The Eagles took care of business at home in the playoffs to advance to the Super Bowl. They beat the Giants 38-7 in the divisional round and beat the 49ers by a nearly identical score, this time 31-7, in the NFC Championship Game.
Despite such a wide margin of victory, a few San Francisco players have made some comments since the game that they would’ve won if it weren’t for the injuries to quarterbacks Brock Purdy and backup Josh Johnson.
Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, and Robbie Gould were the three 49ers that made the most waves.
Danny Parkins and Andrew Fillipponi of the Audacy Original Podcast “1st & Pod” discussed whether or not there is something to the 49ers’ comments about the Eagles leading up to the Super Bowl.
“Do you think that that is just sour grapes or is there something to we really just haven't seen the Eagles be challenged basically all year,” Parkins said (10:29 in player above). “The biggest challenge they got was the Cowboys game.”
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it’s all offensive guys who are saying that,” Fillipponi said. “I think the fact that they’ve said that tells you that they think that they got horrible luck with that injury and they never had a fair fight and a chance in that game.”
If there were comments coming from 49ers players on the defensive side of the ball, though, it’d be a different story.
“I think if a defensive player said that I would go sour grapes and tell them to shut the eff up. Like you got it shoved down your throat by the Eagles repeatedly in that game,” Fillipponi continued. “Even though it started with the DeVonta Smith not-a-catch play that got ruled a catch, they went at you and they didn’t even really make plays downfield through the air to beat you. I get it, how the 49ers would feel like there’s going to be a lot of what ifs with that game.”
The Eagles forced both Purdy and Johnson out of the game, which led to Mr. Irrelevant returning under center and essentially handing the ball off for the remainder of the game. The 49ers scored just seven points in the game on a Christian McCaffrey touchdown.
Even if the 49ers had a healthy Purdy, it may not have mattered given the Birds putting up 31 points – and kneeling in the red zone to end the game.
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