Some things were not perfect Monday night, and Brian Johnson tops the list.

But let’s forget the negatives for a moment and talk about the things that went right.

The Philadelphia Eagles shut out the Kansas City Chiefs in the second half en route to an impressive 21-17 road victory, improving to 9-1, the best record in the NFL.

The Eagles again showed resiliency. The team just never quits. How can you not walk away happy about this win as an Eagles’ fan? Good teams find ways to win, even when they may not be playing their best. The Chiefs had been 62-6 under Andy Reid when leading by 10 or more points at halftime and 65-8 when leading going into the fourth quarter. It really was an amazing win, whether it was pretty or not.

The main takeaway has to be the Eagles’ defense, especially in the second half.

The defense made tremendous adjustments at halftime and kept the Eagles in the game. The Eagles held Patrick Mahomes, who is the best quarterback in the NFL, to just 177 yards. He was intercepted and finished with a 42.4 QB rating. Travis Kelce, the best tight end in the league, had just 44 yards and fumbled.

Reed Blankenship and Kevin Byard each had eight tackles. Byard deflected two passes and made the crucial interception in the end zone. Nicholas Marrow recovered that fumble, which Bradley Roby forced. Both turnovers were in the red zone when the Chiefs were going to possibly score. Zach Cunningham made seven tackles

The defense is the reason the Eagles won, and I did not expect that at all. I thought if the Eagles would win in, it would have to be with a lot of points from the offense. But two weeks after giving up just six points to Dallas in the second half, Sean Desai’s defense did it again Monday.

The Eagles defense was just unstoppable in the second half, allowing just 146 yards. The Chiefs averaged 3.9 yards per play and forced them to punt on four of six possessions in the final 30 minutes. The Eagles also forced a turnover on downs.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling made a bad drop on deep pass from Mahomes that was possibly for a TD with 1 minute, 50 seconds remaining . It was a great pass, and Roby was beat. But it wasn’t caught. It could’ve been bad, but it wasn’t. Other than that breakdown, the Eagles defense, which sealed the victory by forcing consecutive incompletions, played lights out in the second half.

Another positive was Jalen Hurts. Sure, Hurts missed a lot of open passes and was not great in the first half, but much of that had to do with coaching of Brian Johnson.

The offensive play calling was atrocious. We can all agree with that (hopefully). I mean all these screens. What was going on? What was Johnson calling? Plays were predictable and the offense was playing too conservative. When the Chiefs led 14-7 and the Eagles got the ball, what were those calls? The Eagles had to punt after a very bad series and the Chiefs got a field goal out of it. Johnson’s play calling was frustrating and head scratching.

But the defense’s success let Hurts do what he always does— put the Eagles on his back and help win close games.

Hurts ran for 10-yard score to cut the deficit to 17-14 with 3:05 left in the third quarter. After a 41-yard bomb to DeVonta Smith, Hurts rushed for the game-winning TD.

His final stat line wasn’t great— 150 yards and an interception with a 37.2 QBR. But he made clutch plays down the stretch.

The offensive line allowed five sacks in the first half, which is also an issue. But the Chiefs did not get any in the second half, a reason that helped the Eagles come back.

The standings are very tight in the NFC. The Lions (8-2) hold the second seed, the Niners (7-3) the third and the Saints (5-5) the fourth. The Cowboys (7-3) are right behind the Eagles in the NFC East. The Seahawks (6-4) and the Vikings (6-5) own the other wild-card spots.

It’s a very close race with a lot of football left. But that’s why the victory Monday was very important. The Eagles are still in the drivers seat, and should stay there with what should be a win against the Bills on Sunday.