Some losses are hard to digest and even harder to forget. Till the side that tasted defeat pays back with equal or more thump, that is. Exactly 1,078 days had passed since the Philadelphia Eagles crushed the San Francisco 49ers in the 2023 NFC Championship game. With a final score of 23-19, the 49ers have exacted their revenge against Philadelphia in their Wild Card rematch this year, bouncing the defending champions in the opening round of the postseason.
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The Bay Area’s QB1, Brock Purdy, was able to produce 262 passing yards and two touchdowns on just 18 completions. While he did manage to throw a pair of interceptions on Sunday, it was still clear throughout the game that the 49ers had the edge at signal-caller.
That is exactly what the four-time Super Bowl champion Terry Bradshaw predicted during his Fox Sports broadcast.
“Once again, folks, I’m the only one with any guts. One word? 49ers,” Bradshaw had said boldly during NFLonFOX, even as everyone else on the panel disagreed. Of course, much like everything else, his prediction didn’t come quite as easily as it had sounded.
With a successful 33-yard field goal try, the Eagles’ Jake Elliot was able to give his flock a 19-17 lead with eight minutes left in the game. The late-fourth-quarter deficit immediately began to conjure up images of the past for San Francisco, which has been let down more often than not in recent postseasons.
From there, however, Purdy decided to bite down on his mouthpiece and orchestrate what will likely be regarded as the best drive of his career. The 49ers needed just 10 plays and 66 yards to reach the end zone, and they didn’t even incur a single third down until they were well within goal-to-go distance.
A four-yard touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey, his second of the day, capped things off for San Francisco’s offense. And from there, the defense was able to contain the Eagles’ wide receivers just enough until there was no time left for Jalen Hurts to figure things out. Last year’s Super Bowl MVP finished with 168 passing yards, 14 rushing yards, one passing score, and a QBR of 40.8.
This entire season was filled with sideline confrontations and locker room issues for Philadelphia. Their final outing of the season proved to be no different. Their star wide receiver, A.J. Brown, was seen getting into a shouting match with his head coach, Nick Sirianni, during the loss. Simply put, fans can expect the birds to be making some changes this offseason.
As for San Francisco, well, they’ll now have to prepare for this year’s No. 1 seed, the Seattle Seahawks, who at 14-3 had the best record in the league this season. That’ll be enough to see the 49ers once again reprise their role as the underdogs.
But they won’t be able to survive such costly turnovers against a team of this caliber. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise to see a much more conservative approach from the 49ers next week.
