Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts puts his 5-0 home record in the playoffs on the line Sunday against the visiting San Francisco 49ers.
Both wild-card teams lost in Week 18 and took significant drops in the NFC playoff seeding. The 49ers (12-5) fell to No. 6 after losing a battle with Seattle for No. 1, while the third-seeded Eagles (11-6) opted to rest their starters and squandered a chance to leapfrog Chicago for the No. 2 slot.
Before last weekend’s setbacks, the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles had won three straight while Brock Purdy and the 49ers had won six in a row.
Philadelphia is making its fifth consecutive playoff appearance under fifth-year coach Nick Sirianni. San Francisco is in the playoffs for the fifth time under ninth-year head coach Kyle Shanahan. Both coaches have been to two Super Bowls, where Shanahan is 0-2 and Sirianni is 1-1.
Sirianni won their only previous meeting in the playoffs, a 31-7 victory in the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 29, 2023 in Philadelphia. Purdy suffered a torn UCL in his throwing elbow in the first quarter of that contest.
The Eagles alternated wild-card losses with Super Bowl runs in their first four postseasons with Sirianni, a pattern that could continue if Philadelphia can’t stop Purdy and Christian McCaffrey and Co.
“I have so much respect for this football team,” Sirianni said of the 49ers on Wednesday. “They’ve had sustained success. Kyle’s done an unbelievable job there. A ton of respect for him and their players. …
“You can see how well-coached they are. You can see how talented their players are. You see how hard they play. Physical, fundamentally sound. I can’t say enough about this team and we’ve got to do the things that we know we need to do to be able to go in there and have success.”
Sirianni has stood by his decision to rest multiple starters on both sides of the ball in last Sunday’s 24-17 home loss to the Washington Commanders.
“Any time they get some time off, that definitely helps. That’s why we decided to do what we did. It’s a long season, a marathon of a season,” he said. ” … These guys are warriors. They battle through things throughout the entire year.”
San Francisco likely would have rested key players as well if the top seed, a first-round bye and home-field advantage — up to and including Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium — hadn’t been at stake in last weekend’s 13-3 home loss against the Seahawks.
Instead, the banged-up 49ers make the cross-country trek to Philadelphia. The 49ers are 7-2 on the road this season and won their most recent game at Lincoln Financial Field, a 42-19 romp in Week 13 of 2023 behind Purdy’s four touchdown passes and McCaffrey’s 133 yards from scrimmage.
That was the season before Vic Fangio became the Eagles’ defensive coordinator and before they drafted defensive backs Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean and signed linebacker Zack Baun — all Pro Bowl selections this year, along with third-year defensive tackle Jalen Carter.
“Vic, schematically, he’s always been the best to me, as good as anyone there is,” Shanahan said Wednesday. “… He’s very good at getting a bead on what you’re trying to do and making you adjust.”
Shanahan knows handing Hurts his first home playoff loss won’t be easy.
“He’s got a big-time arm. With those wideouts he has and stuff, he’s capable of making any throw … so you’ve got to honor the entire field with him,” Shanahan said. “Any time you have a quarterback who’s capable of doing that who is also a threat on every single play throughout an entire game with his legs, it’s an issue.”
Eagles star right tackle Lane Johnson (foot) practiced Wednesday for the first time since his Nov. 16 injury. The only players who missed the week’s first practice were tight end Grant Calcaterra (ankle) and offensive lineman Brett Toth (concussion).
Left tackle Trent Williams (hamstring) and receiver Ricky Pearsall (knee/ankle) did not practice Wednesday for the 49ers. Neither did LB Dee Winters (ankle) or DE Keion White (groin/hamstring), while tight end George Kittle (ankle), DE Yetur Gross-Matos (knee) and LB Luke Gifford (quad) were limited.
