The Philadelphia Eagles fell short of everyone's expectations during Sunday's loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Crashing out of the playoffs is going to leave a sour taste in the mouths of many. Were there any positives to draw from the game?
The Eagles’ offense entered the postseason searching for balance and control. It found neither consistently enough.
The run game showed flashes but never fully took over. Saquon Barkley had moments, and Tank Bigsby again ran with purpose on limited opportunities, but the Eagles failed to turn those gains into sustained drives. Run-blocking remained a concern, and there were too many simple errors that cost the offense long-term.
Jalen Hurts played a controlled game for stretches, but control without urgency can be limiting, and their cautious, ball-control offense struggled to generate explosive plays when the moment demanded them.
It was nice to see Dallas Goedert furthering what has been a career-year in terms of touchdowns. After ending the regular season with 11 scores, more than his last 3 seasons combined, the veteran found the endzone twice in the playoff defeat. Whether or not this is Goedert's last season in Philly is anyone's guess, but the lack of serviceable depth behind him might well push Howie Roseman to extend the South Dakota State product once more.
The defense kept the Eagles in the game as long as it could, but cracks eventually formed.
Vic Fangio mixed pressure, but San Francisco handled it well enough to keep McCaffrey involved as a receiver rather than a blocker. Once the 49ers established rhythm, the Eagles struggled to get their offense off the field.
The defense played hard. It just didn’t produce the game-changing moment Philadelphia needed to flip momentum, outside of one man who we'll get too shortly...
The Eagles entered the game 42–3 with Nick Sirianni as head coach after winning the turnover battle. Their loss might be painful enough to prompt them to rethink their conservative approach on offense.
Quinyon Mitchell recovered from a couple of early slip-ups that led to a 49ers touchdown by notching a pair of crucial interceptions to keep the Eagles in the game. The second-year corner has cemented himself as CB1 this season and played a very mature 60 minutes, keeping a short memory and not losing confidence after trying to jump a route earlier in the game, which led to a big play being surrendered. He kept fighting and arguably kept the Eagles in the game as a result.
This is where things will get very tense for a lot of people. Kevin Patullo's play-calling was as predictable as it was ineffective. The Eagles showed no flair, no creativity, and no variety throughout the game, and when the chips were down on that final drive, there was never once a feeling that the comeback could be on due to the play design.
Vic Fangio coached a great game for the most part. Containing Christian McCaffrey is never an easy task, but keeping Brock Purdy uncomfortable and forcing errors when not targeting the dynamic running back was always going to be the real X-Factor, and one the defense largely did a good job of executing.
Nick Sirianni has been able to avoid criticism due to his playoff record and an eventual Super Bowl win. But after his coaching staff was dissolved following the Bucs playoff loss in 2023, it was very much boom-or-bust for his next few years. A Super Bowl win did well to calm the storm, but another internal hire at offensive coordinator has done nothing but re-stoke those fires.
It's going to be interesting to see how the front office views Sirianni and the staff moving forward. Presumably, it's just going to be a change at offensive coordinator, but the Eagles need continuity more than anything at the OC spot, and the issue they have now is Sirianni's internal hirers do offer that — just not in a productive way.
