What We Learned from San Francisco’s 23-19 win

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1. Injury-ravaged Niners overcome defending Super Bowl champs. Kyle Shanahan’s club keeps overcoming. Down its top defensive players most of the season, watching key players drop week after week, the Niners persist. On Sunday, it was all-world tight end George Kittle who popped his Achilles in the second quarter. Even that loss couldn’t bring down the Niners. San Francisco used big plays to puncture the vaunted Eagles defense, including a trick-play touchdown pass from receiver Jauan Jennings to Christian McCaffrey. The 49ers defense, down to a slew of replacements, held together in the clutch, making life difficult on a herky-jerky Philly offense. Robert Saleh’s mangled crew kept the Eagles out of the end zone in the second half and forced four three-and-outs. It was fitting that linebacker Eric Kendricks, forced into the lineup due to a trove of injuries, knocked down Philly’s final fourth-down attempt. No matter who is called up, the 49ers have stepped up to keep their season alive.
2. Eagles’ offense goes in the tank once again. The issue Nick Sirianni’s offense has dealt with all season reared its head once again. The Eagles never could find a consistent rhythm. The tone-def unit came out hot, with Saquon Barkley galloping early as the Eagles gobbled up 182 yards and 14 points on their first three possessions of the game. Then they lost the beat. Philly didn’t generate a first down on its next three possessions, allowing the Niners to hang around. The Eagles managed just two second-half field goals. Barkley generated 106 rushing yards and added 25 receiving. Dallas Goedert made several big catches and scored two TDs. However, with the passing offense disjointed and the running game generating too many plays that went nowhere, the group was stymied by a banged-up defense. Drops, missed passes, penalties, all conjoined for an ineffective day down the stretch. A.J. Brown caught just three passes for 25 yards and couldn’t corral several downfield shots, including a bad fourth-quarter drop. His future this offseason will be under the microscope.
3. Robinson steps up for 49ers offense. Production in the playoffs can sometimes come from unlikely places. Demarcus Robinson, who generated just 276 yards on 22 catches with one TD in 14 games this season, became an explosive weapon for the 49ers’ offense. After earning zero games with 45-plus yards this season, Robinson surpassed that on his first catch, going for 61 to set up his first-quarter touchdown. The wideout generated six catches for 111 yards and a score. The Niners used splash plays to puncture the Eagles, including four passes of 27-plus yards. Christian McCaffrey (15 carries for 48 yards) was stymied on the ground but caught six passes for 66 yards and two TDs. It wasn’t all pretty from Brock Purdy and the Niners. From an ineffective ground game to two interceptions to drops to misalignments to wasted timeouts, but when they needed big plays to turn the tide, Shanahan dialed them up, and they executed better than their counterpart.
4. Mitchell leads Eagles with two INTs. The Philly defense tried to win the game for the offense. Vic Fangio’s crew kept Philly in check most of the first half after getting bowled over on the opening drive. Back-to-back three-and-outs forced settled things down for Philly and flipped a deficit into a lead. Quinyon Mitchell then came on, intercepting two second-half Brock Purdy passes, the second of which allowed Philly to retake a fourth-quarter lead. However, the Eagles ran out of steam down the stretch, allowing the Niners to march 10 plays for the go-ahead touchdown. After carrying the load most of the season, the Eagles needed some help from the offense in the final frame. They couldn’t get it.
5. Niners head to Seattle in Divisional Round. The Niners’ win sets up a rubber match between the division rivals for the right to go to the NFC Championship Game. San Francisco opened the season with a 17-13 road win in Seattle. That was before injuries sapped the Niners. The Seahawks took the Week 18 rematch to secure the NFC West title and the No. 1 seed with a 13-3 smothering of Purdy and the Niners. The NFC West will account for three of the four teams that advanced to the NFC Divisional Round, with the Rams traveling to Chicago. It marks the second division since realignment to have three teams in the Divisional Round (2022 NFC East).

Next Gen Stats Insight for 49ers-Eagles (via NFL Pro): Eric Kendricks led the 49ers with six stops on 10 tackles (seven solo), including two tackles for loss (both against the run) and a pass break-up on a game-sealing fourth down. Kendricks missed only one tackle all game, which cost the 49ers only a single yard. He did not come off the field on defense, one of four Niners defenders to play all 72 defensive plays.

NFL Research: Jauan Jennings became the only wide receiver all time with multiple career playoff passing touchdowns. Jennings joined Hall of Famer Bronko Nagurski (2) as the only non-QBs all time with multiple passing TDs. Jennings had more completed passes over 15 air yards (1) in the game than Jalen Hurts did (0 for 5 on such attempts).