Why the 49ers will Blow Out the Eagles
There’s the reason the Eagles haven’t won a game this season.
There’s a reason the 49ers are seven-point favorites to beat them Sunday night even though Jimmy Garoppolo, Raheem Mostert, Dee Ford, Nick Bosa, Dre Greenlaw and Richard Sherman won’t play.
There’s a reason the Eagles couldn’t beat the freaking Bengals last Sunday.
And the reason is the Eagles stink. They look nothing like the team that won the Super Bowl less than three years ago -- they look like a team that needs to fire its head coach, Doug Pederson, and rebuild from scratch around its quarterback, Carson Wentz, who would be an MVP candidate if he played for the 49ers. But on the Eagles this season, his passer rating is a measly 63.9.
There’s a reason Wentz has played so poorly, which I’ll get to.
And there are many reasons the 49ers will beat the Eagles by double digits Sunday night. Here are the top five reasons:
1. The 49ers are healthier than the Eagles.
Sounds impossible, right? Half the 49ers roster seems injured. But the Eagles come into this game with only two healthy wide receivers -- two. Greg Ward and John Hightower. And Ward has 42 career catches. And Hightower has three.
Plus the Eagles won’t have their No. 2 tight end, Dallas Goedert, who caught 58 passes last season. They placed him on Injured Reserve with an ankle injury.
Plus they won’t have their left tackle, Jason Peters, who’s on Injured Reserve with a toe injury.
Meanwhile, the 49ers will have Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk, Kendrick Bourne and Ross Dwelley -- five receivers who have played well this season.
So the Eagles are the team that limps into this matchup, not the 49ers.
2. The 49ers have a much better defense than the Eagles.
The 49ers have a terrific defense that has allowed just 15.3 points per game this season and an average passer rating of 75.3. And it has good players at defensive line, linebacker and safety. They should make Wentz’s day at least as miserable as the rest of his season has been so far.
The Eagles defense has a good defensive line and one good cornerback, Darius Slay, but the defense still stinks. This season, it has allowed a whopping 29 points per game and an average quarterback rating of 108.2. The Eagles typically sell out to stop the run with eight defenders in the box and play soft zone coverage against the pass. Meaning Kyle Shanahan and Nick Mullens should pick them apart.
3. The 49ers are more talented on offense than the Eagles.
The 49ers have Kittle, Samuel, Aiyuk, Bourne, Dwelle, Kyle Juszczyk and Jerick McKinnon.
The Eagles have Wentz and running back Miles Sanders. They’re good. But their offensive is terrible. And their No. 1 option in the passing game, tight end Zach Ertz, is averaging just 8.7 yards per catch this season.
Their No. 2 option by default due to injury, Ward, is averaging 7.7 yards per catch.
And their No. 3 option, Sanders, is averaging a microscopic 6.9 yards per catch.
So Wentz has no time to throw and no one to throw to. All he can do is check down or scramble or force the issue when he shouldn’t. Which is why he has fumbled three times and thrown six interceptions in three games.
4. The 49ers have a much more comfortable quarterback than the Eagles.
Mullens knows he doesn’t have to do too much to win. He has to just do what Shanahan says, execute the plays correctly and he’ll succeed.
Not Wentz. His offensive linemen can’t block. His receivers can’t get open. And his head coach hasn’t had a creative idea on offense since 2017. And Wentz is a supreme competitor -- he won’t just quit on the season. So he’s pressing to make plays, and hurting the Eagles even more. And he will hurt himself if he keeps holding onto the ball so long and trying to make plays that simply aren’t there.
At some point Sunday night, he will hand the game to the 49ers on a pupu platter with a turnover. And they’ll gladly accept it, pupu and all.
5. The 49ers have much better coaches than the Eagles.
The 49ers never use injuries as an excuse to play below their standard. Even when their starters are injured and the B-team is on the field, they execute precisely and win by big margins. That has been true since last season. They embody the next-man-up mentality that football requires.
The Eagles don’t. A few of their players get injured and they go in the tank. Suddenly they can’t complete simple screen passes. Suddenly they look like they haven’t practiced all week. Suddenly they make the Bengals look competent.
The 49ers do not play down to their opponents. They would blow out the Bengals no matter what, and they will blow out the Eagles Sunday night by a score of 27-13.
And then the Eagles will fly home and lose some more.
