Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – The reigning Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles were knocked out of the NFL playoffs on Sunday after suffering an upset 23-19 home defeat to the injury-hit San Francisco 49ers. San Francisco running back Christian McCaffrey scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns as the depleted 49ers shrugged off an injury to star tight end George Kittle to clinch a famous victory at Lincoln Financial Field. The 49ers will now face an NFC divisional round tie at the top-seeded Seattle Seahawks next weekend.
“Our team just fights,” 49ers touchdown hero McCaffrey said afterwards. “We take each day at a time and go as hard as we can every single time. We knew it was going to be a 12-round fight, and we just had to stick with it no matter what happened during the game, good or bad. We just kept trusting each other and we ended up winning.”
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San Francisco went into Sunday’s game with a line-up decimated by an injury crisis that has deprived them of defensive linchpins Nick Bosa and Fred Warner, and receiver Ricky Pearsall among others. The 49ers suffered another brutal injury blow in the second quarter when Kittle was carted off the field with an Achilles injury.
Yet the Eagles, who led 13-10 at half-time after two touchdowns from Dallas Goedert, failed to make the most of the 49ers’ injury toll, with their sputtering offense struggling to find any sort of rhythm. Instead, it was the 49ers who kept their cool, with the unflappable quarterback Brock Purdy leading two fourth-quarter touchdown drives that sealed victory.
They crept into a 17-16 lead early in the fourth quarter when a superbly designed trick play ended with receiver Jauan Jennings launching a 29-yard touchdown pass to McCaffrey. The Eagles regained a slender 19-17 lead with a 41-yard Jake Elliott field goal, but Purdy produced another ice-cold drive to move the ball 66 yards before connecting with McCaffrey in the end zone for the winning score.
There was still time for the Eagles to regain the lead, but the 49ers defense held firm to seal the win.
© 2024 AFP
