Why Chiefs Won’t Panic if Trailing Eagles

So, should the Chiefs fall behind against the Eagles in Sunday’s Super Bowl rematch (3:25 p.m. CT, FOX/WDAF Channel 4, 96.5 The Fan), hope will be abundant on the Kansas City sideline.

“There's always confidence anytime we're down , up, whatever it is in the game,” cornerback Trent McDuffie said Friday. “We always feel like on the defense, as long as we get the ball back to him, we always have a shot.

“And I think he's been one of those quarterbacks that, year in, year out, he's brought us back. He's won games for us, and it's a good feeling, and it's a big confidence boost that you can go out there, make a few plays, and once the ball is back in his hands, we have a good shot.”

Coaches factor in, too

Should the Eagles fall behind, they’ll have a good shot, too. That’s because head coach Nick Sirianni owns a 12-11 (.522) career record in games when the Eagles are needing a game-winning drive. That’s the NFL’s second-best mark among active coaches in those situations (when tied or down by one score or less in the fourth quarter or overtime), trailing Kevin O’Connell (16-11, .593).

Andy Reid in those situations ranks sixth at 83-95-1 (.466). And because both head coaches on Sunday have proven their penchant for comeback victories, don’t be surprised to see a walk-off win by someone around 6:30 p.m. CT on Sunday.

No one expects comfortable leads

Make no mistake, Mahomes would much rather take a comfortable lead into the final two minutes, looking at the scoreboard and seeing no timeouts next to the Eagles.

And, after what Philadelphia did to the Chiefs in Super Bowl 59, a comfortable win would be the ultimate satisfaction, even though no one in Kansas City is expecting it.

“This is a really good football team,” he said Wednesday. “I mean, there's no way around it. They're good at every aspect, on defense and obviously on offense as well. And it'll take our best football.

“And so, you learn from the mistakes that you make. That's part of playing the game, is you learn from your failures like you learn from the positive things that you do, and you try to come back and play better football this week. And it's gonna take our best football to go out there and get a win.”