The 49ers got the upset it needed on Sunday.
The San Francisco 49ers pulled off the improbable, beating the Philadelphia Eagles on the road 23-19 despite being six-point underdogs and losing star tight end George Kittle early in the game.
It was a game filled with mistakes on both sides, but the 49ers managed to keep it to a three-point game at the half and had an impressive defensive performance over the final 30 minutes, while their offense made some timely plays late for the comeback victory.
With the win, the 49ers will now travel to Seattle to take on the Seahawks for a third time this season, with the winner getting a trip to the NFC Championship Game.
Here are three quick takeaways from the 49ers nail-biting win over the Eagles on Sunday.
Coaching advantage
The 49ers defense did not do well early in the game. They were gashed on their opening drive for a 10-play, 63-yard touchdown drive. Two drives later, Philadelphia ate up nine minutes of clock on a 16-play, 94-yard touchdown drive to take a 13-7 lead, and things weren’t looking great for the 49ers.
But, the defense completely turned things around from there. They got Philadelphia to a three-and-out to end the half, giving the offense a chance to score (which was botched).
Then, they had a three-and-out and a four-play drive that both resulted in punts to open up the third quarter as the offense struggled, keeping the team in the game. Robert Saleh had some really timely calls in that stretch with some nice Cover 0 blitzes, good adjustments to keep things between the tackles in the run game, and the defense had some good coverage despite not getting as much pressure on Jalen Hurts.
Then, when the Eagles started at the San Francisco 46-yard line after a bad punt, Saleh and his defense held Philadelphia to a 10-play drive that got only 23 yards and a field goal, keeping the score at 16-10.
The timely defensive calls continued in the fourth quarter, where Philadelphia had a three-and-out, another field goal drive, and a huge turnover on downs with under a minute left that sealed the deal. Perhaps Saleh’s best call came on 4th & 11, where he showed the similar Cover 0 look that he’d thrown out several times before in the game before dropping several back into coverage, confusing Hurts, who was looking Dallas Goedert’s way the whole time. That led to a pass breakup and the game-sealing incompletion.
Offensively, Kyle Shanahan found a way. I thought the timeout usage in the first half (and even the start of the second half) was not good. The 49ers used a timeout on defense early in the second quarter after the Eagles converted a 4th & 1.
They then used a second timeout on a 4th & 2 in the red zone, initially keeping the offense out before kicking the field goal. While the decision to kick a field goal was the right one, using a timeout there in that situation was avoidable, and the five-yard penalty would have been the better worst-case scenario. Then came the third timeout on San Francisco’s final drive because Kendrick Bourne wasn’t set properly. Those timeouts would’ve been very helpful in the 49ers’ pursuit of points late in the half.
San Francisco burned another timeout early in the second half on a 2nd & 10. There, you just take the five yards. Luckily, that one didn’t hurt them.
But, apart from the timeout usage, I thought Kyle Shanahan coached this game very well. He made a good decision in hindsight to kick the field goal in the red zone as the 49ers needed points. He stuck with what was working in the pass game and got the offense rolling with some big play calls that led to explosives. The go-ahead touchdown call was a great one to get Christian McCaffrey open. It was a similar call to the one San Francisco had a few weeks ago to get McCaffrey a touchdown, that one being in the flat. This time, the linebacker played the flat, leaving the Texas route open for the go-ahead score.
More importantly, Shanahan continued to find a way to rally this team past adversity against tough opponents. That’s now seven wins in their last eight games. The 49ers outcoached the Eagles in this one, and that was a big part of the win.
The Purdy game
Brock Purdy had one kind of a game. I thought he was rolling early for the 49ers with a number of good throws, being accurate, and dealing with the cards he was dealt well. He had an impressive first drive, leading to a touchdown, and had a few solid layered throws throughout the game on in-breaking routes.
The only early decision that I thought was questionable was his decision to throw behind the sticks on a 3rd & 6 to Demarcus Robinson on San Francisco’s second drive, forcing them to punt on a three-and-out. Apart from that, Purdy was accurate and had solid decision-making while maneuvering the pocket well enough behind some solid early protection.
On the 49ers second scoring drive, Purdy had one of those nice layered throws to Jauan Jennings over the middle for 45 yards, getting San Francisco into field goal range after George Kittle went down with an Achilles injury to cut the lead to 13-10.
Then, he had a few solid throws to end the half, with some mistakes being beyond his control (timeout burned because of Kendrick Bourne, Jennings not rushing back to the line after a play that cost the team 20+ seconds). But, a fumble as he was going out of bounds killed San Francisco’s chance of a field goal to end the half, which was a costly mistake.
In the second half, Purdy opened things up with a bad interception on his first offensive drive after a few good throws, having some bad footwork and rushing his progression in a cluttered pocket, missing a wide-open dig that he usually hits to Jauan Jennings. Instead, he threw a floater on the other side of the field, which Quinyon Mitchell broke on and intercepted, killing a 49ers drive with momentum and giving Philadelphia great field position on opposite territory.
The flip story began two drives after that, as Purdy hit Kyle Juszczyk for a 27-yard gain with a lot of yards after the catch, leading to the Jauan Jennings trick play touchdown pass that gave the 49ers the lead to start the fourth quarter.
Purdy then had another bad interception on his next drive, throwing another floater with Mitchell breaking on it for a pick, trying to force a layered tight-window throw to Jake Tonges that just didn’t have enough on it. It seemed like that one would be costly as the Eagles got a field goal out of it to take a 19-17 lead.
But, when it mattered most, Purdy showed up big. On San Francisco’s go-ahead touchdown drive, he was 5 of 7 for 52 yards and a touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey, while scrambling for another five yards. He was on time, got the ball out quickly, and didn’t put the 49ers into any third-down situations until it was 3rd & Goal at the Philadelphia four-yard line, where he converted the go-ahead touchdown.
You can dissect Purdy’s game how you’d like, but I thought he navigated pressure really well on Sunday. There were definitely a few killer plays, like the two interceptions and the fumble, but he also found a way to elevate when it mattered with his back against the wall. It was a good showing from him at the end.
Coverage
There were a lot of underrated factors for the 49ers in this one. After struggling early, the 49ers bounced back in defending the run, holding the Eagles to 3.9 yards a carry.
Christian McCaffrey didn’t have the big running game like I said was necessary, but he was huge in the passing game, getting six catches for 66 yards and two touchdowns.
But I also thought the coverage was really good as the 49ers defense tightened up, with several players in the secondary making plays. San Francisco’s pass rush didn’t get there much, sacking Hurts just once as he tried to escape the pocket. But they held up well in coverage, making a number of timely plays to wipe out some explosives for the Eagles.
Slowly, the 49ers may be finding a positive on defense. That was key on third downs as the 49ers held Philadelphia to just 5 of 16 on third downs, while the Eagles averaged only 4.3 yards per pass and 4.8 yards an attempt.
Now, it’s on to the Seahawks, whom the 49ers struggled against in Week 18, specifically on offense. Let’s see how the 49ers can respond in this one.
Category: General Sports
