49ers Get Their Revenge in a 42-19 Victory
Few games on the 2023 schedule meant more to the 49ers players and fans than their shot at redemption vs Philly and the results speak for themselves...
The 2022 NFC Championship rematch between the 49ers vs Eagles in Week 13 was one of the most highly anticipated matchups of the year. After an off-season of chatter and thinly veiling jabs between the two teams surrounding the disappointing end to San Francisco’s 2022 season the stakes had never been higher for the rematch. The game saw the 49ers get out to sluggish start that had them trailing 6-0 after 15 minutes but a switch flipped somewhere in-between the first and second quarters and saw them go on a 45 minute rampage that left them big victors over their NFC rivals.
Offense Continues To Shine
In the 9 games the San Francisco 49ers have had their entire offense healthy, they are 9-0 and have scored over 30 points in 8 game of the 9 games. The lone exception? Well they scored a measly 27. Sunday against the Eagles may have been their finest performance yet considering the context of the atmosphere and stakes of the game.
Christian McCaffery’s Impact
The 49ers success all started, as it usually does, with the run game. Despite not logging a single successful rush until there was 9:35 left in the first half, San Francisco finished with 146 yards rushing at 5.2 yards a clip with a Success Rate of 62%.
The main focal points, as usual, were Trent Williams and Christina McCaffery, who carried the ball 17 times for 93 yards and a score. Early in the game San Francisco failed to get much going on the ground, their gap scheme and pin pull run plays failing to gain traction vs the talented Philly interior. The solution? Back to old school Shanahan’s bread and butter, the outside zone.
The zone running scheme allowed the 49ers to get their dynamic ball carriers the ball out on the edges. It also allowed them to get fantastic leverage for their elite trio of blockers Williams, FB Kyle Juszcyk and TE George Kittle. McCaffery, starting in the mid second quarter, was able to begin utilizing his fantastic vision and patience and generate multiple successful runs through the entirety of the game.
Where McCaffery’s impact was felt the most however, was the passing game. His 3 REC (on 4 TGT) for 40 YDS isn’t a particularly gaudy stat line but it does not tell the whole story. Since McCaffery was traded to San Francisco in 2022 he leads all running backs with a Double Team Rate of 11.1%. It was no different on Sunday where the Eagles had a majority of their coverages centering around where he was located which allowed the other 49ers play makers to get and win multiple 1 on 1’s.
Deebo Samuel Backs Up His Words
While McCaffery was the engine of the 49ers offense on Sunday, Deebo Samuel was the fuel. Few players were more vocal this offseason than Deebo Samuel about the NFC Championship and how he felt it would have gone if Brock Purdy had not gotten injured.
And he more than backed it up on Sunday, in a way only Deebo knows how, with YAC.
Samuel is well known as one of the most unique and dynamic playmakers in all of football. His penchant for yards after the catch and as a ball carrier was on full display Sunday, with 3 total touchdowns that came purely from his ability to win in space.
His final stat line was a Deebo masterclass with 4 REC (on 4 TGT) going for 116 YDS receiving and another 22 added on the ground. Of those 116 yards, 115 came after the catch with an average depth of target of 1 foot (0.3 YDS). Now much has been made about 49ers QBs and the benefit they get from their playmakers (that’s a discussion for another day) but Sunday was a quintessential Deebo Samuel performance and exactly how an NFL player backs up their trash talk.
Defense Bends But Never Breaks
Despite the 49ers offense elite overall numbers, it took them a while too get going on Sunday. Their first two drive took a combined 2 minutes on 6 total plays placing a large onus of their defense to keep the game within striking distance. The result was a 6-0 deficit at the end of one despite the defense facing 24 plays and allowing over 100 total yards. The defense, outside of some garbage time yards, was fantastic all day. Holding the Eagles under 20 points and only giving up 4.8 Yards per Play. The Eagles 35% Success Rate in Week 13 was a full 10% below their season average.
Pass Rush vs Coverage
The splashy headline for the 49ers defense was the performance of their defensive line and their 46(!) pressures, but that number is a bit misleading. Despite the fantastic raw numbers no 49ers’ lineman amassed a pass rush win rate over 18%. A good number sure, but not one that reflects the total pressure numbers or a number that is out of line with their season averages. The reason the 49ers defensive line was able to reach such impressive numbers was two-fold 1) Jalen Hurts struggled to get the ball out on time and 2) Their coverage unit was fantastic.
Hurts is a very mobile QB who has had great success in the past two years creating plays out of structure. His desire to find a chunk plays and never quit was his undoing on Sunday. Too many plays looked like the sack he took in the Red Zone in the first quarter, where he holds the ball too long and invites pressure.
Hurts time to throw on Sunday of 3.85 seconds was by far his highest number of the year. He routinely turned down checkdowns and opportunities to throw it away which allowed the 49er pass rush to get a ton of late pressure.
The 49ers back-7 also deserves a ton of credit for Hurt’s not being able to find easy completions. They did a fantastic job of mixing up zone and man with all players playing in tandem on the back end. Outside of a few great plays in the open field by A.J. Brown and some late completion to Devonta Smith the secondary was lights out once again, an encouraging trend that has been prevalent since the bye.
What’s Next…
Next up for the 49ers is another big NFC rematch, this time with a team they just beat 2 weeks ago in the Seattle Seahawks. A potential trap game against a talented Seahawks team who’s offense just lit up Dallas last Thursday and are coming off 10 days rest. San Francisco will need to stay locked in as they prep for a stretch run that could help them secure the #1 overall seed in the NFC and a first round bye.