Why the 49ers will Lose to the Eagles in the Playoffs

It's looking like one-and-done for the 49ers.

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Just a few days ago, the 49ers were riding high.

They had a six-game winning streak. And although they mostly beat up on bad teams, they were coming off a dramatic, last-second victory over the Bears, which seemed to prove something about the 49ers. Some people thought they had asserted themselves as the Super Bowl favorite, if not one of the strong contenders.

And then, the Seattle Seahawks thoroughly emasculated the 49ers at Levi's Stadium on national television. Beat them up. Held them to just three points. Now, the 49ers have to limp into Philly to face a Championship team that rested its starters this past weekend.

The 49ers offense should perform better than it did this past Saturday against the Seahawks. Frankly, it would be hard to perform much worse. But in addition, the Eagles defense isn't quite as good as Seattle's, although Philly's defense has given up the third-fewest points in the NFL this season.

What's more, the 49ers could get Trent Williams and Ricky Pearsall back this Sunday, and they would help significantly. Pearsall theoretically would stretch the field, and Williams would give the 49ers a running game, plus he would protect Brock Purdy's blind side.

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But, the 49ers defense will have to figure out how to stop Saquon Barkley, who's a better running back than Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet, two backs who ran all over the 49ers just a few days ago. The 49ers also will have to stop Jalen Hurts, who runs like a running back as well.

And the 49ers will have stop these players with linebackers they signed off the street. That's because both Fred Warner and Tatum Bethune are on the Injured Reserve List, and starting weakside linebacker Dee Winters could miss the game with an ankle injury.

That means the 49ers' starting linebackers could be Eric Kendricks and Kyzir White, two veterans who were unemployed until the 49ers signed them to replace injured players. So, stopping the run could be a major issue, just as it was against the Seahawks a few days ago.

Unfortunately for the 49ers, they won't be facing Sam Darnold, a shaky quarterback who's on his fourth team in four years. This week, they'll face the reigning Super Bowl MVP, Jalen Hurts, who could be a Hall of Famer one day if he wins another Super Bowl, which isn't out of the question.

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The Eagles believe in Hurts -- they don't try to work around him, the way the Seahawks work around Darnold. And that's because Hurts doesn't turn the ball over nearly as often as Darnold does.

And that's why the 49ers will lose. They're simply not as good as the Eagles.