No Fred Warner, Nick Bosa, Ricky Pearsall, Mykel Williams, Brandon Aiyuk and a host of others. George Kittle carted off in the second quarter with an Achilles injury. On the road, against the defending champs.
No problem for the San Francisco 49ers. Behind a valiant effort from Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey and an undermanned defense alike, the 49ers upset the Philadelphia Eagles, 23–19.
The visitors took the lead for good on Purdy’s 4-yard touchdown pass to McCaffrey with under three minutes left, and veteran linebacker Eric Kendricks broke up a fourth-down pass to complete a remarkable comeback.
Purdy finished with 262 passing yards and two touchdowns, as well as two interceptions. McCaffrey had 114 yards from scrimmage and two scores, and Demarcus Robinson had 111 receiving yards and a touchdown.
The fourth quarter featured three lead changes. On the first play of the quarter, wide receiver Jauan Jennings’ 29-yard touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey gave the visitors a 17–16 lead. Jennings, who also threw a touchdown pass in Super Bowl LVIII, played quarterback in high school, and Kyle Shanahan picked a perfect time to dip into those skills.
The Eagles responded with a punt and appeared to be in dire straits before Quinyon Mitchell intercepted Purdy for the second time. That set up Jake Elliott’s 33-yard field goal.
Ultimately, though, it wasn’t enough, with Purdy leading one final scoring drive and the San Francisco defense getting one final stop.
The 49ers will meet the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round. Seattle beat San Francisco 13–3 in Week 18 to win the NFC West and the No. 1 seed.
CBS Sports will have takeaways shortly.