In Netflix’s ‘Quarterback,’ Patrick Mahomes can’t avoid Meek Mill and the Eagles get in Kirk Cousins’ head

If you’ve logged into Netflix in the last couple of days, you likely noticed a new sports series — the kind they’ve leaned into heavily in recent years off the back of their successful Formula 1 series, Drive to Survive.

Unlike their other series that have featured more individualized sports like tennis, golf, and cycling, Netflix’s latest sports series, Quarterback, tackles the most popular sport in America: professional football. And although this is a team sport, the show is from the perspective of those who play the titular position, with the majority of the interviews coming from a handful of main characters — in this case Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, and Marcus Mariota — something it keeps in common with its streaming relatives.

The series follows those three quarterbacks throughout their seasons, both on and off the field. Right from the start, an admittedly biased Peyton Manning outlines the importance of the quarterback position, calling it the toughest job in the world. But many Eagles fans might not have even made it that far, afraid to hit play, knowing how the Mahomes story arc is going to end. Do we really need to watch that again?

» READ MORE: Eagles QB Marcus Mariota explains why he left the Falcons after getting benched

While it might ultimately be painful in the end, watching the Chiefs [spoiler alert] celebrate their Super Bowl win over the Birds, there are more than a few reasons Philly fans will enjoy the series, especially the football sickos who can’t wait until September and need any excuse to watch anything to do with the NFL. But if you’re still skeptical and simply can’t bring yourself to push play, we’ve got some highlights from the series that relate to the Eagles — and surprisingly, all three story lines intersect with the Birds in various ways, some happier than others depending on your perspective.

Since one of the three quarterbacks, Mariota, is currently on the Eagles, we’ve decided to give him his own story, but for more on how the Eagles are portrayed in the story lines of the other two quarterbacks, look no further ...

Let’s get this one out of the way first — rip the Band-Aid off, so to speak — since it’s clearly the one that’s going to be the most painful for Eagles fans to relive.

The answer to your question is, “Yes, they do a thorough recap of the Super Bowl.” It includes a setup that paints the Chiefs as a big underdog going up against an NFC powerhouse, when in actuality the Eagles were favored by just a point and a half — and the majority of money was backing Kansas City. It also features a breakdown of the play that burned the Eagles for a touchdown not once, but twice, as well as highlights of Jalen Hurts’ fumble getting returned for a touchdown, Kadarius Toney’s big punt return, and, yes, James Bradberry’s backbreaking defensive holding penalty (multiple times, and in ultra-slow motion).

You still with me? The hard part is over. But the frustration might not be.

» READ MORE: ‘That’s a joke!’ 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel ends interview over Eagles question

Before the Super Bowl, Netflix shows Mahomes warming up on the field while singing along to Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares,” which should probably come with a trigger warning for any Eagles fan, given the history with that song serving as the team’s unofficial anthem when they won Super Bowl LVII.

See my dreams unfold, see my nightmares come true

Came time to marry the game and I said, “I do.” ...

But there was a reason the series showed Mahomes rapping along.

“That’s a song that I usually listen to to get myself ready to go every week,” Mahomes said. “And I didn’t listen to it [before the Super Bowl] because it’s the Eagles’ song. It’s like you’re singing ‘Fly, Eagles, Fly.’”

The screen then cuts to a side-by-side of Mahomes and Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham, a member of that Super Bowl LII-winning squad, both singing the song during warmups, before Mahomes explained how despite his best efforts, he was unable to avoid the Birds’ alternate fight song.

» READ MORE: An Eagles-Bengals Super Bowl LVIII matchup received the most bets at one sportsbook

“And I’m sitting there warming up for the game and it comes on and I’m like, ‘I know it’s their song, but it’s getting us turnt too.’”

We don’t need to go back over what happened next — we promise it gets better from here — but there were a few nice moments between Mahomes and Hurts, including a funny exchange in which the veteran provides some Super Bowl housing advice to the younger quarterback. There’s also a fair bit of Jason Kelce peppered in throughout, especially when Mahomes appears on the New Heights podcast with Kelce and his brother Travis.

On the opposite side of the spectrum for Eagles fans is their team’s run-in with Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, who was so distraught after his Week 2 loss in Philly that not only did he need to talk it out with his therapist, but he was still thinking about it weeks later.

Following an introduction to Cousins that includes a look back at his career arc and some of the lighter moments, like his love of conversion vans and infamous “You like that!” quote, the Vikings QB gets thrown into a dark period, and the Eagles defense helps put him there.

» READ MORE: Eagles rookie Jalen Carter sued by former University of Georgia recruiting staffer over fatal car wreck

A hot start under first-year coach Kevin O’Connell turned into disaster as the Eagles dominated Minnesota, 24-7, intercepting Cousins three times and sacking him twice more.

“I was blown away after Week 1, how clean the game was. And it was almost a false sense of security after Week 1 that reared its ugly head in Week 2. ... It was a game that got away from us.”

The next time we see Cousins, he’s got a slightly different way of describing the game.

“Yeah, so, State of the Union, I feel like the Eagles game obviously was a disaster,” a disembodied Cousins says over shots of the Vikings facility two days after the loss. “So, you know, you’ve got to make sure that you don’t allow that — you don’t want to see the road-game failure spill over into a second one. And then allow that to become a thing.”

It’s only then that it’s revealed that Cousins is talking to the team psychologist Bownell Mack. Cousins adds that he’s been seeing psychologists for years “mainly as a way to vent.” Venting about the Eagles to your therapist? I didn’t realize how much the Vikings quarterback has in common with Philly fans.

» READ MORE: Eagles’ James Bradberry delivers shoes for Philly seniors — and has gotten a running start to training camp

By the end of the first episode, the Vikings have bounced back from their loss to the Eagles with a divisional win over the Lions, but Cousins can’t let that loss to Philly go.

“The win today doesn’t change what happened Monday night in Philadelphia,” Cousins says as he stokes the fire pit behind his house. “But emotionally, you feel like more is right with the world.”

But that might just be the kind of guy Cousins is, a perfectionist who struggles to get over his mistakes. Because even after the win, sitting by the fire with his family, he was more concerned with the loss to the Eagles and a missed throw against the Lions than anything else.