The Philadelphia Eagles are heading to Super Bowl 57.
Philadelphia defeated the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday in the NFC Championship game 31-7 to advance to their second Super Bowl since 2019. They’ll either face the Cincinnati Bengals or the Kansas City Chiefs in the championship, depending on who wins in the AFC title game.
SUPER BOWL HERE WE COME
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) January 29, 2023
NFC CHAMPS 🏆@Verizon | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/MeiWBPDJMl
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) January 29, 2023
Philadelphia asserted their dominance from the opening kickoff and scored a touchdown on their opening possession. Running back Miles Sanders ran football into the end zone from six yards out to put the Eagles ahead 7-0 less than six minutes into the 1st quarter. This came directly after Eagles’ wide receiver DeVonta Smith hauled in an acrobatic one-handed reception on a clutch fourth down play just two snaps prior.
Easy running for @BoobieMilesXXIV 🙌
📺: #SFvsPHI on FOX
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/FKUP5TdmfQ pic.twitter.com/Kooj1JrZDo— NFL (@NFL) January 29, 2023
On San Francisco’s first drive, they would see their quarterback Brock Purdy go down with an elbow injury on his throwing arm. Eagles’ linebacker Haason Reddick blew by San Francisco’s right tackle and forced Purdy into fumbling the football. Purdy’s arm is seen getting bent and contorted as he was trying to throw the football to one of his receivers. This would mark the beginning of the end for San Francisco’s season.
After review, @Haason7Reddick forces the fumble and the @Eagles take over 💪
📺: #SFvsPHI on FOX
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/FKUP5TdmfQ pic.twitter.com/bop3WoHK25— NFL (@NFL) January 29, 2023
NFL journeyman Josh Johnson would enter in relief of Purdy but would also wind up getting injured during the 49ers opening possession of the 3rd quarter. Eagles’ defensive-lineman Ndamukong Suh would knock Johnson out of the game with a head injury after Suh viscously bodied him to the ground. This would force Purdy to re-enter the game in the second-half despite not being able to throw the ball.
49ers are being cheated… The game should’ve been canceled after the injuries to Brock Purdy and the 4th QB Josh Johnson with head injury. Its the NFC Championship game not a regular season game like Damar Hamlin’s game. Obviously not fair!! pic.twitter.com/hvgNUFeJXF
— muliani (@MulianiEnt) January 29, 2023
By the fourth quarter, it was obvious that Purdy was still dinged up and couldn’t play. He would only attempt one pass once he came back to play. This resulted in the 49ers inserting running back Christian McCaffrey into the ballgame to play as their quarterback. Yes, Christian McCaffrey.
(RELATED: Championship Winning QB Arrested For Public Intoxication)
As the 49ers were going through hell offensively trying to find an answer at quarterback, the Eagles would find the end zone three more times with touchdown rushes coming from Miles Sanders (again), Boston Scott, and Jalen Hurts.
The only reason why it was so lopsided though was because San Fran was pretty much without a quarterback for the entire game. I believe this NFC title game would have been a one-score game if Purdy was never injured. Injuries to him and Johnson made the game unfair and totally allowed Philadelphia to cakewalk into the Super Bowl.
Barring any catastrophic injuries, I envision a tightly contested Super Bowl no matter who the Eagles wind up playing against.
