49ers reveal Eagles, Texans and Colts remain in AFC wild card hunt
Sports Seriously’s Mackenzie Salmon recaps the best plays of NFL Week 13.
Sports seriously
PHILADELPHIA — Brock Purdy didn’t need much of a reminder that this was where his improbable rookie run came to an end, his elbow in shreds, his dream of a Super Bowl appearance dashed by a 31-7 throttling in the 2022 NFC Championship Game.
“It kind of crossed my mind,” the San Francisco 49ers quarterback said. “Yes, I was injured here. That was this year.”
What a difference less than 12 months can make.
The 49ers overcame a slow start to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 42-19 on Sunday to claim their much-anticipated revenge from last season’s postseason. The fact that these two teams are the top contenders in the NFC hasn’t changed since their matchup in late January, but the Niners dominated in the rematch.
“I think our team handled the noise really well — both in the stadium and (in the media) and made it a bigger deal than it was,” said Niners tight end George Kittle (four catches, 68 yards ) told USA TODAY Sports. “I think the biggest part of it was that they are number one seed and we have to catch up. So it was huge for us to come here and get a win.”
Offensively, the first quarter couldn’t have been worse for the Niners. They ran six plays over the course of consecutive three-and-outs. Purdy looked confused. Eagles edge rusher Haason Reddick regained the lead with a sack on Purdy’s second snap, and Josh Sweat pressured him on the next play.
It was Reddick whose hit upset the Niners in the championship game by causing Purdy’s elbow injury, which required offseason surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament.
“It was a football game, it happened,” Purdy said. “Last game he was trying to get the ball, that just happened, and going into this game they had so many other good players that we didn’t just think, ‘Haason Reddick, we have to be careful. ‘
“Of course we honored and respected him and his work, but was I that worried about him in the game? No. It was what the entire defense did as a whole. He’s a great player and that’s where we’re at.”
The arm looked good on Sunday. Purdy was 19 of 27 for 314 yards and four touchdowns; He finished the first quarter 0-for-4 with 0 passing yards. In the final three quarters, the Niners responded — while also answering the question of which team deserves to be atop the NFC by this point in the 2023 season. San Francisco scored a touchdown on six consecutive drives and the hometown fans headed home with five minutes left.
After playing on Thanksgiving to gain an additional three-day lead over the Eagles, the Niners wore the Eagles down throughout the game. The improvements in the rushing attack – Christian McCaffrey scored a touchdown and ran for 93 yards on 17 attempts – and the broken tackles of Deebo Samuel, who had three total touchdowns (two receiving, one rushing) and Purdy, were evidence of that.
Defensively, the Niners defense stopped the Eagles in the red zone and held them to two field goals in the first quarter. Entering the game, the Eagles had their best red zone offense since Week 5, scoring touchdowns on 21 of 30 opportunities (including 10 of 10 since Week 9).
“Stopping them from making two field goals was huge, and despite all that, they scored two goals on the third possession we got, but we only trailed by six,” Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “We only had one trip together and were able to regain the lead. So that was a huge deal and a very good feeling.”
Shanahan said he saw from Purdy what the second-year signal-caller has caught on tape in most of his 20 career starts, as he didn’t panic when the first quarter went haywire.
“I think that’s what I was most proud of,” Shanahan said. “Our boys weathered the storm.”
The Niners are still one game behind the Eagles in the conference standings, but are now in the head-to-head position. And the Niners will be the biggest Cowboys fans next week when Philadelphia travels to a “Sunday Night Football” matchup against NFC East rival Dallas.
“I just loved how excited and ready our team was for this game,” Shanahan said. “When you’re that fit and ready, all games are the same but we understand how good they are. We understand their record. This means it always gets a little bigger. So our guys were really excited about the challenge.”