‘Monday Night Football’ had a very Philly vibe — thanks, Jason Kelce — and more highlights from Eagles-Falcons

Monday night was the Eagles’ home opener, so it seemed like everybody in Philadelphia was down at the sports complex either tailgating, partying with Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox at Xfinity Live!, or in the stands watching the game. Except, of course, for me — and probably some of you, too — stuck watching the game from home.

So, if you’re one of the lucky (or unlucky, considering the result) ones who was at the game, or if you don’t have my superpowers of watching both the regular broadcast and the Manningcast at the same time (my editor helped me), here’s everything you missed.

» READ MORE: Eagles grades: Jalen Hurts solid until his game-ending interception, defensive line struggles vs. Falcons

Kelce called in the expert when it was time to pick an outfit for Monday Night Countdown — Eagles security chief Big Dom DiSandro, who made sure Kelce didn’t forget to pack an outfit, like he did Week 1.

Kelce wore a green sweat suit — a “South Philly tuxedo,” as Kelce called it — with an Italian crest on the front, in honor of DiSandro and coach Nick Sirianni. He took a long walk out at Xfinity Live! for the opening of the broadcast, dancing on the stage with Cox and Nick Foles before heading over to the main set.

Adam Schefter stunned the audience in a Mummers outfit, inspired by Kelce’s famous Super Bowl speech, on the pregame Monday Night Countdown.

Of course, he looked a bit silly delivering the injury report later on in the show, and standing on the field during pregame warm-ups. But I love the commitment to the bit.

The worst news of the weekend was A.J. Brown’s surprise injury in practice on Friday, which quickly became a source of anxiety after the team announced he would miss Monday’s game. But it somehow got worse during the broadcast, when Lisa Salters revealed that Brown told her he expects to be out for a couple weeks with the hamstring injury. The team has not offered any sort of timeline on his return.

» READ MORE: Nick Sirianni needs Eagles defense to bail him out. Bryce Huff, Josh Sweat, and Jalen Carter can’t do it. | Marcus Hayes

Bill Belichick spoke with arguably both his biggest nemeses in Philadelphia on Monday, Nick Foles, who he met pregame alongside former Eagles de facto defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, and Eli Manning, during his appearance on the Manningcast. The former Patriots coach didn’t bring up his Super Bowl loss to Foles and the Eagles, but did discuss the 28-3 comeback against Atlanta, taking shots at Falcons owner Arthur Blank’s outfits. Easier to talk about your moments of glory, I suppose.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is not the biggest fan of in-game interviews.

“I don’t want to talk to anybody at that time except my coaches and players,” Sirianni told 94-WIP in 2023.

He’d successfully put off ever having to do it — until Monday. NFL VP of broadcasting rights Cathy Yancy testified that for 2024, each NFL team would be required to make their head coach available for an in-game interview, NBC reported in July. So before the start of the second half on Monday, Sirianni talked to Salters.

“We’ve only had four possessions, we’ve just got to take advantage of the possessions we have,” Sirianni said. “We failed on fourth-and-3 down there the one time, didn’t deliver the points, and we stalled out a couple times, we just have to keep it clean with penalties.”

» READ MORE: The Eagles ran the ball the way they had to on Monday ... until they didn’t on the game’s most pivotal play | Mike Sielski

Salters, after hearing Sirianni’s non-answer, tried to follow up, to ask about Barkley’s limited success after the first two drives.

“Again, opportunities and reps for [Barkley] to be able to get it,” Sirianni said. “It was limited possessions on both sides because the drives were going long, so it’s just going to be opportunities.”

Riveting.

Kelce wasn’t done after the pregame show. He hopped into the booth in the third quarter to help out Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on the Birds’ first offensive drive of the quarter, this time in a green suit — a real one, not a sweat suit.

“I think people are probably tired of seeing my face, but it keeps working out,” Kelce said.

He shared his insights into the offensive line, especially his successor, Cam Jurgens. During his final two years with the Eagles, a big part of Kelce’s role was to train Jurgens to eventually take over for him. He watched with pride as Jurgens ran the Birds’ most successful Tush Push of the season — but Jeff Stoutland looked on like it was just expected.

“There’s not another person on this planet that I trust more than that guy right there,” Kelce said of Stoutland.

Kelce broke down the play’s success, from Jurgens’ forward movement to Jordan Mailata’s size on the left end.

Later in the drive, the Birds ran the play again for a touchdown, and Kelce gave Jurgens his flowers — but said during his breakdown that his body could not handle that play anymore.

“I don’t miss that play, not one bit,” Kelce said. “I miss the first downs, though.”

» READ MORE: A tale of two Jalen Hurts and defensive doubts in our Eagles Week 2 stock watch

With Kelce back at the Linc for an Eagles game for the first time since his retirement, Aikman and Buck asked the question it seems like everyone’s been asking since he retired — are you coming back? Or, do you at least get the itch to play again?

“For sure feel itchy, but the knees don’t feel itchy,” Kelce said. “I’d love to be out there with these guys getting after it, but it’s fun to be on this side, too. ESPN’s keeping me busy tonight.”

Kelce was only supposed to stick around through the next commercial break, but he stayed on with Buck and Aikman a bit longer instead of going home to his wife, Kylie.

“She might prefer it,” Kelce joked as he teased his departure at the end of the third quarter. “I’m having as much fun as possible up here, but the beers are still down there.”

Kelce ultimately returned for the beginning of the fourth, just in time to watch the Eagles’ two successful Tush Push attempts.

» READ MORE: Fletcher Cox, Eagles fans celebrate Nick Foles’ retirement: ‘Everybody in Philadelphia loves Nick Foles’

Scott Van Pelt runs the postgame show on SportsCenter after Monday Night Football. Just after the two-minute warning, Van Pelt promoted his postgame show, saying “we’ll take you inside the winning locker room, which appears to be the home team.”

Of course, shortly after that, the Birds allowed the Falcons to march right down the field and score the game-winning touchdown. Van Pelt addressed the jinx postgame with Buck and Aikman, giving the duo the window to break down everything that went wrong for the Birds on that final drive.

Well, SVP, I think we’ve found the real culprit.

» READ MORE: Fletcher Cox sees ‘greatness’ in Saquon Barkley, praises Nick Foles and the Eagles defense

Look, I don’t want to punish you and make you watch the whole last drive again. You don’t have to. But if you did want to watch the Manning brothers and Philadelphia’s own Matt Ryan react to the Falcons’ game-winning touchdown, I’m presenting the clip for you here with no further comment.