How Philadelphia Eagles Handle Blowout Loss to San Francisco 49ers Will Define Season
PHILADELPHIA - Was Sunday an anomaly for the Philadelphia Eagles or a regression to an expected mean?
It will be interesting to see how a 42-19 beatdown at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers will be treated by Nick Sirianni and a coaching staff that has become accustomed to winning at a historic level over the past two seasons.
One thing the 49ers' performance did do is validate the film and analytics community for putting an asterisk on the Eagles' 10-1 start to the season, noting that the underlying metrics indicated a regression at some point.
Conversely, the Eagles' just-win people who leaned on a nebulous intangible (full disclosure: this reporter was one of them) were left searching for answers in what was Philadelphia's worst performance since an unlikely wild-card loss in Tampa after Sirianni's rookie season as a coach.
“We didn’t coach good enough, didn’t play good enough,” Sirianni understated. “Simple as that.”
Eagles CB James Bradberry noted how difficult it is to deal with 49ers' playmakers
John McMullen/Eagles Today
It might be even simpler.
The Niners were just better than the Eagles, leaning on their vast array of playmakers and a quarterback who dished the football off like a brilliant old-school NBA point guard.
Before the game the respective GMs -- John Lynch and Howie Roseman -- were seen chopping it up, likely catching up on subjects far outside the realm of the league's two best rosters.
But, it was notable that Lynch came into the game with the best running back in football -- Christian McCaffrey -- and the best linebacker in Fred Warner. Those are the two positions Roseman has devalued most in his much-ballyhooed roster-building approach that earned him the NFL’s Executive of the Year award last season and put him in a position to go back-to-back.
The macro view has already validated the Eagles' personnel chief's approach. The micro on one overcast afternoon in Philly, though, says it's nice to have difference-makers, no matter the hierarchy of the position.
Philadelphia's failure to get RB D'Andre Swift involved offensively coupled with the implosion of linebackers Nicholas Morrow and Christian Ellis were key contributors to the blowout loss.
The Eagles have been living on the edge for weeks, basking in a Marquez Valdes-Scantling drop in Kansas City or a Jake Elliott 59-yard field goal through a monsoon at the end of regulation vs. Buffalo as the difference between "always finding a way" and "what's wrong here?"
The wake-up call arrived in the form of an exclamation point dressed up as six consecutive touchdowns by the Niners. San Francisco wasn't worried about a 50/50 play being the difference between winning and losing.
The Eagles did play well in the first quarter, holding the 49ers' explosive offense to minus-6 yards but Philadelphia failed to find the end zone in two scoring opportunities and a potential 14-0 or 10-point edge was just 6-0 before Niners coach Kyle Shanahan found his footing in a hostile environment.
“We just kind of weren’t able to connect and execute like we wanted to in the red zone,” said Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, who briefly had to leave the game in the second half before returning from a concussion evaluation. “When you’re playing a good team like that, every little thing matters.”
Games do have personalities and a 14-0 headstart feels a lot more daunting than 6-0. The latter felt like a win for the 49ers. Ultimately, McCaffrey started to get involved, the San Fran offense took off and never stopped.
The main culprit was a bad tackling day by an already overmatched back seven as the Niners finished 4-for-4 in the red zone while adding on two explosive TDs by Deebo Samuel, enemy No. 1 of the Philadelphia fan base.
“We take pride in our tackling," Sirianni said. "I think we’ve been pretty good this year. We’re in the top 10 as far as missed tackle rate but we didn’t do a good enough job today."
First-year defensive coordinator Sean Desai has been largely lauded this season but had no answers.
No matter what button was pushed, Shanahan and QB Brock Purdy were one step ahead. The outside cornerbacks played too soft and the middle of the field continued to be an issue against the offense most equipped to exploit it.
“It’s really tough to play this team across the board. They (create) mismatches.” Eagles cornerback James Bradberry said. “It’s just a tough team to play. I hope to see them again."
How the Eagles handle this defeat will likely determine whether they get that opportunity.
