There will be no repeat for the Philadelphia Eagles because once again they trotted out an offense that looked the same in game 19 as they did in game one. Sundayâs stunning home loss to the San Francisco 49ers 23-19 was a microcosm of the season, missed opportunities, untimely and undisciplined penalties, questionable play calling, questionable effort, sideline blowups, dropped balls and overall disfunction.
GAME RECAP
Eagles (11-7. 6-4 Home) 19, 49ers (13-5, 8-2) 23
MVP: Christian McCaffrey 15 carries, 48 yds. 6 receptions, 66 yds, 2 tds
Betting Winners: 49ers +5.5, Under 44.5
Next Up For Philadelphia: Next Season
Same Old Eagles
The Eagles did score two touchdowns in the first half but also saw two drives stall, one at their own 41 with a 2nd and four and the other at the San Francisco 48 yard line with a 2nd and 2.
Eagles Kicker Jake Elliott missed an extra point after the first touchdown that cost his team a chance to tie the game with under a minute left because the Eagles trailed by four and needed a touchdown to win instead of a field goal that would have most likely sent the game into overtime.
Late Defensive Lapse
The Birds defense also has to take some blame for the loss as they couldnât keep the 49ers out of the endzone with under three minutes left. Instead of holding them to a field goal to keep the game within three they allowed the 49ers to go almost 70 yards in five minutes to take a four point lead. This followed an early fourth quarter drive that ended with a beautifully timed and even better executed trick play that saw wide receiver Jujuan Jennings hit Christian McCaffrey for a 29 yard touchdown strike that caught the Eagles secondary off guard. That gave San Francisco a one point lead, 17-16, with a whole quarter left to play.
But the Eagles got life when Birds cornerback Quenyon Mitchell picked off Brock Purdy for the second time in the game but it only led to a Jake Elliott 33 yard field goal after the Birdsâ offense once against stalled at the 49ers 15 yard line. Philly won the tunover battle 2-0 but were only able to scratch out three points of those two turnovers.
Blown 4th Quarter Lead
The Eagles did regain the lead 19-17 with eight minutes left in regulation on that Elliott field goal. But then the Eagles defense uncharacteristically let the 49ers go right down the field in 10 plays and 66 yards that ended with a Purdy four yard pass touchdown pass to McCaffrey to give the Niners a four point cushion afer 49ers kicker Eddie Peneiro missed an extra point as well.
The Final Drive
So that left the champs with 2:54 left in their season, unless they could drive the field and punch in a potential game-winning touchdown. Their final drive started at their own 35 yard line and after A.J. Brown dropped his third ball of the day on a third and five, Hurts completed a clutch 4th and 11 to Dallas Goedert, who scored both the Birdsâ touchdowns, on a 15 yard crossing route, giving the Eagles a fresh set of downs at the San Francisco 40 yard line with two minutes left to play. Hurts followed with two passes to Devonta Smith for 20 yards that gave the Eagles a first down at the 20 yard line but thatâs where Philadelphiaâs season would die as they would go not gain another yard.
On first down hurts rolled to his right, couldn’t find an open receiver and took a sack for a one yard loss. That useless play preceded three straight incompletions, the final nail in the coffin was an awful decision to throw into triple coverage as he tried to thread a microscopic needle to Goedert.
Hurts did not rise to the usual occasion as he was just 9/19 for 75 yards, 0 touchdowns and a completion percentage of 47.5 in the second half. The reigning Super Bowl MVP finished the day 20/35 for 168 with 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions and a quarterback rating about 20 percentage points under his playoff average, an abysmal 79.2.
One the other side, despite throwing two interceptions, Brock Purdy kept his team in it with a gutty performance that saw him throw 262 yards on 18 of 31, 2 touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 80.3.
Just a .500 Team Since October 5th
After starting the season 4-0 the Eagles went just 7-7 from that point on, including todayâs rather unsettling loss to the 49ers. Â
It is officially the off-season for Eagles while the 49ers advance to play the Seattle Seahawks, the top overall seed in the NFC next weekend.
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