LINCOLN FINANCIAL FIELD (Philadelphia) — The San Francisco 49ers must feel like they’re held together with Band-Aids and duct tape, but clearly it’s working for them.
This battered-and-bruised team is clearly not beaten … at least not yet. And the Niners proved it by knocking out the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday with a nail-biting, 23-19 win in their wild-card game.
It was a costly win for the 49ers, though. They lost tight end George Kittle for the rest of their run with a torn Achilles. But they’ve been battling big injuries to key players all season long.
Here are my takeaways:
1. Kyle Shanahan is more than an offensive genius
There is no doubt that 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan is still one of the best offensive minds in the game. He also showed on Sunday evening that he’s pretty fearless.
After a pretty strong start, especially for his quarterback, Brock Purdy, Shanahan’s offense looked near dead midway through the second half. Kittle was out, which changed the entire look of his scheme. The Eagles’ pass rush looked like it was really starting to rattle Purdy. And Philly had completely stuffed the running game and made Christian McCaffrey a non-factor on the ground.
And then there was the 49ers first touchdown of the second half — a bit of razzle-dazzle that seemed to catch the Eagles’ defense on its heels.
It was a play called “Skyy Bang Reverse Pass,” according to Shanahan — one they used to run for Deebo Samuel. It started with Purdy handing off to receiver Skyy Moore, who ran to the left, then flipped the ball to receiver Jauan Jennings for a reverse to the right. But Jennings pulled up and fired a pass down field to McCaffrey, who snuck behind the Philly defense and got open for a 29-yard touchdown pass.
It’s not a play they’ve practiced much. “Not as much as you would think,” Shanahan said. “We’ve had it in for a few weeks. But it’s just one you kind of hold your breath on.”
It worked, even though Jennings took a huge hit (and drew a roughing the passer penalty) on the play. On a windy day when his counterpart seemed afraid to throw anything more than 10 yards down field, Shanahan showed a lot of faith in his quarterback — and other pass-throwers.
2. Brock Purdy proved he’s capable of carrying a team on his back
There is no doubt Purdy is the perfect quarterback for Shanahan, because he’s as fearless and unfazed as his head coach.
Despite the wind and the lack of weapons around him, Purdy came out throwing against one of the best secondaries in the league. And he was mostly outstanding while doing it, completing 18 of 31 passes for 262 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. And he made it clear from the second play of the game that the Eagles better respect him, with a 61-yard dart down the field to Demarcus Robinson, on the way to the 49ers touchdown.
No doubt the two interceptions were costly, even though the Eagles only converted them into a field goal. But against that Philly defense on a crazy, windy day, things certainly could have been worse.
It actually looked like it was headed that way after the 49ers lost Kittle to his Achilles injury. Purdy entered this game without WR Ricky Pearsall, obviously without Brandon Aiyuk, then Kittle was knocked out, and the Eagles basically shut down McCaffrey and the rushing attack.
Purdy started the second half 1-or-6 and was beginning to get rattled by the pass rush as the 49ers tried desperately to rediscover their rhythm. Eventually, he did. He finished the second half only 8-of-16 for 94 yards with a touchdown pass and those two interceptions. But most importantly, he led his team on two fourth-quarter touchdown drives to win the game.
“So impressed,” Shanahan said, “because [those two interceptions] were two mistakes he’d love to take back. But to play like he did on that last drive, especially after two throws like that, he was unbelievable. He kept letting her rip.
“He’s a guy who is not scared to fail at all, which you can’t be to make some of those plays.”
Added Purdy: “Obviously, you wish you could play a little better in certain situations. But at the end of the day, it’s a fourth-quarter game, and you’ve got to go score for the season.”
3. Finally, the Eagles rode Saquon Barkley … too little, too late
On a very windy day in Philadelphia, the Eagles finally did something they failed to do much during the regular season — they leaned on Saquon Barkley. He had 15 carries for 71 yards in the first half alone and finished with 26 carries for 106 yards.
It was a significant workload — tied for the most carries he’s had in a game this season, and it would have been more if he hadn’t seemingly gotten injured late in the fourth quarter.
The results were even more significant considering he only had three 100-yard rushing games all season before this. He also seemed to have a lot more room to run and more yards before contact than usual, which is a testament to the blocking of his offensive line, which had been an issue most of the season.
The Eagles’ offense, at its heart, is based on the run. And it was alarming to all of them that they only averaged 116.9 yards per game on the ground this season — 18th in the NFL. Maybe they had no choice in steady, swirling winds, but it brought them back to their strong roots.
The Eagles’ season would have gone a lot more smoothly if they had leaned on Barkley like this all season long.
4. The Eagles didn’t look like they were even trying in the passing game
Again, it’s hard to make a sweeping judgment because of the wind, but Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo really seems afraid to let his quarterback throw the ball down the field. Jalen Hurts was 20-of-35 for 168 yards. And his longest completion was for 20 yards, on a short throw to Barkley.
The entire passing attack was short, quick hooks and throws into the flat — nothing but short stuff. They did try to go deep a couple of times, with Hurts unable to connect with A.J. Brown (one famously ended with Eagles coach Nick Sirianni streaking down the sideline to scream at Brown).
It would be easy to blame that on the wind, but it’s really the way the Eagles’ offense has looked, schematically, most of the season. It’s a big part of why they had trouble moving the ball and scoring so often. They refused to let Hurts be Hurts and use some of those dangerous receivers who have shown they can get open down field.
“Obviously, you want more consistency,” Hurts said. “There’s a desire to improve steadily throughout the year. But it’s hard to look at it from a big picture perspective right now. Just having the opportunity to make something happen and not doing so, for whatever reason, those are things we all have to improve on.”
4 ½. What’s next?
The sixth-seeded 49ers will now travel to Seattle to face the top-seeded Seahawks, who got to rest up with a bye this week while the Niners added to their injury woes.
The 49ers split the season series with the Seahawks, beating them 17-13 in the season opener in Seattle, where their defense gave up just 230 yards. And then they lost 13-3 to the Seahawks at home just last week, a lackluster performance where they managed just 173 total yards of their own.
“I’m glad we get another shot at them,” Shanahan said. “I know we can play better.”
As for the Eagles, they head into an unexpectedly early offseason. It doesn’t appear that head coach Nick Sirianni is in any danger, but it certainly isn’t a crazy thought. At the very least, his offensive coordinator could be in jeopardy, but if Patullo is fired, it would mean the Eagles would be moving on to their fifth OC in five years.
Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He spent six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him on Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.
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