49ers upset Eagles in Wild Card round 23-19

There will be a new Super Bowl champion this year.

Flying in short-handed and dealing with hostile conditions from both the weather and the fans, the San Francisco 49ers pulled off the upset of defeating the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles 23-19 in the NFC Wild Card round on a blistering Sunday evening at Lincoln Financial Stadium.

It was a bittersweet victory for the 6th seeded 49ers as in the process of defeating the 3rd seeded Eagles, they lost tight end Geroge Kittle to a season ending injury when he tore his right Achilles heel late in the second quarter after making a six-yard reception out in the flat. Kittle, the ultimate team player, was clapping for his team while being carted off of the field. Kittle will miss the rest of this postseason as well as all of the 2026 regular season.

“So many things. I’m proud of the guys, how hard they battled," said 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. "I was just kind of saying in there, having two linebackers who weren’t on our team a month ago and those guys playing that whole game and playing at a high level was so impressive. Having two turnovers and then having none and being able to still find a way to win that, I thought was huge."

San Francisco jumped out to the start they wanted on their opening drive. Quarterback Brock Purdy led a six play 76-yard drive resulting in the game's first touchdown. Purdy faked a pitch sweep to running back Christian McCaffery before connecting with DeMarcus Robinson for a two-yard touchdown reception on a post route.

Philadelphia answered back with their opening drive as Jalen Hurts marched his team down the field for a 10 play 63-yard drive that cumulated with tight end Dallas Goedert scampering in from one-yard on a designed jet sweep by head coach Nick Sirianni. However, veteran kicker Jake Elliot doinked the extra point off of the right post, which would essentially come back to haunt the home team.

The Eagles took a 13-7 lead with 6:08 remaining in the second quarter when Hurts connected with Goedert on nine-yard touchdown reception to finish a long methodical drive of 16 plays and 94 yards that consumed exactly nine minutes off of the clock.

San Francisco had a chance to get three points on the board on the last drive of the first half, but the combination of having to use their last timeout due to a formation mix up and Purdy fumbling the ball on a designed run before he stepped out of bounds to stop the clock created the missed opportunity as the Niners went into the locker room at halftime down 13-10.

The Niners defense led by Eric Hendricks, who had been promoted from the practice squad, held down the fort in the second half, as they limited Philadelphia's offense to just two Elliot field goals. Despite leading all rushers with 106 yards on 26 carries, Saquon Barkley was a non-factor in the second half as the majority of his yards came in the first half, including a 29-yard run off tackle that helped set up the Eagles first touchdown drive.

"Anytime you lose, anytime you don’t perform the way you want to as coaches and players, yeah, you’re frustrated," said Sirianni. "What I said to the guys is, ‘Adversity shapes you to who you are if you allow it to.’ There’s a lot to be thankful for, but you’ve got to use this adversity to shape you and that’s for everybody in that locker room: myself, the coaches, the players."

Shanahan took a play out of Sirianni's playbook when he dialed up his own version of the "Philly Special" or "Sky Bang Reverse Pass" as he referred to it after the game. On a 1st and 10 from the Eagles 29-yard line, a jet sweep to Sky Moore led to a reverse to wide receiver Jauan Jennings who then fired a pass to a wide open McCaffery who made an over the shoulder catch for his first receiving touchdown of the game to give San Francisco a 17-16 lead with 14:52 left in the fourth quarter.

Down 19-17 with eight minutes remaining in the game, Purdy saved his best for last when he led his team down the field on a 10 play 66-yard drive that ate up 5:06 off of the clock. On 3rd and goal from the Eagles four-yard line, Purdy dropped back to pass, stepped up into the pocket as the Eagles D applied pressured and found McCaffery inside the endzone for Run CMC's second touchdown reception of the game with 2:54 remaining.

"You got to score for the season, for your team, and obviously for the defense to go down and get a stop like that, it was huge. So, it’s a team effort, really is. It’s just cool for everybody across the board to be able to have this kind of win and celebrate all the stuff that we’ve been through. Obviously, we’re excited for next week, too," Purdy said.

Hurts led his offense down the field to the San Francisco 20-yard line on the ensuing drive. A one-yard sack by Keion White and two incompletions later led to one last desperate attempt on 4th and 11. Hurts went to well one too many times to his favorite target Goedert as he threw into triple coverage only to have Kendricks break up the pass attempt ending Philly's chance for a game winning touchdown and ending their season as the boos rained down from the Eagles faithful.

"Well, one, I’d like to give my respects to the 49ers, how they came out and played. They made plays when they needed to. Their coaches coached well. At the end of the day, we didn’t make the plays when we needed to make them, and that’s something that we’re all looking at internally first," Hurts said.

Hurts finished 20 of 35 for 168 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. Wide receiver DeVonta Smith led Philadelphia in receiving with six catches for 70 yards. Goedert chipped in four catches for 33 yards with his one touchdown.

Purdy went 18 of 31 for 262 yards with two touchdowns, two interceptions and was only sacked once. Robinson, who had his best game of the season, led all receivers with six catches for 111 yards to go along with his touchdown reception. McCaffery led the 49ers in rushing with 48 yards on 15 carries and had 114 overall scrimmage yards.

San Francisco will head to the Pacific Northwest to take on their division rival the Seattle Seahawks, who they just lost 13-3 to a week ago to finish the regular season. Not having Kittle in the offensive scheme going forward will be hard to overcome in the rematch with Seattle. However, if there is one word to describe Shanahan's team it's perseverance. They have made it to the final four in the NFC despite the plague on injuries they have suffered this season.

No one gave them a chance against Philadelphia and not too many will predict them to win against the number one seeded Seahawks and their 12th man up in Lumen Field. The belief is there inside the 49ers' locker room and that's all this resilient team needs as they brace themselves for their upcoming Divisional Round matchup this weekend.