The San Francisco 49ers proved to everyone that they’re far better than their No. 6 seed would indicate.
The 49ers kept their season alive while taking out the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles 23-19 on the road on Sunday in the NFC wild-card round of the playoffs.
It was the second time the two teams have met in the postseason since 2022 when the Eagles ran away with a 31-7 win in the NFC Championship game after then-rookie quarterback Brock Purdy suffered an elbow injury early on that kept him from throwing the ball further than a few yards.
Sunday’s win was even more impressive given head coach Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers pulled it off shorthanded.
Star edge-rusher Nick Bosa and linebacker Fred Warner are both out with season-ending injuries, while the team’s two leading tacklers, Dee Winters and Tatum Bethune, both also didn’t play.
Nick Sirianni Had Clear Message for Shanahan
The 49ers defense kept star quarterback Jalen Hurts and Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Brown in check all game.
Hurts threw for just 168 yards and a touchdown, and Brown was limited to 3 catches on 7 targets for 25 yards. The lockdown performance seemingly earned the respect of Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, who had some words of encouragement for Shanahan and the 49ers after the game.
“Go win it all,” Sirianni boldly told Shanahan during their postgame handshake.
Sirianni’s remarks seemingly earned him a little good will some fans on social media for the way he handled the loss, with some applauding him for taking the high road unlike Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson, who had a much more aggressive exchange with Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur after Saturday’s game.
“At least there is some class amongst the nfc coaches,” one fan wrote.
“Gained a little respect just now for Nick. Interesting day,” another fan added.
“Respect 🫡,” a third fan replied.
“Someone should show this to that genius Bears coach,” scoffed one user.
“Class act,” another user stated.
Who’s Next for the 49ers?
GettyThe San Francisco 49ers celebrate beating the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC wild-card round
With the No. 7 seed Packers getting eliminated by the No. 2 seed Bears 24 hours prior, the 49ers are the lowest-seeded team remaining in the NFC.
San Francisco now has a grudge match with the NFC West champion Seattle Seahawks, the top seed in the NFC.
The good news for the 49ers is the Seahawks are a team they’re quite familiar with having played them twice this season, including a 17-13 win over their division foe back in Week 1.
The bad news is they lost 13-3 to those Seahawks just two weeks ago in the regular-season finale in a game that decided the division winner, the No. 1 seed, and who would get home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Seattle opened as 6.5-point favorites over San Francisco in that game.
Also working against the 49ers is the fact that the Seahawks are well-rested given their first-round bye, while the 49ers are arguably the most banged-up team in the playoff field.
In addition to the defensive injuries San Francisco is battling, star tight end George Kittle tore his Achilles early in the first half of Sunday’s win and will miss the rest of the playoffs, and 2024 first-round wide receiver Ricky Pearsall missed Sunday’s game.
The 49ers are also 0-1 in playoff games in Seattle. They lost their only trip to Lumen Field back in 2014 in the NFC Championship Game, though they beat the Seahawks in the wild-card round back in 2023 in Brock Purdy’s rookie season.
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