Niners defeat defending champs for NFC wild-card win

PHILADELPHIA — Someplace alongside the way in which in an unlikely playoff season marred by accidents to a few of their brightest stars, it was going to catch as much as the San Francisco 49ers.

Sunday was not that day.

The 49ers, who received 12 video games regardless of enjoying a lot of the season with out defensive finish Nick Bosa (ACL) and linebacker Fred Warner (ankle), amongst others, had withstood the repeated accidents.

San Francisco had even shrugged off an enormous offseason roster reset and used the doubts about its outlook as gasoline. That resolve was examined once more Sunday, when tight finish George Kittle left due to an injured proper Achilles that saved him out for a lot of the recreation and will price him all of subsequent season, as nicely.

Regardless of that devastating damage to a different workforce chief and captain, the 49ers, as they’d so many instances this season, continued to battle. Unlikely heroes — resembling wideout Demarcus Robinson and a much-maligned protection — emerged as soon as extra.

Frequent sense would point out the magic is destined to expire in some unspecified time in the future. However these Niners will hold enjoying with home cash, betting on themselves even within the hardest of instances.

With Sunday’s 23-19 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, the Niners will journey to Seattle for the NFC divisional spherical subsequent weekend. The deck will once more be stacked towards them.

However as long as these Niners get to maintain enjoying, it is unwise to rely them out.

San Francisco 49ers

What to make of the QB efficiency: Absent his prime move catchers, San Francisco wanted quarterback Brock Purdy at his greatest. What the Niners obtained was a blended bag that included some key errors however a giant supply when it mattered most.

Trailing 19-17 with eight minutes to go, Purdy engineered a drive that ended with him evading strain and hitting McCaffrey for a 4-yard landing to stake the Niners to a 23-19 lead with 2:54 to go.

Earlier, Purdy hit some important throws to get the Niners shifting and made a couple of performs together with his legs, however he additionally tried to do an excessive amount of at instances.

The latter led to him throwing his first two profession postseason interceptions, ending two drives, as Purdy completed 18-of-31 for 262 yards with 2 touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.

Most stunning efficiency: Large receiver Demarcus Robinson. Already with out receiver Ricky Pearsall due to knee and ankle accidents, the Niners additionally performed most of Sunday’s recreation with out tight finish George Kittle due to a right Achilles injury.

That left San Francisco in determined want of somebody who might produce within the passing recreation. Enter Robinson, whose season excessive for receiving yards occurred in Week 6, when he completed with 44.

However Robinson set the tone on the second play of the sport with a 61-yard catch and run. He completed with simply his greatest recreation as a Niner, posting six catches for 111 yards and a landing.

Turning level: In determined want of a giant play, Shanahan dug into his bag of tips, having receiver Jauan Jennings — a former quarterback — take an end around and throw to working again Christian McCaffrey.

Jennings’ move initially seemed to be overthrown, however McCaffrey adjusted and hauled it in for the rating. The additional level made it 17-16 with 14:52 to go, giving the Niners a lead and the offensive momentum they wanted to complete sturdy.

It was the second profession postseason landing move from Jennings, who additionally related with McCaffrey for a 21-yard rating towards the Chiefs in Tremendous Bowl LVIII. Jennings has the previous two playoff landing passes thrown by a non-quarterback. — Nick Wagoner

Subsequent recreation: TBD

The defending champs exited within the first spherical of the playoffs, largely due to their offensive inconsistency.

It was a serious theme of their season. The protection was top-of-the-line within the NFL and saved the Eagles in most video games whereas the offense struggled to seek out its footing. Second-half funks have been frequent, and it occurred once more Sunday as Philadelphia managed simply six factors after halftime.

This was a extremely winnable recreation towards a San Francisco protection that was hit laborious by damage, nevertheless it required the Eagles’ offense to raise its play to match the 49ers’ firepower.

Consideration will flip instantly to the way forward for first-year playcaller Kevin Patullo after the highest-paid offense within the NFL as soon as once more fell flat.

QB efficiency: Jalen Hurts went 20-of-35 for 168 yards and a landing. He performed turnover-free, which has been a giant a part of the Eagles’ profitable system throughout the Nick Sirianni period, and this 12 months specifically, however Hurts and the offense lacked punch for a lot of the sport. A completion to tight finish Dallas Goedert on fourth-and-5 late within the recreation saved hope alive, however the Eagles’ last-ditch effort ended simply outdoors the purple zone.

Stat to know: All-Professional cornerback Mitchell has zero profession interceptions in 32 regular-season video games however has 4 within the postseason, together with a pair off Brock Purdy within the second half Sunday. Mitchell moved right into a tie with Brian Dawkins for many Eagles postseason interceptions and trails solely Herm Edwards (5) in that class.

Development to look at: Tight finish Dallas Goedert continues to ship within the purple zone. He had a pair of touchdowns, considered one of which got here on a jet sweep to open the scoring for Philadelphia. It was the primary postseason speeding landing by a decent finish in NFL historical past, per ESPN Analysis. The approaching free agent completed with 13 touchdowns this season, shattering his earlier excessive. — Tim McManus