49ers Opportunities Revealed in Philadelphia's Last Two Games
The Eagles trailed by ten at halftime in consecutive weeks and still got wins over Kansas City and Buffalo. Philadelphia is 5-0 this year when they’re down at halftime, showing the confident resilience and intestinal fortitude of a team expecting to return to the Super Bowl.
That doesn’t mean Philadelphia is invincible, but does mean it’ll take 60 minutes or more of focused football to beat them.
The 49ers travel to Philadelphia for the NFC Championship Game rematch with echoes of the classic everything-on-the-line Niners-Cowboys games of the past. The rivalry of this generation moves on to Round 2.
TAKEAWAYS FROM THE BUFFALO GAME
After an emotional win at Kansas City and a short week, Philadelphia came in tired and flat against Buffalo in the first half. Two Eagles turnovers set up 14 Bills points.
Jalen Hurts was shaky early, missing All-World right tackle Lane Johnson. The Eagles came into the game 13-22 without Johnson and looked the part.
Flush Jalen Hurts for incompletions
One of Hurts' flaws is when he’s flushed out of the pocket he focuses on the pass rush, becomes a runner, and rolls wide. After creating space, he only looks for receivers directly in front of him and usually throws the ball away. In the first half, Hurts was flushed five times and threw it away five times.
If the Niners can get to Hurts and flush him out that will be key, but it’ll be harder to do with future Hall of Famer Johnson back in the lineup. The 49ers' new depth on the defensive line will help to apply consistent pressure.
When the Buffalo defense got tired late Hurts exploited it with big running plays. That shouldn’t happen to the deeper Niners, their vulnerability will be maintaining rush lanes from the Wide-9. Any gaps or rushing past the quarterback and Hurts will make them pay.
Take advantage of the lack of speed in the Philadelphia secondary
On defense, the Philly pass rush is not what it was last year with Javon Hargrave, while their aging secondary has lost a step and misses playmaker Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.
The Eagles gave up 172 yards passing last year, it’s nearly double that this year. Part of that is blowouts then and nailbiters now but the Buffalo game exposed a Philly secondary that looks that fateful one year too old.
Safety Kevin Byard played off Buffalo tight end Dalton Kincaid all night and was too late to close. George Kittle should have a matchup edge over Byard and needs to be targeted often.
Philadelphia cornerbacks Darius Slay and James Bradberry are elite, but they did plenty of grabbing, which then becomes a question of what gets flagged.
Bradberry made a critical play when he was in option coverage to stay with his man or jump a route. He jumped and made a gimme pick. Brock Purdy could have success against that with a pump fake on a stop-and-go route by Brandon Aiyuk.
Philadelphia’s lack of speed, particularly at safety, needs to be exploited.
TAKEAWAYS FROM THE KANSAS CITY GAME
Last year the Philadelphia offensive line was impenetrable, this year there are cracks in the armor. The Chiefs had five sacks on Hurts at halftime. Two by Chris Jones against Jason Kelce in a physical matchup of All-Pros.
What can Brown do for you?
Of note for Niners defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, two more Chiefs sacks against the Eagles came from Trent McDuffie on blitzes, he also batted a pass down. This is the opportunity to send Ji’Ayir Brown in blitz packages. No one has seen it yet, Philly has trouble picking up blitzes from secondary players - release the hounds.
Live on the edge
A Philadelphia weakness in both games was failing at key times to set the edge against the run, particularly left. An Eagles weakness facing the Niners' primary strength must be milked with Trent Williams, Aaron Banks, and the positionless football blocking crew paving the road for Christian McCaffrey.
More trouble for Hurts
Kansas City’s pass rush forced Hurts into mistakes. On one play DeVonta Smith was wide open for a potential score but Hurts had already shifted into runner mode to evade the rush and didn’t see him. Instead, Hurts got away and threw the check down in front of him incomplete. When Hurts is flushed his downfield vision suffers and he tends to make rushed throws.
INJURIES
While the Eagles lost Lane Johnson and Fletcher Cox against Buffalo both are expected back for the 49ers game. The key return to watch is Philadelphia tight end Dallas Goedert. He was hurt on November 5th and the prognosis was that he'd be out for a month. Fast forward to December 3rd and he might be activated.
If so, he makes a night and day difference, Goedert is a threat on 3rd down and in the red zone. A defense can focus on A.J. Brown and Smith in coverage right now, add Goedert and that gets harder. No word yet on whether Goedert will return in time.
Next up, a comparison of organizations as both the Niners and Eagles appear to be fixtures atop the NFC for years to come.
