PHILADELPHIA — By the time that the NFC Championship trophy made it inside the Eagles locker room, the smell of smoke already was permeating through the bowels of Lincoln Financial Field like the victory cigars in players’ hands had been lit for hours.
The truth is the party could’ve started before halftime.
It was clear Sunday that the Eagles were bound for Super Bowl LVII for most of an NFC Championship game that was ugly in a multitude of ways, from the final score to the melee that broke out with four minutes remaining in garbage time.
“We get to do it,” head coach Nick Sirianni said of going to the Super Bowl, “because we did it better than anyone in the NFC this year.”
Not that football fans needed this lesson, but the Eagles’ 31-7 victory against the 49ers showed that a dual-threat quarterback beats a no-threat quarterback.
Jalen Hurts passed for 121 yards and ran for 39 yards and a touchdown in a game plan that was watered down once it became clear that the quarterback-neutered 49ers had no chance to erase a 14-point halftime deficit. After losing their top two quarterbacks to injuries during the regular season, the 49ers temporarily lost previously unbeatable third-string starter Brock Purdy to an elbow injury and fourth-stringer Josh Johnson to a concussion in the first 33 minutes of their biggest game
“So many people doubting Jalen and us,” said pass-rusher Brandon Graham, the longest-tenured Eagle in his 13th season. “We’re going to enjoy this win, but we ain’t done nothing yet. We have to finish the deal. We have one more.”
All hell broke loose for the 49ers in the first quarter. A missed opportunity to throw a challenge flag allowed the Eagles to get away with a fourth-and-3 conversion that replays showed likely was an incomplete pass to DeVonta Smith. Two plays later, Miles Sanders scored.
The crowd was still buzzing when the Eagles made another big play. Angered by a snub for NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Haason Reddick sacked Purdy, creating a fumble and knocking the undefeated rookie quarterback (7-0 including the playoffs) out of the game.
“I think my play said it today,” Reddick said after two sacks and a fumble recovery, “and that’s all I need to say on that one.”
The 49ers couldn’t just blame the loss on losing their quarterbacks. The NFL’s top-ranked defense had no answer for a rushing attack that piled up 148 yards and four touchdowns: two by Sanders, one by Boston Scott and the other by Hurts. By the end, the 49ers were reduced to frustrated bullies, committing 11 penalties for 81 yards, including several personal fouls on defense as their 12-game winning streak disappeared.
“You win for so long,” linebacker Fred Warner said, “you forget what losing feels like.”
It is the second trip to the Super Bowl in the last six seasons and fourth overall for the Eagles, who rode the hot hand of Nick Foles to a win over the Patriots in February 2018. The Eagles improved to 16-1 this season (including playoffs) when Hurts starts. He missed two games late in the season with a shoulder injury.
“I never knew how far we’d go,” Hurts said, “but I never said it couldn’t be done.”
Johnson committed the biggest turnover of the game, fumbling a snap that the Eagles converted into their second touchdown in the final two minutes of the first half to build a 21-7 lead. He was knocked out on the first drive of the third quarter. Admittedly unable to throw the ball beyond 5 yards downfield, Purdy returned and the Eagles attacked a one-dimensional offense.
“That’s when it changed for us,” Graham said. “We just knew we had to play the run. All we kept saying was, ‘Don’t lose focus’ … because you can. You are feeling good about yourself, them boys sneak back in and now you are in panic mode and can’t stop the bleeding.”
There nearly was bloodshed once the game got out of hand.
Frustrations boiled over late in the fourth quarter when 49ers left tackle and future Hall of Famer Trent Williams body-slammed defensive back K’Von Wallace to the ground. Both Williams and Wallace were ejected. Players from both sidelines poured onto the field. Niners linebacker Dre Greenlaw could’ve been ejected earlier for throwing punches into the ribs of running back Kenneth Gainwell.
Each of the Eagles’ three touchdown drives that turned a 7-7 tie into a blowout featured key penalties. Three resulting in first downs on the first, a facemask that erased a 4-yard loss on the play before a 10-yard touchdown run on the second, a roughing-the-punter call that took the ball out of the 49ers’ hands plus a late hit out of bounds on Hurts on the third.
“They came here looking for a win,” Reddick said. “It’s far from what they were looking for. You want to get to that Super Bowl, you ain’t going to make it, things get a little bit chippy.”
