We will never know how Philidor would have played had White played 2.Nf3 because there are no recorded games where Philidor had that position. Did he spot a flaw in the idea? The Count was impressed with Philidor's game, so later that year he played the Philidor defense against Atwood.
Philidor plays the Philidor
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Philidor seems to have spotted a flaw in his defense. He played the same Atwood several times and mostly used the Sicilian (played of course, Philidor style nothing like the moderen Sicilian) Here is a blindfold game against Atwood by Philidor:
Seems his opponent, white, was giving away his pieces to no avail.
Thanks for the interesting games!
Philidor had a very different concept of how to play the Philidor Defense than we have today. He intended to play a quick ...f5 and dominate the game with a broad mobile pawn front.
One of the earliest examples of the Philidor is his game against Count Bruhl in 1792.