At the midway point of Opening Night, Chiefs captains Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Chris Jones, Nick Bolton, Harrison Butker and James Winchester represented the team on stage, as did coach Andy Reid. The players embraced the Eagles captains, including Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown, while Reid and Nick Sirianni shook hands.

Philly have continued to ride that hot streak into the playoffs, getting past the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card Round (22-10) before narrowly eliminating the Los Angeles Rams (28-22) and crushing the Washington Commanders (55-23) to claim another NFC crown.

Facing fan fatigue, a frequent champion is asked to embrace the dark side. It isn’t convincing.