PHILADELPHIA — The overachieving and understaffed 49ers are on to the NFC playoffs’ divisional round, just without George Kittle.
After losing Kittle to a first-half Achilles tear, the sixth-seeded 49ers rallied Sunday night to dethrone the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles 23-19 in a back-and-forth, wild-card matchup at Lincoln Financial Field.
Brock Purdy, summoning his comeback powers from the NFC playoffs two years ago, delivered a game-winning touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey with 2:54 remaining.
The 49ers’ patchwork defense preserved that lead, allowing the Eagles to reach the 20-yard line before a Keion White sack was followed by three consecutive incompletions from Jalen Hurts.
Next up is a rematch in Seattle against the Seahawks, who two weeks ago won 13-3 at Levi’s Stadium in a matchup for the No. 1 seed and NFC West crown.
The 49ers (13-5) opened this season’s wild ride in Seattle with a 17-13 win. Then came an onslaught of injuries to marquee players that figured to snuff out any chance of ending up in Super Bowl XL at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8.
Even after Kittle was carted off in the second quarter following a 6-yard reception, the 49ers stayed close and ultimately made enough heroic plays in the fourth quarter to win.
Down 19-17 with eight minutes remaining, Purdy completed five of six passes on the winning drive, and aiding that push was a defensive holding penalty that nullified a Jalen Carter sack on Purdy.
Purdy finished 16-of-31 for 262 yards with two touchdown passes and two interceptions. McCaffrey, despite gaining just 48 yards on 13 carries, came through with six catches for 66 yards and two touchdowns.
The 49ers have now won five consecutive wild-card games. Their last wild-card exit came in 2001 at Green Bay in Steve Mariucci’s penultimate season as coach.
Each of the 49ers’ seven playoff runs since 2011 reached at least the NFC Championship Game, and three finished with Super Bowl defeats, most recently two years ago when they fell in overtime to Kansas City in Super Bowl LVIII.
That the 49ers keep winning is more remarkable considering how injuries fell so many marquee players, from Nick Bosa in Week 3 to Fred Warner three weeks later, then first-round pick Mykel Williams three weeks after that. Purdy missed eight of the first 10 games with a toe injury, Kittle was out six with hamstring and ankle injuries, and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk went AWOL after a 2024 knee injury.
Even after Kittle’s exit, the 49ers captured the lead away from the Eagles – twice.
Jauan Jennings took a reverse and threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to McCaffrey to open the quarter. Piñeiro’s ensuing point-after kick pushed the 49ers ahead 17-16; Piñeiro missed the final PAT after Purdy’s go-ahead strike to McCaffrey.
That same Jennings-McCaffrey combination hooked up for a score in the 49ers’ last playoff game, only it was McCaffrey throwing a touchdown to Jennings for a 10-0 lead in Super Bowl LVIII, which the 49ers lost in overtime to Kansas City.
Sunday night’s 1-point lead was jeopardized, however, once Purdy was intercepted a second time after halftime by All-Pro Quinyon Mitchell. Following that theft at the Eagles’ 38-yard line with 12 minutes remaining, backup safety Marques Sigle delivered an unnecessary-roughness hit on a sliding Jalen Hurts, vaulting the Eagles toward the red zone and ultimately a 33-yard Jake Elliott field goal for a 19-17 lead with 8 minutes remaining.
The 49ers struck quickly for a 7-0 lead, scoring when Purdy’s play-action pass found Demarcus Robinson over the middle for a 2-yard touchdown, only three snaps after Purdy and Robinson hooked up for a 61-yard catch-and-run to the Eagles’ 16, that coming on the second play from scrimmage.
The Eagles responded with their own touchdown drive, in 5 ½ minutes, with tight end Dallas Goedert scoring on a 1-yard run around the left side, but Jake Elliott missed the point-after kick to keep the 49ers ahead 7-6. Like the 49ers’ opening drive, the Eagles sparked theirs on their second snap, when Saquon Barkley ran 29 yards down the right side once Sam Okuayinonu and Deommodore Lenoir bit inside.
The Eagles took a 13-7 lead 6:08 before halftime when officials reversed an illegal-man-downfield penalty and awarded a 9-yard, fourth-and-2 touchdown pass from Hurts to Goedert, who juked safety Malik Mustapha.
As disheartening as it was to see Kittle carted off, the 49ers immediately showed their resolve with a 45-yard reception from Jauan Jennings, leading to a 36-yard field goal from Piñeiro to close within 13-10 with 2:50 left in the half.
The second half brought more offensive misery for the 49ers, with Purdy’s back-foot throw on third-and-1 getting intercepted by Mitchell, who stepped in front of Skyy Moore for the easy pick at the Eagles’ 45.
Without Kittle, Purdy found himself targeting unusual suspects and nine different players altogether.
Keeping the 49ers close was an Eagles’ offense that rediscovered the clunky form that’s drawn criticism all season. The boo birds came out in the third quarter as a third straight series ended in a punt. Earlier, before halftime, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni had a sideline confrontation with wide receiver A.J. Brown.
The 49ers’ patchwork defense did enough to keep it close, and eventually sealed the deal with a stop in the final minute.
The Mercury News
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