A playoff rematch of the 2023 NFC Championship Game went the 49ers’ way, but it was nonetheless tainted by a first-half injury with an eerily similar feel.
Niners tight end George Kittle suffered a torn Achilles in the second quarter of Sunday’s 23-19 wild-card win over the Eagles, head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters postgame.
“Losing Kittle early in the game was obviously a depressing play for everybody when you see that, and guys stepped it up and still made plays and competed,” Shanahan said. “To find a way to win that game, we thought it would be a grind-it game, that’s how we say it, and it was. Our defense allowed it to be that way.”
The seven-time Pro Bowler was being tackled by safety Marcus Epps toward the sideline when his calf appeared to pop as he planted it in the ground. He went down and received medical attention before being helped onto a cart.
Quarterback Brock Purdy and other teammates tapped Kittle on the helmet as he was carted into the locker room, reminiscent of the last time these two teams met in the postseason and Purdy suffered an early elbow injury.
In the ’23 NFC title game, Purdy went down on the team’s first drive, taking the wind out of the 49ers’ sails before an eventual 31-7 loss.
This time around, calamity struck on the team’s fourth possession, though the injury occurred on Kittle’s first catch of the day — and San Francisco importantly went on to win.