5 bold predictions for Eagles against Chiefs

3. DeVonta Smith has a breakout performance

DeVonta Smith was a major addition to the Philadelphia Eagles, but the team has yet to reap the reward.

There’s a lot of pressure on the rookie receiver — Smith was the 2020 Heisman Trophy winner and the fourth wide receiver to ever win the award — but his 2021 stats haven’t been enough to have warranted a 10th-overall pick.

Smith racked up over 1,800 yards in his senior season at Alabama, but he’s only got 115 yards and a touchdown through three games. The touchdown and 71 of those yards came from Week 1 alone, meaning the past two weeks haven’t been kind to the receiver.

Still, all of Smith’s collegiate accolades should translate to some extent in the NFL, and pressure on Eagles’ coaching staff to come out with a win could mean more involvement for Smith.

The team did target him seven times against the 49ers, but as with many deep-shot receivers, not every pass is going to pan out for a significant gain. But the pressure is on for Smith to pay off on his draft stock, as he currently leads the offense in targets with 20 over three games. Hurts needs to continue looking at his former Alabama teammate so that the Eagles can exploit the mismatch against the Chiefs secondary.

2. The Eagles defense wins the turnover battle

The Eagles didn’t win on Monday night, but they did win the ball in one significant play: Fletcher Cox’s fumble recovery that resulted in a touchdown.

What’s noteworthy here is that when the Eagles offense didn’t deliver, the defense was able to secure a turnover that got them another six points, which could have made the difference if it were a low-scoring game.

While the Chiefs never hold games to low-scoring affairs, the defense can still make a difference by getting costly turnovers, especially from Patrick Mahomes.

The Chiefs left the game with four turnovers, which certainly made the difference in a narrow 30-24 loss to the Chargers in Week 3. Two of those turnovers were interceptions thrown by Mahomes, with one of them being a no-look pass. On both passes, Mahomes was scrambling on unsure footing, which affected the placement of the pass and the position of the receiver.

Andy Reid will definitely consult his team in Week 4 to avoid such errors, but if the Chiefs turn over the ball, the Eagles must have the playmakers to wrestle away with fumbles and lurk for interceptions.

Cox made history last week by tying a record defensive tackles for most fumble recoveries for a touchdown with three. It’s just more evidence that Cox is one of many who will apply pressure and seek to catch the Chiefs off-guard for another game-changing turnover.