49ers 7, Eagles 31: Grades
PHILADELPHIA -- The 49ers' season just ended with a 31-7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Here are the 49ers' grades for this performance.
BROCK PURDY: INCOMPLETE
He got injured on his third pass attempt of the game because his coach, the genius, Kyle Shanahan (more on him in a minute), thought it was a good idea to block Hasson Reddick, who had 17.5 sacks in the regular season, with backup tight end Tyler Kroft, who's not particularly good at anything. Kroft predictably whiffed, and Reddick caused a fumble, plus he knocked out Purdy from the game and gave him an injury that might require surgery -- Purdy will have an MRI on his elbow tomorrow. If Purdy had stayed healthy, he very well might have beaten the Eagles -- they did not play great. But Purdy got injured immediately, and then fourth-string quarterback Josh Johnson fumbled a snap and the Eagles recovered, and that was checkmate. In 20 games this season, the 49ers got all four of their quarterbacks injured. Can't win a Super Bowl that way. With the exception of 2019, 49ers quarterbacks seem to last no longer than 8 or 9 games before getting injured. Perhaps the 49ers should consider signing Tom Brady, if only for his durability.
RUNNING BACKS: A
Elijah Mitchell missed the game with a groin injury, and Jordan Mason strangely got zero carries. But Christian McCaffrey rushed for 5.6 yards per carry and scored a 23-yard rushing touchdown during which he broke four tackles. He rose to the occasion. Unfortunately for the 49ers, not many other players did.
WIDE RECEIVERS: INCOMPLETE
They had to play most of the game with Josh Johnson, who should not have been on the field.
TIGHT ENDS: INCOMPLETE
They also had to play most of the game with Johnson. Tyler Kroft also gave up the hit that injured Purdy, but the 49ers never should have asked Kroft to block Philly's best edge rusher to begin with.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: D
They gave up constant pressure all game, and Trent Williams got ejected after body slamming an Eagles defender. The 49ers must improve their pass protection this offseason. It's not championship caliber.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: D
They gave up 148 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. Nick Bosa also had zero sacks for the fourth time in the past five games -- he did not step up like the 49ers needed him to. And neither did anyone else on the 49ers defensive line. They still have to find a nose tackle to replace D.J. Jones, because Javon Kinlaw is not a nose tackle. They also need to find an edge rusher to replace Dee Ford, whom the 49ers still have not replaced.
LINEBACKERS: D
Dre Greenlaw had a team-high nine tackles, but he also committed two big penalties -- a facemask and an unnecessary roughness for repeatedly punching at the ball after the whistle. This was one of Greenlaw's worst games ever. Fred Warner suffered a stinger on the second play from scrimmage, but returned and recorded eight tackles.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: A-MINUS
Ironically, this was the 49ers' best position group on defense today. They limited Jalen Hurts to 121 passing yards and a quarterback rating of 72.2. They also gave up just one deep catch that shouldn't have counted because the Eagles wide receiver dropped the ball. Unfortunately for the 49ers, Kyle Shanahan didn't challenge this play. Charvarius Ward was the star of this group, as he broke up too long throws. But he also committed two penalties that gave the Eagles automatic first downs.
SPECIAL TEAMS: A
They gave up a 29-yard kickoff return to start the game, but otherwise played well.
COACHES: D
DeMeco Ryans' defense played well early in the game, but unravelled as the 49ers' quarterbacks went down and the reality set in that they would lose. Then the 49ers defense started committing penalties and extending drives out of frustration. But this game was lost in the first quarter when Kyle Shanahan failed to challenge a long completed pass on fourth down. He would have won the challenge, and the Eagles would have turned the ball over on downs instead of scoring a touchdown. Then on the next series, he called a play-action pass and made his backup tight end try to block Hasson Reddick, who makes starting offensive tackles look bad every week. No idea why Shanahan thought Kroft could block him. After the game, I asked Shanahan if that assignment was ambitious for Kroft in retrospect. "It's a tough block, but all play actions involve tight ends blocking edge rushers. They had us on a number of those today, too. You hope you can step up, which you usually do in a pocket." Translation: the play call was good. Purdy blew it. He should have stepped up in the pocket. It's his fault, not Shanahan's. To which I say, "Baloney." Shanahan is too caught up in scheme. He doesn't factor in matchups heavily enough. Blocking Reddick with a tight end works on paper but not in real life. Then on the next drive, Shanahan doubled down and made George Kittle block Reddick, but Kittle whiffed and this time Reddick sacked Josh Johnson. Shanahan is a good coach, but he doesn't hold himself accountable for his mistakes -- he blames others, usually his quarterback. Which is why he makes the same mistakes at the end of every season and hasn't won a Super Bowl yet. He was the reason the 49ers lost this game. He was the reason the 49ers went through four quarterbacks this season. Which means he was the main reason the 49ers came up short yet again. At some point, he needs to learn how to keep his quarterbacks healthy or acquire one such as Tom Brady who can keep himself healthy. You'd think a genius would have figured out that by now.
