{"id":79257,"date":"2026-01-06T14:06:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T14:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/79257\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T14:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T14:06:13","slug":"eagles-vs-49ers-three-concerns-that-could-derail-philadelphias-playoff-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/79257\/","title":{"rendered":"Eagles vs 49ers: three concerns that could derail Philadelphia’s playoff run"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Eagles<\/a> begin their playoff journey Sunday, facing the San Francisco 49ers in the wild-card round<\/a> at Lincoln Financial Field.<\/p>\n

A year after winning their second Super Bowl in franchise history, they are talented enough to make another championship run this February. But the 2025 Eagles are more vulnerable than last year\u2019s team, which means they could lose to the 49ers.<\/p>\n

Here are NJ Advance Media\u2019s three biggest concerns for the Eagles:<\/p>\n

Interior offensive line<\/p>\n

Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo<\/a> deserves a large extent of the blame for the offense\u2019s struggles, but he has faced tougher circumstances than past Eagles offensive coordinators. <\/p>\n

Philadelphia\u2019s offensive line, which is normally one of the best units in the NFL, has failed Patullo. <\/p>\n

Center Cam Jurgens<\/a> and left guard Landon Dickerson<\/a>, who were both handed long-term extensions in the past two years, have both regressed.<\/p>\n

Jurgens, the second-highest paid center in the NFL at $17 million per year, ranks 22nd out of 39 centers this year, according to Pro Football Focus. He has been unreliable in pass protection and run blocking. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible that Jurgens has already peaked at age 26. He had offseason back surgery, which has had lingering effects this year, and suffered a knee injury during the season, which could be negatively affecting his play as well. He\u2019s not guaranteed to bounce back next year, especially if his body doesn\u2019t heal.<\/p>\n

Dickerson, the third-highest paid left guard in the league at $21 million per year, has also struggled with injuries, finishing the year as the 30th best guard out of 82 qualifiers, per PFF. The 27-year-old could be on his last legs, too.<\/p>\n

The Eagles need them to play better to go on a deep playoff run. If that doesn\u2019t happen, Philadelphia will have to consider selecting potential replacements in the draft.<\/p>\n

Play-calling issues<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry, Patullo is not off the hook. <\/p>\n

The first-time play-caller has made questionable calls throughout the season and is operating like someone who\u2019s never done the job before. The Eagles need Patullo to excel in the postseason to survive and advance. He had the entire season to grow into the role and learn from his mistakes. Now, there\u2019s no room for error.<\/p>\n

Philadelphia\u2019s offense is too talented to be near the bottom in so many statistical categories. The players are responsible for some struggles, but Patullo bears most of the blame because he\u2019s not putting them in good spots.<\/p>\n

Special teams <\/p>\n

Kicker Jake Elliott has been inconsistent this season, making just 20 of 27 field-goal attempts. He cannot be fully trusted. Philadelphia\u2019s kickoff return game has been inconsistent as well. The Eagles will need their special teams to make big plays and limit mistakes in January, but they struggled to do so during the regular season.<\/p>\n

Secondary depth<\/p>\n

The Eagles cannot afford to lose a starting defensive back, as the depth at safety and cornerback is weak. Backup cornerbacks Kelee Ringo and Jakorian Bennett, along with backup safeties Sydney Brown and Michael Carter II, are unreliable. The cornerbacks struggled badly in the team\u2019s Week 18 loss to the Washington Commanders.<\/p>\n

Safety Marcus Epps and cornerback Adoree\u2019 Jackson are not great starters, but they are significantly better than the backups.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Eagles begin their playoff journey Sunday, facing the San Francisco 49ers in the wild-card round at Lincoln…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77513,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[39723,11195,69,71,70],"class_list":{"0":"post-79257","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-a1c00808","9":"tag-nflraw25","10":"tag-philadelphia","11":"tag-philadelphia-headlines","12":"tag-philadelphia-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}