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The obvious storyline to the marquee game of the Week 11 NFL schedule between the 8-1 Eagles and 7-2 Chiefs Monday night in Kansas City is that this is a rematch of February’s Super Bowl.
The Eagles, of course, are seeking revenge for losing the Super Bowl to the Chiefs.
The more fascinating storyline (with all due respect to the Swifties in the audience who wait with bated breath to see Taylor Swift in a private suite rooting on her beau, Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce) is the fact this Chiefs team has not been powered by Patrick Mahomes and its explosive offense this year (or by Swift’s presence) but rather by its defense.
Let’s credit Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo for carrying this season to date, because his defense has been better than Andy Reid’s offense stacked with the likes of Mahomes, Kelce and a band of other top skill-position talent.
The Chiefs are allowing an average of 15.9 points per game, which is tied for the best in the NFL, and they’ve allowed 20 or fewer points in each of their seven wins.
The Chiefs have not allowed any team to score more than 24 points in a game this season, and their only two losses came when their own offense failed to score more than 20.
In Kansas City’s latest win, over the Dolphins in Germany two weeks ago, its defense produced a TD of its own, which proved to be the margin of victory, as well as a fourth-down stop in the final minutes that kept the game from going to overtime.
“They fly to ball, have a great D-line and a great secondary and it’s going to be a great challenge for us,’’ Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts said this week.
“I think Spags is doing about as good as he’s ever done in this league, and he’s been a great coordinator for a long time,’’ Eagles center Jason Kelce said this week of Spagnuolo. “They play well as a unit, they disguise things, things look similar, so it’s hard tell what’s coming [and] when. You really have to be on you’re a game.’’
Mahomes said his team’s defense has “got to be the top defense in the NFL.’’
In fact, in six seasons since Mahomes became the starter, the Chiefs have never ranked in the top 10 in total defense, and one year they were the second-worst in the league. This season they’re tied for the lead in scoring defense and fourth in total defense.
Kansas City has needed its defense to save it, because the Chiefs offense has failed to score more than 20 points in four games. That’s quite a change from the explosive offensive identity of the teams that won two Super Bowl titles in the past four seasons.
“I knew they were going to be good,” Mahomes said. “You look at the end of last year, they played some great football and no one really noticed. I think if the offense gets to where it needs to be, we’ll be a tough team to beat.”
Both teams hold the current No. 1 seeds in their respective conferences. For the Eagles, securing home-field advantage is paramount considering the record Hurts has at home, having won 16 of his past 17 starts, including the last nine, in Philly.
Both teams are coming off bye weeks. Hurts, who’s been nursing a left knee injury, has had extended time to allow it to heal during the bye week.
Both Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and his Eagles counterpart Nick Sirianni this week told reporters they looked at film of their Super Bowl matchup in preparation for this game.
“What happened in the past, happened in the past,” Sirianni said. “We’ll learn from our mistakes. We’ll get better from the things we did well. But I would be lying if I didn’t say, ‘Argh, if this would have happened or that would have happened,’ once in a while. But we’re not dwelling on it.”
Of note, reigning Super Bowl champions are 6-2 in rematch games the following season.
Among the juicy subplots to this game include Reid, the former Eagles coach, and his uncanny success in games after the bye week — a record of 31-6. He was 13-1 in the regular season and 9-3 after bye weeks in the postseason while coaching with the Eagles.
Both teams enter this game very proficient in close games. The Chiefs are 4-1 in games decided by fewer than 10 points and the Eagles are 5-1 in games decided by a touchdown or less.
“You’ve got great teams in general,’’ Mahomes said. “Two teams that usually find a way to get a win, playing on ‘Monday Night Football’ in front of the whole world. I think it’s going to be a great game.”
That’s precisely why it’s The Post’s Game of the Week.
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