After dismantling the Giants, 38-7, on Saturday, the Eagles climbed into their recliners and watched two teams struggle to score points, sustain drives and make big plays on offense.
So, why are the Niners advancing to meet the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field?
Well, because the Cowboys were the usual Big Game Choking Cowboys, who lost for the record seventh straight time in the divisional round and have failed to make it to the NFC title game since winning their fifth Super Bowl title following the 1995 season:
— Quarterback Zak Prescott threw a pair of interceptions — he had 17 of them in 14 starts this season, including 13 in his final nine games.
— Kicker Brett Maher again turned extra points (his only attempt was blocked but would’ve missed anyway) and field goals into a carnival game (in the end he made a pair).
— The feared Cowboys offense managed just 282 yards.
When Prescott threw for 305 yards and four TDs and ran for another score in a playoff win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, setting a franchise by accounting for five TDs in a playoff game, analysts immediately declared the Cowboys the team to beat. Well, they got beat. Boy, did they.
The Cowboys lost to a rookie who threw for only 214 yards, without a TD pass (or interception). The Niners’ leading rusher was Elijah Mitchell, who had all of 51 yards, and tight end Greg Kittle was the closest thing the 49ers had to a weapon. He caught five passes for 95 yards, including a juggling catch off his face mask for 31 yards in the fourth quarter.
“Man, we’re just excited that we won,” 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy said. “Everyone did their part. It’s playoff football, it’s never easy, but we’re moving on.”
(Never easy? Was he not watching the Giants-Eagles?)
The Cowboys, for all their offensive ineptitude in another big game, seemed to solve the Purdy Riddle, however — how a third-string rookie quarterback could light up the NFL in his first seven starts. They confounded the kid with pressure packages and coverages, and probably gave Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon a game-planning head-start.
Purdy — who joined Joe Flacco (2008) and Mark Sanchez (2009) as the only rookie quarterbacs to win two playoff starts — had better study up this week, because the Eagles, with the most relentless pass rush in the league and two of the best cornerbacks, won’t make the trigonometry of playoff defenses any easier. The Eagles, after leading the NFL with 70 sacks during the regular season, collected five more against the Giants.
“Wow. Brock Purdy getting us to the NFC Championship Game? I mean, he’s only won, I think, like, seven in a row now. Good job, Brock,” Kittle said. “He’s playing at a high level, getting our best players the football, he’s awesome and confident in the huddle. He’s just doing a great job.”
Like Purdy, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones was an NFL Flavor of the Week — until he ran into the Eagles defense.
“We have a good team, a talented team that plays together,” Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said. “I know they do. They’ve been as good as anyone from the beginning of this year to right now. If you looked at the beginning of the year, you thought that Philly would be the last team here and that’s the way it’s ended up. … We’re looking forward to the change.
Kevin Nanahan:
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