Special Teams Could Be the Tipping Point in Eagles-49ers

The Eagles and 49ers do most things well, but the winner of what they typically don't might be the difference on Sunday

PHILADELPHIA - In a battle of heavyweights, the one thing the Eagles (15-3) and San Francisco 49ers (15-4) didn’t do well could spell the difference in what is expected to be a tight NFC Championship Game.

The Birds and Niners are the only two teams in the NFL with top-five units on both offense and defense. 

Philadelphia is No. 3 on the offensive side of the ball, and a tick better with the second-ranked stop unit. San Francisco has the No. 1 defense under former Eagles linebacker DeMeco Ryans and the offense is No. 5 despite losing quarterbacks Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo to injury.

In veteran reporter Rick Gosselin’s 42nd annual special-teams rankings, however, the 49ers were in the bottom half of the league at No. 17 and Philadelphia finished a dismal 31st, ahead of only Kansas City.

If you want to use the film as a guide, San Francisco slips to No. 24, according to Pro Football Focus, and the Eagles move up a few spots to No. 28 but are still bottom five, somewhere Nick Sirianni says you never want to be.

Eagles special teams coordinator Michael Clay, who used to hold the same job with the 49ers, talked about field position perhaps being a key contributor in Sunday’s game.

“That's a huge thing, a starting field position, regardless if it's a return or staying true to the key of being a surprise onside kick, being tuned in there because it helps our offense out,” Clay said on Tuesday. 

“When the offense only has to go 42 yards, 50 yards right there, you see what we can do. Then if we get that ball past the 30-yard line, it takes the added pressure off not them getting seven yards.”

Clay predictably Lou Holtz-ed the Niners' special teams limits.

“Good unit, very good unit,” he said. “(49ers Special Teams Coordinator Brian) Schneider does an unbelievable job. …(49ers S) George Odum, I can't say enough good things about George Odum. He's an all-pro special teams player, plays with great speed, tenacity, motor.

"Obviously (49ers K) Robbie (Gould), you don't kick in this league for a long time without being an ice-in-the-veins type guy. (49ers P) Mitch Wishnowsky, I could go on and on about their special teams unit. But again, it’s for us in this building, to get a good week's work in, be ready for them, it's going to be a good battle in terms of special teams-wise."

The Eagles have their own solid kicker in Jake Elliott and one area where the team has improved dramatically was spawned by a move at kick returner to Boston Scott after both Quez Watkins and Britain Covey struggled in the role.

“I think we started to put him in there around the Green Bay game, and he's getting north and south with what he wanted to do, and stayed very simple schematically,” said Clay when discussing Scott. “Get these guys just playing fast, hey, you've got this guy, let's just get it and go.

“Boston has done an unbelievable job. I think everybody has done an unbelievable job in terms of taking the onus of hey, we can really do something and help in field position. … then obviously Boston getting downhill, was it back-to-back weekends where he had 50-plus-yard returns.”

The Niners have also gotten a little juice from Ray-Ray McCloud in the return game recently.

“Our gunners Josh (Jobe) and Zech (McPhearson) have to do a really good job in their one on one’s to get in Ray-Ray’s face and make him bubble and make him go east and west instead of north and south,” Clay said.

“If you can make a guy go east and west, it allows the interior of the coverage to string them out. We just got to be great tacklers”

With both teams featuring top-tier units on offense and defense, the so-called hidden yardage on special teams could be the tipping point.

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen