December 03, 2023
The Eagles finally fell into a hole far too deep for them to climb out of, and maybe even at the worst possible time.
The San Francisco 49ers came into the Linc, and in the long-awaited and bad-blood-fueled NFC Championship rematch, blew the tires off the top-seeded Birds in a 42-19 rout.
The Eagles are 10-2 now, still No. 1 in the NFC, but the Niners and Cowboys, they're both right on their heels now, with no more second-half magic and their issues more glaring than ever.
Here's what went wrong...
The Eagles' offense opened up with two straight dominant and tempo-dictating drives.
Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown worked shallow posts over the middle to massive chunks of yardage and little answer from the Niners, and when Hurts had to roll out, there was DeVonta Smith cutting back to give him an option along the sideline.
Both possessions, they were moving. But after both, an early 6-0 lead from two Jake Elliott chip shots was all they had to show for it.
And that was never going to be enough. Not today.
After all those comebacks, the Eagles have earned their rep as a second-half team, but if there was any game to put that aside and storm out of the gate early, it was this one.
And the Eagles just couldn't put the finishing touches on either drive to really make them count.
Credit to the Niners' defense. They locked it down once the Eagles got into the red zone. A pass breakup by Charvarius Ward on a ball intended for Brown in the end zone on a 3rd and 7 from the San Francisco 8-yardline was a brutal halt of momentum on the opening drive, and then that scramble and slip backwards from Hurts while waiting for an option to open up to cost them 15 yards and set up a long 3rd and 21 basically settled the second drive on another field goal right then and there.
Yeah, they were points, sure. But for a team like San Francisco, a 6-0 hole is infinitely more manageable than a 14-0 one.
"When you think about how important it is to start fast – and I feel like we started with good rhythm, good tempo, good execution for the most part – we just kinda weren't able to connect and execute like we wanted to in the red zone," Hurts said postgame. "When you're playing a good team like that, that gets you. Every little thing matters."
The Eagles needed touchdowns there, couldn't get them, and it came back to bite them, especially because...
A small but very key factor in all of the Eagles' comebacks this season: They always got the ball back to start the second half.
But on Sunday, the Niners won the toss and deferred the decision, leading the Eagles to receive first.
Not a big deal until it is. But after San Francisco came alive to take a 14-6 lead into the break, it was.
The Eagles were in a hole, once again. But this time the offense wouldn't have its usual first crack at climbing out of it. The Niners took it instead and piled on with a 75-yard drive that capped off with Deebo Samuel turning the corner into the end zone to go up 21-6.
Hurts' and the offense's second-half magic had finally run out and their issues finally caught up to them, maybe at the worst possible time.
How quickly and effectively can Hurts, Brian Johnson, and co. adjust? Because now they might really need to.
The Eagles' defensive line was relentless in pressuring Brock Purdy from the jump, making it look like it was about to be another nightmare of a day for the upstart quarterback down in South Philly.
But it didn't last.
After two straight three and outs to open Sunday afternoon, Purdy and the Niners settled down on their third possession, betting that the Eagles would overcommit to the aggression upfront.
Purdy started getting the ball to George Kittle over the middle of the field – a defensive weak point for the Eagles all season – started finding Brandon Aiyuk in space too, which then led to holes opening up on the ground for Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel.
And once that all started clicking, the Eagles just couldn't stop the bleeding.
Coverage broke down, tackling got sloppy, the D-line got taken out of it, and just like that, the Eagles were finally in a hole too deep for them to climb out of, after San Francisco had rang off six consecutive touchdown drives.
This block and release designed for Kittle that left Haason Reddick in no man's land and Kittle free to take off in space, in particular, was one of the bigger blows of the whole day:
Kittle rumbling into the red zone 😤
— NFL (@NFL) December 3, 2023
📺: #SFvsPHI on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/xvCjbLUIcN pic.twitter.com/1b20lhCERm
"The little things," defensive end Brandon Graham said. "The little things caught up with us today."
The Eagles are still at the top of the hill, for now, but they straight up got punched in the mouth — there's no sugarcoating it – and might be more vulnerable than ever.
How are they going to respond?
"It's much credit to [the 49ers]," Graham added. "I know that we're gonna fight to make sure we get it right, get this bad taste out of our mouth."
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