{"id":120298,"date":"2026-01-05T02:00:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T02:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/120298\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T02:00:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T02:00:10","slug":"how-no-6-seed-49ers-match-up-with-no-3-eagles-in-wild-card-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/120298\/","title":{"rendered":"How No. 6-seed 49ers match up with No. 3 Eagles in wild-card visit"},"content":{"rendered":"

SANTA CLARA \u2013 Brock Purdy<\/a> got an encouraging pat on his shoulder pads as Sam Darnold said to him: \u201cSee ya in a couple of weeks.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

For Purdy\u2019s sixth-seeded 49ers to stage a rematch with Darnold\u2019s top-seeded Seahawks, wild-card survival comes first.<\/p>\n

The 49ers\u2019 postseason<\/a> \u201cRoad Dog Tour\u201d will open at the No. 3-seed Philadelphia Eagles, who won last year\u2019s Super Bowl and who three years ago downed the 49ers and tore Brock Purdy\u2019s elbow ligament in the NFC Championship Game.<\/p>\n

(Check back for updates on dates and times for the wild-card round).<\/p>\n

Saturday night, the 49ers lost a shot at the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage through Super Bowl LX by virtue of a 13-3 defeat to the Seahawks<\/a> at Levi\u2019s Stadium, where the visitors\u2019 locker room doubled as a cigar lounge<\/a> for the NFC West champs.<\/p>\n

The 49ers (12-5) would head to Seattle for a divisional-round game if, one, they knock off the Eagles (11-6), and, two, if the No. 7-seed Green Bay Packers lose to the No. 2-seed Chicago Bears.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to be road dogs. That\u2019s what this team has kind of been,\u201d right tackle Colton McKivitz said Saturday night. \u201cWe\u2019ve try to make it as hard as possible on ourselves. So we did exactly that We know what it would have been to have a home game throughout the playoffs and obviously finish up here at Levi\u2019s. But we understand what\u2019s ahead of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Eagles were vying for the No. 2 seed but stayed in the No. 3 spot Sunday once they lost 24-17 to the Josh Johnson-led Washington Commanders. The Bears\u2019 19-16 loss to the Detroit Lions had created an opening for the Eagles to overtake them for the second seed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of respect for Coach (Kyle) Shanahan and all the success he\u2019s had and that team, (defensive coordiantor) Robert) Saleh and the players,\u201d Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said in Sunday\u2019s postgame press conference that was dominated by questions about him resting most of his starters in Week 18.<\/p>\n

Here is what you need to know about the 49ers\u2019 playoff return after a year\u2019s hiatus and their fourth trip in five years:<\/p>\n

MOST RECENT MATCHUP<\/p>\n

Dec. 3, 2023<\/p>\n

49ers 42, Eagles 19<\/p>\n

The 49ers scored touchdowns on six consecutive drives and overcame Dre Greenlaw\u2019s ejection for a sideline confrontation with an Eagles staff member. The 49ers rolled on to the NFC crown as the No. 1 seed; the Eagles entered 10-1, then lost 5-of-6 before a wild-card exit at Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n

PLAYOFF HISTORY<\/p>\n

The 49ers lost the 2022 season\u2019s NFC Championship Game 31-7 at Philadelphia, infamously doomed by injuries to Purdy (elbow) and backup Josh Johnson (concussion). Their only other matchup saw the 1996 49ers post their last playoff shutout: a 14-0 wild-card win at home, where Steve Young ran for a touchdown and threw for one to Jerry Rice.<\/p>\n

The 49ers have reached at least the NFC Championship Game in their seven postseason appearances since 2011, including in 2021 when they were the No. 6 seed and won at Dallas and Green Bay before falling to the eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams.<\/p>\n

HOW 49ERS GOT HERE<\/p>\n

Christian McCaffrey\u2019s 1,202 rushing yards, 924 receiving yards and 17-game presence carried them, while they scrambled without Purdy (eight games; toe), George Kittle (six games; hamstring, ankle), Ricky Pearsall (eight games; knee), Nick Bosa (14 games; knee), Fred Warner (11 games; ankle), and Mykel Williams (eight games; knee), not to mention Brandon Aiyuk\u2019s season-long absence. A 3-0 start was followed by eight weeks of alternating wins and losses, until a six-game win streak got snapped Saturday night.<\/p>\n

HOW EAGLES GOT HERE<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t smooth but the NFC East-champion Eagles are in their fifth postseason in as many years under coach Nick Sirianni. Their offense dropped off considerably after last season\u2019s Super Bowl run, but their defense allowed the NFL\u2019s third-fewest points entering Week 18. Cam Jurgens is their only offensive Pro Bowler while that honor went to defensive tackle Jalen Carter, linebacker Zack Baun and defensive backs Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell.<\/p>\n

49ERS\u2019 OFFENSE VS. EAGLES<\/p>\n

Purdy led the 49ers on a scoring spree five straight games upon his return from turf toe, but the Seahawks walloped him Saturday night and he sustained a left-shoulder stinger on the last play. As was the case three years ago, McCaffrey should be the 49ers\u2019 featured attraction, though ideally with a healthy quarterback. But he\u2019ll need blockers to thwart the Eagles\u2019 defensive front. Getting left tackle Trent Williams and wide receiver Ricky Pearsall back into the lineup will thoroughly boost Purdy\u2019s supporting cast that also relies on George Kittle, Jauan Jennings and Kyle Juszczyk.<\/p>\n

49ERS\u2019 DEFENSE VS. EAGLES<\/p>\n

Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh has drawn praise for keeping afloat a patchwork unit that\u2019s delivered late-game and\/or goal-line heroics to offset their NFL-low 20 sacks and paltry six interceptions. Their run defense, down possibly three starting linebackers, is even more troubling against Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts; the 49ers allowed a season-high 180 rushing yards and missed 18 tackles against the Seahawks.<\/p>\n

INJURY WATCH<\/p>\n

49ers: Their offense could be close to full strength if Purdy (left shoulder), Williams (hamstring), Pearsall (knee, ankle) and Kittle (ankle) are all cleared, as expected. But their defense could be further depleted after Saturday\u2019s injuries to linebackers Tatum Bethune (groin) and Dee Winters (ankle).<\/p>\n

Eagles: With the division already clinched, the Eagles rested key players Sunday, but some key players still are dealing with injuries, including Carter (hip), offensive tackle Lane Johnson (foot), outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips (ankle), tight end Dallas Goedert (knee), safety Marcus Epps (concussion), cornerback Brandon Johnson (ankle) and linebackers Nakobe Dean (hamstring) and Jihaad Campbell (back, shoulder).\n<\/p>\n

INTANGIBLES<\/p>\n

The 49ers have won their past four away games and are 7-2 on the road (5-3 at home). They were 5-0 in prime-time games until Saturday night\u2019s defeat.<\/p>\n

2026 OPPONENTS<\/p>\n

The 49ers\u2019 opponents next season are finalized, with dates and times to be announced in the spring.<\/p>\n

Home: Las Vegas Raiders, Denver Broncos, Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, Miami Dolphins, Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks<\/p>\n

Away: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SANTA CLARA \u2013 Brock Purdy got an encouraging pat on his shoulder pads as Sam Darnold said to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[19108,13734,402,181,752,44081,101,296,103,102,104,106,105,127],"class_list":{"0":"post-120298","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-49ers-alert","9":"tag-49ers-hq","10":"tag-inside-sports","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-nfl-playoffs","14":"tag-san-francisco","15":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","16":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","17":"tag-san-francisco-news","18":"tag-sf","19":"tag-sf-headlines","20":"tag-sf-news","21":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}