NFL Wild-Card Takeaways

A very entertaining NFL Wild Card Weekend, Maybe The Best I’ve Witnessed In My Five Years Of Following THE NFL independently With One More Game In the Holster On Monday Night. The Bears Legitimize Their Division Crown And Their Week 16 Upset Of The Packers By Knocking Off The Packers In Stunning Comeback Fashion 31-27. If No One Gave The Bears Much Of A Chance To Defeat the Packers, No One Will Give Them Much Of A Chance To Defeat The Rams. The Packers were eliminated in the Wild Card Round. As the seventh seed and under head coach Matt LaFleur for three consecutive seasons, Green Bay seems to have hit a plateau once again in these postseason contests. Lafleur Started His Career With Three Straight 13-win seasons, But No Playoff Success. Now, he’s Made The Playoffs For A Third Straight Season In The Same position With No Success. The Los Angeles Rams Avenge Their Loss To The Lowly Panthers By Snatching Victory Away From Bryce Young 34-31. Even In Victory, the Panthers expose the Rams Again With Bryce Young Passing The Eye Test Against The Rams' Secondary Downfield. Chicago and Caleb Williams Could Emulate Much Of What Young achieved, only with the superior Talent and Effectiveness Of The Bears' Pass Catchers. The Patriots And The Chargers Would Have produced the worst game Of The Weekend By Virtue Of what Happened Ahead Of Them On The Schedule, but New England and the Chargers' Defensive Scrum Went in Favor Of The Patriots, who secured their First Playoff Win Since The 2019 Super Bowl.

Patriots Vs Chargers

Could New England Maintain Their Regular Season Success Facing The Second Best Team They’ve Face and Only The Third Team With A Winning Record Based On Current Standard, Or Will The Easy Schedule Argument Win Over? The Patriots and Drake Maye Notch the Franchise's Fourth Playoff Win Over the Chargers In The Super Bowl era To A Score Of 16-3. The Final Weekend Card of The Weekend, The First Playoff Game In Foxborough since 2019, Didn’t Start Very Patriot Like, Not The Patriots As Fans And Analysts Have Come To Expect Of The Mike Vrabel Patriots. Drake Maye led all Quarterbacks This Season In Total EPA, and the Patriots Finished The Season Second In Offensive Efficiency, according to ESPN FPI. But The First quarter Started As Inauspiciously As Possible For The Patriots, Punting on The First Drive Of The Game As The Chargers' Pass Rushers Overwhelmed New England's fully equipped pass-blocking Unit with Will Campbell Back In The Lineup. Chargers Pass Rusher Odafe Oweh Didn’t Care about The Season’s Success Of The Patriots Or Their Rookie. He Crashed The Party, Netting The First Of His Three Sacks and One Of Five For The Chargers. One Of His Sacks Created a second fumble. Drake Maye threw an Interception On the Patriots' Next drive, On A half-effort pass, On His Third Pass Of The Game. Maye Had Just Eight Picks On The Year, But The MVP Hopeful Started The Game With A Pick On The Patriots' First Drive. M Developed Bad Habits Playing So Many lower-level talent Teams. He’ll Need To Correct His Throwing The Ball lackadaisically, quickly.

Maye Would Rack Up 330 Total Yards, Leading The Team In Both Passing(262 Passing Yards) And Rushing(66 Yards) On The Ground, And He Registered One Fourth Touchdown Pass To Former Chargers’ Tight End Hunter Henry On A Beautiful 29 Yard Dime Of A Reception. Maye Finished With Far Better Success Passing The Ball Than Justin Herbert, with Four Completions Better Than 15 Air Yards downfield, But At most the Patriots’ offense Could Muster Three Field Goal Drives. The Patriots' Defense Elevated itself to offset The Uneven Performance By The Offense against A very Good Chargers Defense. The Chargers' Defense Performed Well Enough To Bend But Not Break, Forcing The Patriots Back On Three Red Zone Trips 0-3.

The Patriots sacked Justin six Times, Held Him In Check As a Passer 19/31 for 159 Passing Yards, -6.8% Completion Over Expected, 74.5 Passer Rating, Just One Completed Pass Over 10 Air Yards, 5.1 Yards Per Attempt. The Patriots generated a 68.1% Pressure Rate, Leading To A -12.69 EPA for Herbert When Under Pressure, According To SumerSports.

The Pats Force The Chargers To 2/13 On Third Down and Fourth Down, Generate 30 Pressures, and 3.5 Yards Per Play.

Herbert led the Chargers In Rushing with 57 Yards On The Ground On 10 Scrambles, But The Patriots' Defense Only Gave Up 2.5 Yards Per Carry To the Chargers’ running backs. The Chargers' issues with pass protection forced Herbert to play more frantically. Even when the pocket held, he struggled to settle in and deliver accurate passes downfield because he didn't trust his protection. The Patriots' pass protection also looked quite concerning throughout the game. Any team they face in the next round will likely take advantage of this, especially after reviewing the tape and seeing how the Chargers nearly dominated in the trenches. The Chargers Produced A 37.50% Pressure Rate According To Sumer Sports. The Team The Patriots Face, Either The Steelers Or The Texans, Will Have A Top-Of-The-Line Pass Rush Attack, And Maybe The Most Effective Passer Under Pressure Last Season Could More Duress Than He Ever Did At Any Point In 2026.

This Chargers defense ranked sixth according to ESPN FPI and 10th in DVOA, so the Patriots fared pretty well. But the red-zone offense needs to play more effectively if the Patriots hope to advance. With the Loss, Justin Herbert Started His Career 0-3 In The Playoffs and In The Wild Card Round. The Chargers Team Clearly Had Flaws Beyond The Woeful Offensive Line. One Pass Catcher, Oronde Gadsden III, Registered A Positive DVOA for The Season, and The Rushing Attack Ranked 20th. The Chargers Haven’t Played A Home Playoff Game In The Justin Herbert Era, But The Fell Just One Game

Short of Potentially Playing for The Division in Week 18. A Healthy Offensive Line Would Put The Chargers Back In The Top Ten In Pass Blocking, Just Like Last Season. Los Angeles needs some upgrades on the outside. Odafe Oweh is set to hit free agency and will command over $15 million. Meanwhile, the Chargers' other tier pass rusher, Khalil Mack, will be another year older after considering retirement. How can Los Angeles rely on him to perform at a professional level?

Panthers Vs Rams

The Panthers Shocked The Football World In Week 14 When The Lowly Panthers Shocked The Football World By Defeating The Juggernaut Rams In The Largest Upset Of The Season. Like The Many “Too Big To Fail” Business Firms That Fatally Crashed During The 2008 Market Crash, How The Panthers Defeated The Rams Commanded The Fascination Of Many Analytics juggernauts and Junkies, and Moat Agreed That the Panthers Won On Several Unlikely Swing Plays. The Panthers Picked Off A Quarterback Who Had Thrown A Pick In Two Months, and They Converted Two Fourth Downs. Charlotte Needed To Register Another Sum Of Swing plays To Pull Off Another Upset. The Swing Plays Went The Rams Way, A First Quarter Interception Led To A Rams Touchdown On The First Drive Of The Second Quarter From Stafford To Puka Nacua and A 14-0 Lead.

The Panthers had Former Quarterback Cam Newton Sound The Drums To Start The Game, But In The Second Quarter, the Ravens held The Opportunity To Deal The knockout blow to the Silencer. A Panther's special team Snafu, A Muffed Punt In The Second Quarter, gifted A Rams team struggling On Third down a Short Field in Panther Territory. The Rams Entered The Game 17th in third-down conversion. Strangely, The Execution And The Outcomes Favored Carolina. All-Pro wide Receiver Puka Nacua dropped what Looked Like A sure Touchdown Or At Least A down conversion After The Muffed Punt. Stafford’s Accuracy Wavered Much Of The Game, A consequence Of His Off-Kilter, Unorthodox Throwing Motion, But His Receiver Didn’t make The Plays They Regularly Convert To Cover His Playground Play Style. The Panthers' corners Hung In with the Rams' Receivers In Man Coverage. He Plays Like Magic Johnson if Magic Johnson couldn’t Complete A Bounce Pass. Stafford suffered a Stretch of Seven Straight Incompletions In The Third Quarter, The Longest Stretch Of His Rams Career, and even The Stretch Broke, And The Rams Converted Third. The Passing Offense struggled. The Rams continued to struggle on third down, largely due to Stafford’s lack of effectiveness. At the end of the third quarter, Panthers cornerback Mike Jackson intercepted Stafford. In the second quarter, the Panthers scored two rushing touchdowns, including a 6-yard touchdown run by Bryce Young just before halftime, showcasing his ability to make plays with his legs.Bryce Young Had His Downfield Passing Game Clicking, and He Cooked The Rams' Secondary Over The Top. Pass Defenses Confidently Want Young Throwing Down The Field Rather Than Throwing Short. The Panthers' rushing Touchdown in The Fourth Quarter Would Give Bryce Young and the Panthers The Lead. A Yard run by Chubba Hubbard set Up By a 52 Yard Connection between Young and Jalen Coker, 24-20 Lead For The Panthers. The Rams Would Get The Lead Back In the Fourth. Stafford avoided throwing an Interception Thanks To Puka Nacua Breaking Up The Catch From Panthers Defensive Back Nick Scott. The Rams Convert On Fourth and one, and Matthew Stafford hits running Back Kyren Williams for a 13 Yard Touchdown To Finish Off An 11-play, 67 Yard Drive, and the Rams Take A 27-24 lead. The Swing Plays Started Working In Carolina’s Advantage, a Block Punt Set The Panthers With A Short Field, and Bryce Young, who has played The Most Quarters Trailing In The NFL, exactly What Buttons To Push In Crunch Time. Young Connects With Wide Receiver Jalen Coker For a 7 Yard Touchdown On 3rd and Three Inside The Rams Red Zone 31-27 With Over Two Minutes Left In The Game. The Rams Gut Out Another Touchdown Drive as Matthew Stafford shakes Off Some third-quarter jitters and Some Drops by His Receivers, He Connects With His Tight End Colby Parkinson on a wheel Route To The End Zone as the Rams Escape The Panthers 34-31. The Rams finished 3-13. On third down, they suffered 9 Penalties for 83 Yards, and The Secondary Struggled with the Panthers' Receivers, But They Hung On, Surviving Themselves as Much As The Panthers. They won The Turnover Battle and The Game. The Rams' Pass Rush Registered Two Sacks But Generated A lot Of Pressure, Especially Late, which brought down the Panthers' Final Drive as Young Could Not Get Set And Deliver downfield. Stafford Very Un-MVP Like 24/42, Some Drops, 304 Passing Yards, -6.4% Completions Percentage Over Expected, Three Touchdowns, One Pick, 93.8 Passer Rating. The Panther Corners Really Made Working The Ball To Outside A Difficult Proposition For Stafford and Passing Attack, But Eventually The Middle Opened Up. The Panthers Played Their Best Game Of The Season Yet, Even Better Than The Week 14 Upset Over These Rams. The Run Game For Carolina didn’t Show As Much, given that the Panthers Played From Behind For Much of The Game, and the Rams also Played Five Down Line to Suffocate Bryce Young in containment and Not Allow The Run Game Of The Panthers To Eat Clock. Bryce Young played Well, But His Limitations Will Always Hold The Panthers Back In Some Form Or Another, and Winning With His Deficiencies In Athleticism And Height. He’s Accurate dialed In young finished 21/40 264 Passing Yards, One Touchdown, One Interception, 71.2 Passer Rating, 164 Yards On Passes Over 10 Air Yards, 111 On Deep Pass Plays, but -0.38 EPA Per Pass Play. The Panthers averaged -0.201 EPA Per Play, but Swing Plays, Special Teams, and Field Position leaned in Carolina’s Favor. The Panthers, Despite Entering The Playoffs As The Lowest Team On The Board, Have Built Something Sustainable Here, With A More Than Capable Secondary. They Really Need a Pass Rush, pass, and run block interception protection, Even Before Replacing Bryce Young. The Offense Looks Good Enough With Jalen Coker 134 Receiving Yards, 9 Receptions, One Touchdown, and Tet McMillan 81 Receiving Yards, Five Receptions. Rams Wide Receiver Puka Nacua Finished With 111 Receiving Yards, 10 Receptions, AnD One Touchdown. Davante Adams finished 72 Receiving Yards, 14.4 Yards Per Reception, Four Receiving First downs as the Panthers performed their Best To Slow The Rams' all-world passing Attack. The Rams' Secondary looked Vulnerable, and Without The Pass Rush, it didn’t create confusion.

Bills Vs Jaguars

Josh Allen Versus Trevor Lawrence In the Wild Card Round: Has The Grim Reaper Arrived For Allen In The Postseason? Has The Changing Of The Guard Started In The AFC Before Allen’s Legacy Materialized As The Younger Lawrence Starts To Form and Coalesce His Raw Game into a Tangible Impact? Josh Allen Took Several Scary Bumps In This Game that Threatened His Ability To Finish The Game. His Touchdown Run In The Second Quarter Nearly Cost Allen His Knee After A Jags Player Rolled Up On Him In The End Zone. A Couple Of Jags Defenders Piled On Allen In The First, Leading To Some Concussion Testing. “Josh Allen Is Taking A Beating Today,” Said Tony Romo On The Broadcast, But Allen Shook Of Hits and Delivered. The Jags and Bills Went Back And Forth for Much of The Game, With Buffalo’s 13-7 Lead The Largest Of Any Team In The Contest. The Jags and The Bills Traded Touchdowns In The Fourth Quarter, But Josh Allen And The Bills Executed the Greatest Tush Push Scene In History, Converting A Fourth and Inches From The Jaguars 11 Yard Line into A 1st and Goal On A Ten yard Shove.

Another One Yard Shove Later, and the Bills Secured Their Second Touchdown Of The Fourth Quarter To Answer the Jags' Two Touchdowns In The Quarter. A Trevor Lawrence Interception On A Tipped Pass Would ICE the Affair For The Jags as the Bills escape The Jaws Of Defeat 27-24. Josh Allen Wrapped up 28/35 273 Passing Yards, One Touchdown, 108.7 Passer Rating while Adding Two Touchdowns and 33 Yards On The Ground. Wide Receiver Kahlil Shakir Caught 12/12 For 82 Yards, and Brandon Cooks, The Veteran, Caught Three Catches for 58 Receiving Yards, Including A 36 Yard Reception On The Final Drive That Set Up Allen’s Final Touchdown. The Jags Ran Their Stock Offense. They leaned more on Trevor Lawrence and the Passing Attack Than Recommended Against This Bills Defense, and Played Into the Josh Allen Versus Trevor Lawrence Showdown More Than Ideal. The Jags Finished With 6.7 Yards Per Carry, 154 Yards total on 23 Carries, but dropped back To Pass More Than 30 Times For 6.9 yards A Pass. The Running Backs Average Better Than Eight Yards Per Carry, Led By Travis Ettiene with 10 Carries For 67 rushing Yards, With 49 In The Receiving Game On 5 Catches. The Other Back Bhayshul Tuten Had Four Carries For 51 Rushing Yards. Lawrence Finished His one-and-done playoff Experience 18/30 for 207 Passing yards, Three Touchdowns, and Two Picks, Both Off Of Tipped Passes, Including The game-sealing interception. His First Quarter Interception Lead Directly To A Field Goal and A 3-0 Buffalo Lead To Start The Game. The Offense Also Failed To Capitalize On A bills special Teams’ Fumble with a Turnover On Downs Inside the ten-yard line, resulting in the Bills driving 92 Yards Over 10 Plays And Taking a 10-7 Lead On Two two-yard rushing touchdowns by Josh Allen. Jags Receiver Parker Washington Seven Catches For 107 Receiving Yards and A Late Receiving Touchdown. The Bills will most likely face their wild-card foe from last year, the Denver Broncos, in the Divisional Round, this time in Denver, unless the Chargers upset the Patriots. The Last Time The Jags Made The Playoffs, The Franchise Couldn’t Sustain The Momentum and Went Back To A Place as One Of The Worse Teams In The League Shortly After. Can The Jags Build On What They Created, Especially Considering They’ll Face A Tougher Schedule In Next Season, Thanks To generating a Winning Record This Year, and The Team Won’t Have A First Round Pick ThankS To The Travis Hunter Draft Day Trade. The Jakobi Meyers Trade Also Drained The Jags Draft Resources, So They’ll Need To Get Creative With Extensions and Void Years To Improve This Team In The Immediate.

Bears Vs Packers

The Bears Overcome A Three-Score First-Half Lead and Roll Past Their Most Heated Division Rival, The Packers, 31-27 in stunning Fashion In The Wild Card Round. This game looked Near Over In The First half, Or As Over As Any Football Game Could Look, With The Packers holding a 21-9 Lead In The Fourth Quarter and an 18-point Deficit in The First Half To Steal The Win. DJ Moore Struck Again For The Bear Against Their Divisional Rivals With A 25 Yard Touchdown In The Fourth Quarter, Part Of A 25 Point Fourth Quarter Outburst That Revived The Image Of A Struggling Chicago Offense. The Bears' Offense Got The Scoring Started With A First-Drive Field Goal. The seeds of dysfunction became evident in the Bears' offense. After a grueling 16 plays spanning nearly eight minutes—essentially half the quarter—Chicago's red-zone offense stumbled. Two inaccurate passes from Caleb Williams went awry, forcing the Bears to settle for a field goal. The Strategy Of Keeping The Ball Out Of Jordan Love’s Hand Didn’t Exactly Work. The Green Bay Marks Man Love showed no Signs Of Rust From His Long lay between Games After Missing The End Of The Season With Concussion Symptoms. Love demonstrated His Touch Early with A 33 Yard Pass to Romeo Doubs, which led to A seven-yard touchdown Pass To Christian Watson For The First Of Three Straight Touchdowns To Start The Game For The Packers. The Bears, On The Other Hand, suffered three Straight drives Of Futility. The Next Bears Drive Ended With An Interception On 4th And Six due to Miscommunication Between him and Wide Receiver Luther Burden III. Caleb Threw The Ball Directly To The Defense, And The Play Looked Like Ben Johnson Drew It Up For The Defense To Pick The Pass As The Ball Floated Directly into Carrington Valentine’s Hand.

The Expression Of Caleb’s Frustration And Reaction Went Viral On Social Media As The Bears Looked Unraveled In The First Playoff Action For Some Of The Team Members. Jordan Love Would Connect With Matthew Golden for 36 36-yard pass Play, Which Would Flip The Field. Before Love would crown the Drive with an 18 Yard Pass Play To Jayden Reed for a 14-3 Lead, Applying Pressure To The Chicago. The Bears' Offense Would Suffer Two Straight Stalls, Going On Downs After Four Plays Resulting In Another Packers Touchdown, 8 Plays, 32 Yards Set By a 22 Yard Reception By Christian Watson, and Ended On a Yard Romeo Doubs Catch. The Bears' Final Drive of The Half Ended On Downs Before A Packers Missed Field Goal To End The First Half. Green Bay Held A 94% Chance Of Winning By halftime. Out of The Half, The Bears’ Defense Slow Down Green Bay, But Caleb Williams’s Interception. The Loss Of Micah Parsons Elevated The Packers' Blitzing Habit, But Green Bay Brought Pressure up The Guy Directly In Caleb’s Face, and He Throws Up a Prayer That Lands In The Hand Of A Packers Line Backer, Ty’ron Hopper, Ending a Red Zone Drive Without Points For Chicago. The Game Again Appeared Over As The Bears Chewed the Clock, But Came Away With No Points. The Bears' Defense Forced Another Punt, a part of Four Straight Punts To Start The Second Half For Green Bay’s Offense, And Into the Fourth Quarter. In The Fourth Williams Made Up For A lot Of Inconsistencies(-15.2% Completion Percentage Over expected) as A Passer With Big Plays, Connection Of 21 and 22 Yards To Tight Colston Loveland set up a six-yard touchdown run by D’Andre Swift That Cut The Packers' Lead 21-16 before Green Bay added another Touchdown. Williams And The Bears Kept Coming. Williams completed 10 Passes Of 15 Air Yards Or Better And Even On terrible Efficiency, 22/46 for 361 Passing Yards, on 53 Dropbacks,5/11 On Deep Passes, 13 Explosive Pass Plays, 285 passing yards On Explosive Pass Plays +0.20 EPA, 71.6. Williams Played Both out of his mind and inside a jacket simultaneously. The Bears pulled off The Upset.

Caleb William On Register Two Incompletions Before Connecting On A Big Pass, Such ahis Miraculous Fourth And 8 Conversion on 27 Yard Pass Connection To Rome Odunze, Followed By Two Incompletion Then A 22 Yard Pass to Kyle Monagai and one Incompletion After That He Hit olamide Zaccheus For An 8 Yard Touchdown And Chicago Trimmed The Packers Lead To 27-24 With An Added Two Point Conversion. The Packers Missed Multiple Field goals in This Game, One Before The Half and Another In The Fourth quarter, and Both Field goals would Have Put The Packers Ahead By Multiple Scores and an extra Point. Many Super Powered Teams Invest In Their Offense and Defense, but Neglect Special Teams, which Sometimes Makes The Difference In Playoff Performances. Jordan Love Finished The Game 24/46 For 323 Passing Yards, Four Touchdowns, 80.4 Passer Rating, +0.38 EPA Per Play. A Tale of Two Halves For Love, Who Started The Game Effectively, Fell Apart in the Second Half, and Couldn’t Get The Job Done In The Fourth Quarter. The Packers' Offense Outplayed the Bears 43% to 38% in offensive success rate Throughout The game. The Bears Have The Offensive Talent To attack Any Defense And Put Up Points In A hurry, Even Despite Quarterback Inconsistencies. Tight End Colston Loveland Caught Eight Passes For 137 Receiving

yards, Followed By DJ Moore 6 Catches For 64 Yards and a Touchdown. Can the Bears continue to score regularly? Not every defense will allow them to come back in crucial moments. The Packers game Played Out Like Their Season, A Hot Start, With An Appearance Of A Super Bowl Contender, Only To Cool Down and Have The Bears Take Them Late. Packers Vs Bears

The Packers Secondary Survived a Brush With Death by Facing an Inconsistent Caleb Williams On A Day When The Secondary Let A lot Of Big Plays Downfield fly. Caleb Could’ve Hit The Packers For A Wild Amount Of Production, and Thats A Spot Green Bay’s Defense Needs To Address. The Packers Should Get Micah Parsons Back around This Time Next Year, Ready For A Playoff. Also, Tight end Tucker Kraft is Ready For a Run, But The Packers. Outside Of A Few Plays, the Packers didn’t Generate Enough Success On The Ground, especially when Nursing A Lead. Josh Jacobs Carried The Ball 18 Times For 54 Yards, five Runs Of 5+ Gains, But Overall was Underwhelming and a -0.18 Run EPA.

Eagles Vs 49ers

Both Eagles Corners Cooper Dejean and Quinyon Mitchell made The Associated Press All-Pro Team as both produced excellent Seasons In Pass Coverage. Still, The Two all-world talents can’t cover every Blade Of Grass, and they're Not Faultless. Offenses Have To Target Those Corners, and Early In The Game, The Niners Appeared They Had The Secret To Beating The Eagles, But The Temptation To Target Mitchell Would Cost Brock Purdy In The Second Half, and If They Got Away Once, Don’t Try Him Too Much. The Niners' Passing Attack Demonstrated The Eagles' Secondaries Can Prove Vulnerable. Niners Wide Receiver Demarcus Robinson Picked Up A 62 Yard Catch over Eagles’ Corner Quinyon Mitchell Before Scoring a one-yard touchdown, beating Mitchell In The Back Of The End Zone On The game's First Drive. Mitchell would burn the Niners Later In The Game, Picking Off Purdy Twice In The Second Half.

Brock Purdy started The Game Fairly Successful 8/11 For 146 Before Cooling Off Mightily through The Third Quarter, Barely Netting Any Completions and Without Tight End George Kittle, who left with an Injury, The Niners’ Offense Stagnated In The second Half. Purdy Threw An Interception targeting Eagles Cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, Who Struck back at the Niners. Purdy broke on A Late Read On A Pass Targeted for Sky Moore. The Niners had Ti strategize Other Ways To Gain Offense. Their All-Pro Full Back Kyle Juszcyk Hauled A Couple Of Big Passes, including a 27 Yard Catch, and that set Up A Niners Touchdown At The Start Of The Fourth Quarter. With Purdy Struggling As A Passer, The Niners Got Tricky, Placing The Ball In Wide Receiver Hand Jauan Jennings, Who Rolled Wide and Hit The Niners' Other All-Pro Christian McCaffrey For CMC’s First Of Two Converted Touchdown Passes That Got The Niners' Offense Going Again. After an Eagles three-and-a-half-yard three-and-out and Brock Purdy's Interception That led to an Eagles field Goal, the Niners Started Driving Again. Purdy found Other Options In The Eagles' Pass defense To Target and 10 Plays, 66 Yards. Purdy connected with Christian McCaffrey In The End Zone For What Ultimately Proved the game-winning touchdown. Brock Purdy Finished 18/31 For 262 Passing Yards, Two Touchdowns, Two Interceptions, 80.3 Passer Rating, 8.5 Yards Per Attempt, +7.44 Pass EPA as He Survives His Own Errors and The Eagles' Defense. The Niners Move On To Face The Seahawks, Whom They Lost To In Week 18. Can The Niners Get The Better Of Seattle's Defense Without George Kittle, Who Suffered A Torn Achilles? Receiver Demarcus Robinson stepped Up In This Game, Six Catches For 111 receiving yards and One Touchdown. The Niners' Run Game Struggled, But Their Field Contributed Through The air, with six Catches for 66 Yards For Christian McCaffrey And Four Catches For 49 Yards for Kyle Juszczyk To Contribute To The Victory.

Early Rushing Success From The Eagles Set Up the Eagles With Two Early Red Zone Scores, Both Passes From Quarterback Jalen Hurts To Tight End Dallas Goedert. Explosive Plays From Running Back Saquon Barkley Set Up Both Touchdowns, His 29 Yard Run On The First Drive Flipped Field Position For The Eagles and set Up The First Score Of The Game. The First Drive Of The Second Quarter, A 20 Yard Catch And Run By Saquon Barkley, Proved The Biggest Play Of A 16 Play, 90 Yard Drive That Netted The Eagles A Nine Yard Touchdown, A 13-7 Lead At 6:08 P.M. Left In The Second Quarter. The Eagles' Offense Wouldn’t Register Another First Down Until 6:16 In The Third Quarter As The Niners Slowed Down The Run Game and Short Pass Game That Set Up The Eagles' Red Zone Opportunities. The Niners' Defense Didn’t pick Hurts Off All Game, But They Limited His Effectiveness downfield, and On The Final Drive Their Zone Defense Created A lot Of Tight Windows Hurts couldn’t Hit Late In the Game. He overthrows Devonta Smith on a Cross Route, which leads to 4th and 12, and Then He Makes The Wrong Read, targeting Dallas Geordert triple-teamed up The Middle, and the Niners Defense holds In The Battle of Bad Defense Versus Bad Offense. Hurts Started The Drive For the Eagles with a lot Of Success, 15 yards Pass To Dallas Goedert, 10 Yards Pass To Wide Receiver Devonta Smith, and another 15 Yards Pass To wide Receiver Devonta Smith, but Hurts ended the Drive With a sack and Three Straight Incompletions In The End Zone. The Eagles Had Three Timeouts But Decided Against Running The Ball Or Throwing Short. The Eagles' Defense and Special teams Usually Cap Off These Big Wins, but when the offense Had The Opportunity, Hurts couldn’t deliver. In The First Quarter, Kicker Josh Elliot Missed An Extra Point attempt After The Eagles' First Touchdown. Had he converted the Eagles Could Have Settled For A Field Goal and overtime. Hurts finished 20/35, 167 Passing yards, Two Touchdowns, -7.8% Completion Percentage Over Expected, -3.73 Pass EPA, according to Sumer Sports. All-Season Hurts Appeared To Regress As A Passer Since His Rookie Year In 2020, And How The Eagles Will Stand To Improve on Him As A Player, Or Rejuvenate only One Pass Of 15 Air Yards Or Better. Hurts Doesn’t Use His Legs Anymore To Off Set Drop Coverage and Catch Defenders Out Of Position. Saquon Barkley Lead The Team With 26 Carries For 106 Rushing Yards, But As The Game Wore On, He Wore Down, and So Did The Eagles' Offense.