As Andrew Mukuba spoke to the media in the locker room at Arrowhead Stadium, his teammates yelled, "Yeah, Drew!" over and over again.
It was just the rookie's second game of his NFL career, but Mukuba made the game-changing interception that helped the Eagles defeat the Kansas City Chiefs, 20-17, and improve to 2-0 on the season.
With Philadelphia leading by three early in the fourth quarter, Patrick Mahomes targeted Travis Kelce in the end zone, where he bobbled the ball in the air before Mukuba snatched it. Mukuba sprinted out of the end zone, returning the pick for 41 yards and giving the Eagles' offense good field position.
Philadelphia chewed clock, scored a touchdown to make it a two-possession contest, and then iced the game with a late first down. It was a strong team effort from the Eagles in Week 2, but Mukuba's play flipped the script.
"I was just doing my assignment, trying to find where 87 (Kelce) was at," Mukuba said, noting that ball will be going up on his shelf. "I knew that's where they were going to try to go to, down there in that red zone. I saw they threw the ball, broke on the ball, and the ball was in the air. I feel like I do good around the ball, so the ball happened to find my hands. ... It was a good changing point of the game. I feel like that's what we needed as a team to kind of finish the game out."
Mukuba, a second-round pick out of Texas, has shown a knack for being around the ball throughout his career. He had five interceptions during his final college season, and in his first Eagles preseason game he had a 75-yard interception return for a touchdown and a fumble recovery.
Mukuba didn't quite take this interception the distance, getting caught by Chiefs left tackle Josh Simmons — something Mukuba was kicking himself about and led to some friendly trash talk from his teammates — but he did force the game's only turnover that proved to be the difference.
"That's the name of the game, man. You got to get the ball," Mukuba said of his tendency to make splash plays. "Whoever causes the most turnovers, I believe, (has) got a high percentage chance of winning. So just thinking 'ball' at all times, man, it's important. And I feel like that's what helps me a lot, being in those positions and being able to make those plays."
The Eagles' defense had a strong showing after shutting out the Dallas Cowboys in the second half last week. Patrick Mahomes completed just 55.2% of his passes and Kansas City started the second half with four straight empty drives, including one turnover on downs and Mukuba's interception.
There were impactful plays made at every level of the Eagles' defense, from newly acquired Za'Darius Smith combining with Mukuba for a sack to Jihaad Campbell and Zack Baun each getting pressure on blitzes. But Mukuba had the play of the day, and he knows moments like that will help him develop into the safety he wants to be in the NFL.
"It was just a confidence booster," he said. "As I grow, I tend to gain more confidence. Reed (Blankenship) on the sideline was one of the guys that was encouraging me throughout the whole game to stay positive and stay confident because there's times where I feel like with plays I could have made that I didn't make and I kind of beat myself up a little bit. But I had a guy like Reed next to me telling me to stay confident and keep going.
"As I play and as I make the plays that I make and being in position, I feel like I gain more confidence just being out there and getting comfortable. I feel like sooner or later, I'm going to get really, really comfortable." — Written by Matt Ryan
