Philadelphia – On opening drive Brock Purdy’s intended pass to George Kittle was incomplete. The way he was hit on that play, forced him to leave the game with an elbow injury. Fourth string quarterback Josh Johnson took over but suffered a concussion in the third quarter, he left the game and did not return.
If that seems unbelievable, then the eleven penalties the Niners recorded were also a shock. The Philadelphia Eagles destroyed the 49ers 31-7. The Eagles are headed to the Super Bowl and will await the winner of the AFC Championship game. This is the second straight NFC loss for San Francisco in 2 years. While no one would predict losing two quarterbacks in a game, the Niners didn’t feel like they played their best game.
DL Arik Armstead brought down Eagles QB Jalen Hurts for a sack, marking his 2nd this postseason and the 7th of his playoff career. His 7.0 sacks in the postseason are the 3rd most in franchise history.
Philadelphia came out strong on their opening drive. Jalen Hurst went deep to DeVonta Smith for 29 yards, that set up Miles Sanders 6-yard touchdown. On the next drive, the Eagles defense smothered the Niners offense. Brock Purdy threw an incomplete pass to George Kittle. Philadelphia challenged the call and it was reversed. Haason Reddick caused the sack/fumble on Purdy that injured his elbow, Linval Joseph recovered the fumble.
On the next play, Purdy was pulled due to a right elbow injury and backup quarterback Josh Johnson took over. He was sacked immediately by Reddick, San Francisco struggled to get past 3rd down.
San Francisco had to go with their running game, Christian McCaffrey broke through four tackles to rush for a 23-yard touchdown to start the second quarter. The Niners 6 plays for 46 yards was all done by McCaffrey for their only score of the night. For the day he registered 14 carries for 84 yards that included his one touchdown. McCaffrey was also set to be replace Johnson at quarterback.
“You never want to see any of your teammates get hurt let alone the quarterback position, it’s tough,” said McCaffrey. “You’re never out of the fight though, we believed it and it just didn’t turn out our way. We got beat and wish we had another shot ai it with everybody, but it’s life, it’s the way it goes.”
The 49ers recorded 11 penalities for 81 yards while Philly registered only 4 penalities for 34 yards.
Two back-to-back penalties proved costly in the second when both Jimmie Ward and T.Y McGill allowed the Eagles to move down field quickly. That set up Sanders 5-yard touchdown, his second touchdown of the day to make it a 14-7 game with 2 minutes left in the half.
Philly’s defense showed no mercy and forced Johnson to fumbled with 1:11 seconds left and Reddick recovered. The Eagles took over at 1st and 10. Another penalty, [face mask] for 15 yards moved the chains and Boston Scott rushed into the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown to end the half and gave Philly a 21-7 lead.
“There’s four good teams in the NFL left, and all four of those teams are capable of beating anyone on any day,” Shanahan said. “I said that [in 2019] because I thought we were from the beginning to the end. That’s similar to how Philly’s been this year. I thought we had a chance to knock them off today, and we came up short.”
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49ers pre-game field action at Lincoln Financial Field
Philadelphia – The 49ers are ready to face-off with the Philadelphia Eagles for the National Conference Championship game. The winner will face the AFC Chamopinship winner at the Super Bowl in Arizona in two weeks.
49ers take the field…
The 49ers pre-game field action captured by Sports Anchor Vernon Glenn.
Photo by 49ers/Twitter
