Eagles News: 49ers Player Felt Like The NFL Told Refs To Get Philly To The Super Bowl
For an instant, Christian McCaffrey’s improbable TD run made 49ers victory seem possible –
Then McCaffrey’s amazing run tied the game, instilling a sense of hope. “We needed like five more of those,” a dejected McCaffrey said later.
The Eagles responded with a 14-play, 75-yard touchdown drive facilitated by three defensive penalties that negated potential stops. Suffice it to say, the Niners weren’t thrilled with the officiating. “It felt like once Purdy got hurt, someone at the league called down and said, ‘Make sure the Eagles get to the Super Bowl, and not them,’” one Niners player told me.
I’m withholding his name because he would prefer to keep his money, rather than paying a fine to the NFL.That may be a bit over the top, but let’s just say he wasn’t the only frustrated person in that locker room.
Winners and losers from the 49ers letdown loss: The Niners were flagged for 11 penalties – Niners Nation
Loser: Penalties … And that’s the penalties. The 49ers were called for 11 penalties on Sunday, with seven coming from the defense. The 11 penalties cost the 49ers 81 yards, both the highest in a game from the 49ers since their Week 1 loss to the Chicago Bears.
Not only was the number of penalties an issue, but the time as well. Three of the seven penalties against the 49ers’ defense were called on either third or fourth down, with all three drives resulting in points for the Eagles. Jimmie Ward was called for a first quarter pass interference, Jordan Mason was called for roughing the kicker on a fourth-and-6, and Dre Greenlaw was called for unnecessary roughness after a two-yard gain on a third-and-12, all resulting in first downs.
As mentioned, the defense did what they could, but frustration settled in, and it resulted in some poorly timed penalties.
Eagles-49ers snap count analysis: Haason Reddick continues to be super efficient – BGN
Last week, Haason Reddick logged seven pressures on 24 pass rush snaps (per Pro Football Focus). This week, Reddick logged five pressures on 14 pass rush snaps. So, 12 pressures on 36 pass rush snaps in the playoffs so far. He’s pretty good!
The Eagles ran for 148 yards as a team, and a stellar 0.15 EPA/attempt, over their season average of 0.072. What was really cool to see was how the Eagles adjusted to the curveballs thrown by the Niners in the run game. Much like a UFC champion, Philly made adjustments midgame, and hammered away at San Francisco.
The Niners are a very well coached defense, and had a lot of the Eagles favorite run concepts scouted out the entire game. Philadelphia loves to run zone read with a TE as a split zone blocker, to get a lead blocker out ahead of Jalen Hurts. The Niners were prepared for this, and as you can see here, Nick Bosa was having none of that.
Who Are These Eagles? – Iggles Blitz
I thought about this for a while. There isn’t an ideal comparison. Then it hit me. This team actually compares to the 1992 Dallas Cowboys. […] There are differences. The Eagles are more creative schematicall. Part of that is due to the times.
The early 90’s were the era of the I-formation and nobody did that better than Dallas. The Cowboys were a young team on the rise. They only had a couple of veterans sprinkled in. The Eagles have a combination of youth and older players.
Dallas was launching a dynasty. The Eagles have a lot of tough offseason decisions. The Eagles will have more than a few new faces in 2023. What the Eagles do in the Super Bowl will be key to figuring out just how good this team really is. Legacies are tied to rings, not stats.
As good as the 1991 Eagles defense was, people think about the ’85 Bears, 2000 Ravens or 2002 Bucs first because they all won Super Bowls. If the Eagles lose, we’ll talk about what a fun season this was. It just had a disappointing finish. And it has been a fun season.
This team got off to a hot start and didn’t slow down until Hurts injury. Then they gave us a pair of playoff blowouts. There have only been a couple of close games. If the Eagles win the Super Bowl, we’ll talk about what an amazing season this has been and just how special this team is. The 2004 and 2017 teams were awesome, but this group is on a whole other
But perhaps most impressive about Sirianni is what he does during games: He constantly makes the right calls. The Eagles went for a fourth-and-3 on the 49ers’ 35-yard line on their first drive of the game on Sunday, converting on a deep catch-that-wasn’t-really-a-catch by Smith—but Smith called for a hurry-up play to beat the potential challenge, and the Eagles were ready to execute.
After the 49ers tied the game up in the first half, the Eagles went for another fourth down—fourth-and-1 from their own 34!—and converted as part of a long touchdown drive. The 49ers suffered backbreaking penalties that extended Eagles drives and kicked them out of field goal range; the Eagles didn’t.
Kyle Shanahan didn’t use a single timeout all game—the Eagles used one to see whether they could sneak a two-point conversion attempt in at the end of the first half. Sirianni is exactly what you want in a modern coach: intelligent on fourth downs and strong situationally, with a great energy for the young stars of this league. There are many reasons the Eagles found themselves the top seed of the NFC and in the Super Bowl—he’s one of the big ones.
Spadaro: The play that encapsulates a season –
The play was revealing for several reasons that truly tell a story of the 2022 Philadelphia Eagles, and here is why … 1. Sirianni trusted his players in that situation to convert the fourth down. Gutsy move, no doubt, but that’s the way Sirianni has been coaching since he arrived here. He believes in his players. They, in turn, know that and they play with tremendous confidence, no matter the situation. “We have confidence,”
Sirianni said after the game. “When you go for it on fourth down, you put yourself in those scenarios all week. We have so many meetings about that, of what we’re going to do in these scenarios, calls we might call, what we would call if we’ve already called that and everything like that.”
The Eagles were 3-for-3 on fourth down in Sunday’s win. The second conversion came late in the first half to keep a touchdown drive alive that gave the Eagles a 14-7 lead, and the third conversion came on the final drive of the game. Trust and execution.
Brandon Lee Gowton:
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