas City's defense shut down Kelly's vaunted offense, which scored more than 30 points in each of the first two games.
"We just didn't play well, by any stretch," Eagles quarterback Michael Vick said. "(The Chiefs) didn't do anything complicated. We just didn't execute on offense. We've just got to go back to the drawing board and figure this out."
Kansas City took a 16-6 halftime lead before the Eagles (2-1) kicked a third-quarter field goal to cut the lead to a touchdown. The Chiefs drove 62 yards in eight plays and scored a touchdown on a 3-yard run by Jamaal Charles to make it 23-9 with 12:57 left to play.
Running back LeSean McCoy gave the Eagles hope when he scored on a 41-yard dash to make it 23-16 with 11:36 remaining. However, the Chiefs put together a clock-draining drive -- 15 plays, 75 yards in 8:15 -- that ended with Ryan Succop's fourth field goal of the game and finished the Eagles' chances of a comeback.
"That was huge," said Charles, who finished with 20 carries for 92 yards. "To be able to control the ball like that and also put points on the board, you could see that took a little life out of them."
Eagles linebacker DeMeco Ryans pointed to one play in particular on that drive. The Chiefs converted a third-and-10 from their own 5-yard line when quarterback Alex Smith hooked up with wide receiver Donnie Avery on a 15-yard completion.
"To me, that was the ballgame right there," Ryans said. "If we get the stop we needed, then the offense gets the ball back around midfield and it's an entirely different game. We needed to get off the field, and we didn't, and it cost us big time."
Avery finished with seven catches for 141 yards. Smith completed 22 of 35 passes for 273 yards.
For the Eagles, LeSean McCoy rushed 20 times for 158 yards, and wide receiver Jason Avant caught five passes for 87 yards and a touchdown. It was long night for Vick, though. He completed just 13 of 30 passes for 201 yards with one TD pass and two interceptions. Vick ran five times for 95 yards.
NOTES: Former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was honored during halftime ceremonies, when his No. 5 was retired. Only eight other Eagles have had their number retired. The most recent was Brian Dawkins' No. 20 last year. ... Chiefs OT Mike DeVito left the game in the second quarter with a neck injury. ... The Eagles have lost eight consecutive home games. ... The Chiefs, who came into the game 5-for-5 in red-zone situations, all TDs, were just 1-for-6 in the red zone Thursday. ... The Eagles' Bradley Fletcher was back at left cornerback after missing Sunday's loss to the San Diego Chargers with a concussion.
