The Eagles-49ers rematch will be headlined by Brock Purdy, but Philadelphia needs to be much more cautious about something else.

The Eagles-49ers rematch will be headlined by Brock Purdy, but Philadelphia needs to be much more cautious about something else.

The Eagles-49ers rematch will be headlined by Brock Purdy

The highly anticipated NFC championship game rematch between the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers is finally here. (Source: Yahoo Sports/Mallory Bielecki)

On January 29, Kyle Shanahan’s face was hidden by two shadows at a podium in Philadelphia.

The San Francisco 49ers head coach’s eyes were physically shaded by Shanahan’s baseball cap with the team’s logo. Then there was the psychological shadow, which was equally apparent in his defeated look as he dealt with the realization that his team’s bright postseason run had been ruined by quarterback injuries.

After Josh Johnson’s concussion and Brock Purdy’s UCL rupture left the 49ers in such a precarious position that the NFL had to amend its regulations in order to prevent a recurrence, Shanahan said, “I just hurt for those guys.” “I felt that today’s card was fairly tough for them to draw. a firm grip.

“I felt like we had a chance to beat them today, but we weren’t successful.”

Ten months following the Eagles’ 31-7 victory in the NFC title game, the 49ers will visit Philadelphia on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET for a rematch. The return is poignant for many reasons: Purdy, who has since recovered from off-season UCL surgery to lead the league in passer rating (112.3); the 49ers, who aim to win the entire season rather than just be very good every year; and even the Eagles, who won an unchallenging conference title before missing out on the Lombardi Trophy by three points.

There is no denying the contest’s importance to the history of league greats. Indeed, these 2023 teams feature players, schemes, and an ethos that have changed since January, as Shanahan and Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni have emphasized this week. And yet, going into Week 13, these clubs were once again occupying the top two NFC playoff slots. The 8-3 49ers finished 12 weeks behind only the Baltimore Ravens and the 10-1 Eagles, who have the best record in the league.

There’s much more to this game than banishing the ghosts of the previous season. This playoffs, when the Eagles and 49ers are currently tied at +400 with the greatest chances to win the Super Bowl, according to BetMGM, is as significantly a referendum on what each team can accomplish.

49ers All-Pro edge rusher Nick Bosa stated this week, “Neither team finished the job [last season], so it’s not like they’re looking back and reminiscing on an NFC championship win either way.” “I’m sure at the end of the year, we were both depressed. Our shared dream is to win a Super Bowl.

“Now that the year has begun, this is a significant step for both of us to achieve that goal.”

Which gets us to the main question of what will decide whether or not this showdown occurs. Although Purdy’s health will be the main factor in the 49ers’ rise to the top of the betting odds this week, his output might not be the main concern for the Eagles.

For the 49ers may have added a unit in 2023 that is ready to cause even more damage.

The 49ers’ unending DL spending will put Jalen Hurts and the Eagles in danger.

Taking into account that the NFL never stops proving its “any given Sunday” credo, the first 12 weeks of this season lend credence to two conclusions.

First, on Sunday, the 49ers will score a ton of points.

With receiver Brandon Aiyuk, all-purpose touchdown king Christian McCaffrey, defensive coordinator nightmare Deebo Samuel, and effective and productive Purdy, their offense is loaded. The All-Pro tight end George Kittle, whose 667 receiving yards and five touchdowns rank third and tie for second at his position, respectively, is not even included on that list.

Even after accounting for a three-game losing run during which they failed to score more than 17 points when Samuel was out, the Niners have amassed a staggering 28.2 points per game. When Samuel is healthy, as he is this week, the 49ers have not dropped a game this season. With the 49ers’ offensive ranking first in DVOA and Philadelphia’s defense ranking seventh, their No. 3 scoring offense presents a threat to the Eagles’ No. 20 scoring defense.

“Brock really runs that offense really well, and they do a good job mixing the run and pass,” Eagles defensive coordinator Sean Desai stated this week. He can be evasive in the pocket, slippery, and somewhat swift. By keeping his sights upfield, he can also target some bombs downfield.

“They present a great challenge.”

The Eagles shouldn’t count on completely slowing down the 49ers, as their defense ranks 19th in yards per game allowed and 20th in points per game allowed. Rather, they ought to aim to stay up with them.

This brings us to our second conclusion: Philadelphia’s offense will have a more difficult time playing at the line of scrimmage this season than it did the previous one, and even more difficult than San Francisco’s opponents had two months prior.

The 49ers have prioritized and invested in their front seven for a long time. However, they’ve just strengthened a group that already featured three-time Pro Bowl rusher Nick Bosa and local first-round picks Erik Armstead this season.

After Philadelphia allowed defensive tackle Jayvon Hargrave to leave, San Francisco signed him as a free agent; in early October, it traded for edge rusher Randy Gregory from the Denver Broncos; and on October 31, right before the trade deadline, it obtained 2020 No. 2 overall draft pick Chase Young.

According to ESPN, Young has the seventh-highest pass-rush victory percentage among edge rushers, while Bosa, who has faced twice as many double teams as Young, is ranked 14th. Only two teammates, Hargrave (ranked seventh) and Armstead (10th), have both broken into the top 10 in defensive tackle pass rush victory rate. This group’s collective weight is enormous.

With our D-line, everything has increased significantly, Shanahan remarked. “I think they’re all at the top of their game right now as a collective.”

Data confirms that.

The 49ers haven’t significantly altered their pressure patterns this season, but they are far more effective at applying it. According to Next Gen Stats data, San Francisco recorded a 40.5% pressure rate through the first four weeks of the season, a 40.7% pressure rate during the next four weeks with Gregory in the lineup, and a 39.2% pressure rate since Week 9, when both Gregory and Young were available.

Nevertheless, throughout such times, their sack percentage increased from 4.7% during the first four weeks to 6% in Weeks 5-8 and a staggering 12% after Week 9.

With Young in the starting lineup, the 49ers have averaged five sacks per game after averaging 2.25 sacks in their first eight games.

“I guess things kind of turned around ever since we got Chase Young, didn’t they?” Linebacker Fred Warner, an All-Pro, remarked following the 49ers’ Thanksgiving victory. “I feel like the D-line is so relentless [that] as long as we’re sticking our covers, they’re going to go out there and they’re going to eat every time, as long as we are doing a good job in the back.”

“I believe that’s why you see the results, so kind of spending extra time going over the route concepts, especially on third down, and working in unison rush and coverage.”

Can the Eagles firepower hold off the 49ers? Participants weigh in

The Eagles should be the most equipped squad to take on the 49ers in the trenches. According to ESPN, center Jason Kelce is ranked fifth in run-block win rate and sixth in pass-block win rate, while left guard Landon Dickerson of the Eagles is ranked first among interior offensive lineman in both categories.

The Eagles anticipate having right tackle Lane Johnson (groin), who leads all offensive tackles in run-stop success rate and is ranked seventh in pass-block win rate, back against Bosa and Young. Jordan Mailata, a left tackle, is ranked seventh against the run and seventeenth against the pass.

Thus, it should come as no surprise that the Eagles rank sixth in pass-blocking and top the league in team run-blocking grades, according to ESPN.

Jalen Hurts, the quarterback for the Eagles, will have the best supporting cast to carry out the newest installment of Philadelphia’s “Brotherly Shove,” and a nearly-as-amazing group that will buy him a few more seconds to assess defenses, go through his progressions, and choose the best run-pass option.

The unavoidable issue is: Will all of that be sufficient?

Hurts remarked, “They’re a really, really, really, really good defense.” “They have very elite players and great players at every position on that D-line.” We must be prepared to take on that challenge.

The 49ers have restricted scoring opportunities more than any other club; they have only let up 15.5 points a game against opponents, as opposed to the 22.4 the Eagles have given up. When you take into account that difference together with the teams’ identical score totals, it becomes less shocking that Vegas has changed the odds from favoring the Philadelphia Eagles at home to dubbing them three-point underdogs.

“I believe it’s acceptable to be the underdog,” Sirianni retorted. “All I knew about this city was Rocky vs. Apollo Creed before I ever set foot in it.” This city excels at playing the underdog.

The betting line, according to Shanahan, “doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”

Whether they are favorites or not, both clubs can respect the level of play they have maintained since their NFC championship game showdown, the stakes for potentially playing in another one in January, and the availability of both starting quarterbacks.

When Shanahan was moping in his shadow and the Eagles were riding the disappointment train two weeks later, none of this was certain.

Isn’t it 2023 now? 2022 is not here, Sirianni declared. This matchup pits the Eagles of 2023 against the Niners of 2023. Both groups are performing admirably.

“This is going to be an incredible fight.”

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