It was another long day for the Eagles’ offense. And it was another quiet showing for receiver A.J. Brown. After the 23-19 loss, Brown stayed quiet.
Via NBC Sports Philadelphia, Brown declined to speak to reporters after the game.
It’s not the first time he has done it. He’ll possibly have something to say on social media, or during the annual clean-out of the locker room.
If Brown had spoken, he surely would have been asked about the first-half interaction with coach Nick Sirianni, And Brown may have been asked whether he wants to be traded in the offseason.
Possibly to New England, where he’d be reunited with his former head coach in Tennessee.
The Rams will go to Seattle to play the Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game, if the betting odds are to be believed.
With the NFC divisional round matchups set, the Rams are 4.5-point road favorites against the Bears in Chicago, while the Seahawks are 6.5-point home favorites against the 49ers.
The Seahawks are the No. 1 seed and will have home-field advantage in the NFC Championship Game if they beat the 49ers. If the 49ers upset the Seahawks, then San Francisco will go on the road to face the Rams-Bears winner. The 49ers can’t play a home game in the NFC playoffs, but they can play on their home field if they advance to Super Bowl LX.
The Seahawks are +120 favorites to win the NFC Championship, with the Rams next at +150, the Bears at +700 and the 49ers at +800.
The 49ers will be playing in the divisional round of the playoffs, but they won’t have tight end George Kittle in Seattle and it will be quite some time before he’s ready to play football again.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed that Kittle tore his Achilles during his press conference after the 49ers’ 23-19 win in Philadelphia on Sunday. Kittle was carted off the field after suffering the injury during the second quarter of the game and he was ruled out a short time later.
“The trainers knew before the cart came out and got word to me in the headset. Yes, a torn Achilles,” Shanahan said, via Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group.
Jake Tonges and Luke Farrell will take over the tight end duties for the 49ers for the rest of this season and they’ll hope to have Kittle back in September.
The Eagles won’t be the next team to win back-to-back Super Bowl titles.
Christian McCaffrey scored two touchdowns in the second half and the 49ers defense was able to come up with a fourth down stop in the final minute to seal a 23-19 road win. The victory sets the 49ers up for their second matchup with Seattle in the last three weeks and they’ll be hoping for a different outcome than the loss they suffered against the Seahawks in Week 18.
The 49ers’ win also means that the Rams will travel to Chicago to face the Bears in the divisional round.
McCaffrey’s first touchdown catch came on a 29-yard pass from wide receiver Jauan Jennings on the first play of the fourth quarter. It extended McCaffrey’s streak of postseason games with a touchdown to eight — which is also his total postseason appearances — and McCaffrey found the end zone again with under three minutes to play.
A Jake Elliott field goal had put the Eagles back up 19-17, but Brock Purdy hit Demarcus Robinson and McCaffrey for first downs and the Eagles had a sack wiped out by a defensive holding penalty during the drive. Purdy then delivered a touchdown pass to McCaffrey on a third down from the Eagles’ 4-yard line. Eddy Pineiro missed the extra point, but the Eagles still needed a touchdown to win the game.
It looked like a drop by wide receiver A.J. Brown might bring the drive to a quick end, but Jalen Hurts hit tight end Dallas Goedert for a fourth down conversion. Hurts got the Eagles to the 20-yard line with a pair of throws to wide receiver DeVonta Smith, but a one-yard sack and three straight incompletions brought an end to any hopes of a Super Bowl repeat in Philadelphia.
The Eagles had a 13-10 lead, but their offense failed to pick up momentum in the second half. They had three three-and-outs to go with a pair of Elliott field goals and the long offensive slumps that were a theme of their season will need to be addressed in an offseason that’s starting earlier than anyone in Philly would have hoped.
The 49ers will head to Seattle without tight end George Kittle. Kittle was ruled out with an Achilles injury in the second quarter and it will be a great surprise if the word is anything other than a torn tendon. Wide receiver Demarcus Robinson stepped up with six catches for 111 yards and a touchdown and the Niners will need others to do the same if they’re going to upset the Seahawks and return to the NFC Championship Game for the fifth time under head coach Kyle Shanahan.
The 49ers reached into their bag of tricks on the first play of the fourth quarter and they’re back in front of the Eagles as a result.
49ers quarterback Brock Purdy gave the ball to wide receiver Skyy Moore on a jet sweep and Moore flipped it to wideout Jauan Jennings on a release. Jennings pulled up and delivered a perfect pass to running back Christian McCaffrey for a 29-yard touchdown.
The extra point put the 49ers up 17-16 with 14:52 left to play in Philadelphia.
McCaffrey has now scored at least one touchdown in each of his first eight playoff appearances. He’s the fourth player in NFL history to score in eight straight playoff games.
It was also the second passing touchdown of Jennings’ postseason career. He threw one in their Super Bowl LVIII loss to the Chiefs, so the 49ers will be hoping things turn out better than they did in Vegas.
