This is how the Philadelphia Eagles will beat the San Francisco 49ers.
The Philadelphia Eagles host the San Francisco 49ers in the Wild Card round of the 2026 NFL playoffs and their biggest X-Factor has been revealed.
NFL analyst Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report thinks the Eagles' ability to rush the passer will decide the 49ers game.
"A similar concern applies for the Philadelphia Eagles as well. An argument can be made for putting Jalen Hurts here—the Philly offense has been bafflingly inconsistent at times this year, and the heart of that inconsistency has been the Super Bowl LIX MVP," Davenport wrote. "However, this game is going to come down to which team best pressures the opposing signal-caller. And unlike in recent years, the Eagles haven't been as dominant in that regard in 2025.
"To be fair, Philadelphia's 42 sacks are more than double San Francisco's this year. But the Eagles don't have a dominant edge-rusher who is going to command double-teams, and Jalyx Hunt paces the team with 6.5 sacks. As a whole, Philadelphia has the better defense, but we have seen these 49ers carve opponents up of late. Since their bye, the Niners are averaging 32.5 points per game, and that counts a three-point effort against Seattle last week. If the Eagles can consistently get after Brock Purdy, the defending champions will cruise. If they can't, it's a shootout."
The Eagles went 11-6 in the regular season. They were 19th in the NFL in points per game and fifth in points per game allowed.
Meanwhile, the 49ers went 12-5. They were 10th in the league in points per game and 13th in points per game allowed.
The Eagles are looking to repeat as Super Bowl champions. For that to happen, the offense has to get it together and the defense must continue to put pressure on the opposing QB.
Philadelphia is favored to beat San Francisco since the game is at home, but the 49ers have won many road games in the playoffs under head coach Kyle Shanahan. The Eagles can't overlook this team, especially considering how below-average their offense was in the regular season.
If Philadelphia loses this season because of the offense, Kevin Patullo may get fired and trade rumors surrounding Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown will get very, very loud.