What a performance by the Philadelphia Eagles! The Philadelphia Eagles are heading back to the Super Bowl for the first time in five years as they utterly destroyed and demolished the 49ers 31-7.
This game was never close. Ever!
The Philadelphia Eagles showed the world why they won the #1 seed in the NFC and the entire NFL, and why no one should have doubted their chances of making the Super Bowl in this matchup.
Truthfully, I haven’t seen a more comprehensive destruction of an equally talented opponent in a championship game since the Eagles destroyed the Minneapolis Mircale Vikings 38-7 back in 2018, which just so happened to be the last time the Eagles won the Super Bowl.
Are we seeing history repeat itself? Maybe.
Nonetheless, like I said, the Eagles came up to play today, while the 49ers looked like they just got out of bed and made it to the stadium 5 minutes before kickoff. That’s how lopsided this game was. Despite only gaining 269 total yards of offense, the Eagles offense looked unstoppable against a fantastic 49ers defense as the Eagles run game just grounded the 49ers defensive frontline into dirt.
Kenneth Gainwell (14 CAR, 48 yards), Miles Sanders (11 CAR, 42 yards, 2 TDs), Boston Scott (6 CAR, 21 yards, 1 TD), and Jalen Hurts (11 CAR, 39 yards, 1 TD) were the key difference makers as they all combined for 148 total scrimmage rushing yards and 4 TDs, while Hurts was also efficient in the passing game with 12/25 completions for 121 yards.
I said in my preview of this game that the only way the 49ers could walk out of Lincoln Financial Field with a victory was if their defensive frontline of Nick Bosa (4 tackles, 2 TFL), Javon Kinlaw (4 tackles), Arik Armstead (5 tackles, 1 sack, 1 QB hit), and Samson Ebukam (3 tackles) could get after Hurts and disrupt the near-perfect synchronization of the Eagles running and passing games.
Clearly, with the 49ers racking up a grand total of 1 sack and the Philly offense putting up 148 total rushing yards and 121 total passing yards, that didn’t happen.
Though, I can’t blame the 49ers defense too much as they gave their all an effort they were never going to win.
As I said in the title, the 49ers were utterly devastated by injuries in this game. Not only did Brock Purdy (4/4, 23 yards) get knocked out of the game by a Haason Reddick (3 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 TFL, 1 QB hit, 1 FF, 1 FR) sack on the first drive of the game with nerve damage in his elbow and unable to throw in his return, but backup QB Josh Johnson was also knocked out of the game from a Ndamukong Suh (2 tackles, 1 sack, 2 QB hits) with a concussion.
After the two injuries, the only thing Kyle Shanahan could call was intricate, complex runs for Christian McCaffrey (15 CAR, 84 yards, 1 TD), Deebo Samuel (6 CAR, -9 yards), and George Kittle (1 CAR, 4 yards), which worked about as well as the Hare’s plan to relax in his race against the Tortoise as the 49ers only had 84 rushing yards.
The 49ers really have been cursed with injuries to their QBs this season, though the coaching staff definitely didn’t do anything to lessen the curse with the blocking schemes. What was the offensive line coaching staff thinking having backup tight ends block Haason Reddick, one of the NFL’s bets sack artists with 17 sacks this season? How did they think that it was a good idea?
And what happened to this 49ers offensive line? They were utterly overrun by the Eagles defense frontline of Fletcher Cox (1 tackle), Reddick, Josh Sweat (3 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 QB hit), T.J. Edwards (3 tackles), Kyzir White (6 tackles), Suh, Robert Quinn (1 tackle), and Brandon Graham (1 tackle) that racked up 54 tackles, 3 sacks, 5 TFL, 7 QB hits, 3 FF, and 3 FR.
Plus, with the ineptitude of the 49ers O-Line, that allowed the Eagles defensive backfield of Darius Slay (3 tackles), Avonte Maddox (3 tackles, 1 TFL), C.J. Johnson-Gardner (5 tackles), and James Bradburry (3 tackles) to get 7 PD and limit the 49ers passing game to just 81 yards.
Essentially, in other words, everything the Eagles did worked, while anything the 49ers tried backfired and blew up in their face. So, it’s no wonder that their tempers got the best of them, and they started a brawl at the end of the game that resulted in Trent Williams hilariously suplexing K’Von Wallace (1 tackle).
Yet, none of that matters now as the Eagles are heading to Arizona to play for the biggest prize available in professional football in Super Bowl 52 as the best team in the NFC for the 2022/23 NFL season. Congratulations, Philadelphia, you have more than earned this reward.
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