The San Francisco 49ers battled their way to a gritty finish in Philadelphia to defeat the Eagles in the Wild Card round.
The San Francisco 49ers, frankly, had no business being in the NFL playoffs with the number of injuries to stars on their roster. And yet, not only did they make it, but they proceeded to knock off the reigning Super Bowl champions at their home stadium, as the No. 7 49ers defeated the No. 3 Philadelphia Eagles 23-19 in the Wild Card round on Sunday evening. It was the fourth straight game to start the postseason that ended with a victory margin of four points or less. And it wasn’t remotely easy for San Francisco – taking a key player down in it.
With about six minutes left in the first half, 49ers’ tight end George Kittle went down with an Achilles injury and was carted off, deflating the wind from their sails. Kittle is arguably the heartbeat of San Francisco on and off the field. Yet, the adversity storm this team has weathered all year gave them the grit to pull off the finish led by quarterback Brock Purdy, who got to change the ending to his postseason story in Philadelphia.
Here is the full story from 49ers Roundtable writer Savanah Tujague on the Niners’ unlikely and tough victory to advance them to the Divisional Round.
In the 2022 NFC Championship Game at Lincoln Financial Field, Purdy torn his UCL on the opening drive. This time, he got to rewrite his story. He wasn’t perfect, throwing two interceptions, but did what he needed to do with an incredibly depleted offense down Ricky Pearsall among, well, almost everyone else. He was 18-of-31 for 262 yards and two touchdowns in addition to those picks. It was a brutal game in tough winter conditions on the East Coast, but as they’ve done all season, the 49ers prevailed and will keep playing in January -- back against their NFC West foes in Seattle against the No. 1 Seahawks.