Eagles vs 49ers playoff game observations

[taz]

So I need to let my mind cool down a little bit before this one. I am not mad at this loss. On the contrary. The reason why is I know there will be change that is positive. Jeffrey Lurie will demand it.

1. Hurts - You know this is tough one. I don't think he didn't anything bad at all, knor did he stand out. I mean AJ Brown catches that deep ball its a different story of a game. Cam Jurgens doesn't hold on that first down run he had, it probably is a different game. But those didn't happen.

2. Barkley - Was running really well until the 49ers started to run stunt more. Two of the negative plays he had, he simply didn't cut into the hole. Kinda been a theme all year. I will say this that drop on the screen that killed the drive to start the 3rd quarter was a killer, he easily picks up the 1st down there. You simply have to catch the ball.

3. AJ Brown - Speaking of catching the ball. You are a highly paid WR who cries when you don' t get the ball. You had two passes clank off your stone hands today that cost us points. Then you were jawing with your coach how was trying to get you off the field so they didn't get a 12 man penalty. You need to look yourself in the mirror in the offseason.

4. Cam Jurgens - Three straight drives I was screaming to get him out of there. He was getting turned around like a turnstile . Had a really bad hold on a Jalen Hurts run. I have no idea how this guy made the pro bowl. Then he had a few drives were he played well. Then all of a sudden he is back to being a turnstile. The problem when your center gets beat like that in the run game, it results in many TFLS.

5. Fred Johnson - I thought he played really well today. He did get caught up with Saquan when he got hurt but he is a must resign in my opinion. I don't think we are going to see Lane again. I think Lane is going to retire.

6. Q - Really bad 1st drive, getting beat by a no name receiver two. Wow. Then it pissed him off. What did he do he picked the ball off twice. Both on the rare times we blitzed.

7. The defensive line - I am saying the entire line. They got held the entire game. They were working the refs but they couldn't by a holding call. Despite there being many that should have been called.

8. The officiating - So we played 18 games this year. Every game except one we had more penalties than the other team. The one game we had the same amount. You can't tell me this was not by design by the NFL. They were pissed at Lurie for fighting back on the Tush Push They instructed the officials to call everything really tight on us. Today was the ultimate. The 49ers had 1 penalty. Yes 1. It was so obvious had to be called. There were many many more that should have ben called but were not. We lost 4 games due to bad officiating this year. I will say this one may be included as on the last TD, Nolan Smith was held and Purdy got the time to make the throw. If that was the Eagles that would have been called back.

9 Jake Elliot - Thanks for the memories, collect your paycheck and GTFO. I am sorry but we need a better kicker. We need a weapon at kick.

10. Kevin Patullo - I could care less if he stay or goes. I saw some things especially the way he used the TE and the red zone stuff that show me he has ability. There are certainly things that just don't make sense. Is part of this the fact he has some Diva's in the room like AJ Brown, Jalen Hurts etc? I don't know but I know this, the offense has to go back to the drawling board in the offseason. Whether its with a new coordinator or not. Clean up the penalties and if that means some of these lineman have to go then so be it. Figure out the passing game.

11. Vic Fangio - His defense plays with smoke and mirrors. When the smoke isn't enough he doesn't have answers. Today he blitzed Purdy a few times. Those times resulted in Q's ints and some incompletions. However he sat back in soft zone while rushing 4 guys too much in this game. Purdy and his group of no name receivers picked him apart. This defense is dead last in producing 3 and outs. We talk about our offense has too many 3 and outs but our defense doesn't put them in a position enough. Today thanks to Q's Ints they did get some good field position twice. There were several times when the 49ers started inside their own 20 and you allowed them too many yards. They may have punted but punting from their own 45 in goaling to pin you. Punting from inside their 20 and you give the offense good starting position.


Overall this was a disappointing season but not a season that I would call a failure .Its very hard to repeat. Especially when your coaching staff gets raided year in and year out. Its bound to catch up to you. I know one thing and this is why I have hope. Lurie will go to Rodger and kiss and make up. Next year the officials will back off and we will get more fairly officiated games. I think we will win another Super Bowl next year. The tweaks above are doable.

[RobLew65]

Not mad at all. I was resigned to the fact they would lose as soon as Jake missed the XP! Now my observations:

Good game but not a great game by Barkley. Entire year it seemed he never elevated his play. Honestly I can say that about just about the entire offense. Good moments all during the season but neve truly elevated their play.

Tank gets a few carries. Gets the crowd behind him and then sits! More on that later

O Line has been bad all year! ALL of them. Jordan never played better than average. Same for Landon and Lane when he played. Cam and Steen were awful all year. Communication was poor. Just awful!
Dallas has a good year but he won't back. Dotson was never factor. Not always on him but an upgrade is needed.
Jalen same as everyone else. Good stretches but a lot really poor stretches. Just a ho hum type of year
AJ and Davonta! Paid like stars! You have to play better when the light shines brightest. Usually never an issue with Davonta. But the 49ers no names were better tonight and that is a indictment on AJ and Davonta. I can trash AJ but we saw it. You can't call for the ball then make NO plays when needed. His two drops earlier probably turned the game around for 49ers.

Defense: 23 points should be enough but I think the pass rush wasn't as good as I thought. They kept having Hunt drop in coverage which made no sense. Shanahan bread butter is the middle of the field and of course guys were open. Kittle goes out and the FB makes tougher catches than our WRs. Just unreal

And lastly the head coach and OC. This game this season this run came to a halt because of friendship for a guy who had no business being an OC! The head coach played the season wrong. They should have celebrated being the champs and maybe played with that swagger. Instead we got a team of conservative nonsense that stole any real attempt at a repeat.

The officiating was one sided as always but still the holding calls were legit. The no holds on SF was a bigger issue. But all in all everything that was wrong this season showed tonight.

[tinopuno]

So I need to let my mind cool down a little bit before this one. I am not mad at this loss. On the contrary. The reason why is I know there will be change that is positive. Jeffrey Lurie will demand it.

1. Hurts - You know this is tough one. I don't think he didn't anything bad at all, knor did he stand out. I mean AJ Brown catches that deep ball its a different story of a game. Cam Jurgens doesn't hold on that first down run he had, it probably is a different game. But those didn't happen.

2. Barkley - Was running really well until the 49ers started to run stunt more. Two of the negative plays he had, he simply didn't cut into the hole. Kinda been a theme all year. I will say this that drop on the screen that killed the drive to start the 3rd quarter was a killer, he easily picks up the 1st down there. You simply have to catch the ball.

3. AJ Brown - Speaking of catching the ball. You are a highly paid WR who cries when you don' t get the ball. You had two passes clank off your stone hands today that cost us points. Then you were jawing with your coach how was trying to get you off the field so they didn't get a 12 man penalty. You need to look yourself in the mirror in the offseason.

4. Cam Jurgens - Three straight drives I was screaming to get him out of there. He was getting turned around like a turnstile . Had a really bad hold on a Jalen Hurts run. I have no idea how this guy made the pro bowl. Then he had a few drives were he played well. Then all of a sudden he is back to being a turnstile. The problem when your center gets beat like that in the run game, it results in many TFLS.

5. Fred Johnson - I thought he played really well today. He did get caught up with Saquan when he got hurt but he is a must resign in my opinion. I don't think we are going to see Lane again. I think Lane is going to retire.

6. Q - Really bad 1st drive, getting beat by a no name receiver two. Wow. Then it pissed him off. What did he do he picked the ball off twice. Both on the rare times we blitzed.

7. The defensive line - I am saying the entire line. They got held the entire game. They were working the refs but they couldn't by a holding call. Despite there being many that should have been called.

8. The officiating - So we played 18 games this year. Every game except one we had more penalties than the other team. The one game we had the same amount. You can't tell me this was not by design by the NFL. They were pissed at Lurie for fighting back on the Tush Push They instructed the officials to call everything really tight on us. Today was the ultimate. The 49ers had 1 penalty. Yes 1. It was so obvious had to be called. There were many many more that should have ben called but were not. We lost 4 games due to bad officiating this year. I will say this one may be included as on the last TD, Nolan Smith was held and Purdy got the time to make the throw. If that was the Eagles that would have been called back.

9 Jake Elliot - Thanks for the memories, collect your paycheck and GTFO. I am sorry but we need a better kicker. We need a weapon at kick.

10. Kevin Patullo - I could care less if he stay or goes. I saw some things especially the way he used the TE and the red zone stuff that show me he has ability. There are certainly things that just don't make sense. Is part of this the fact he has some Diva's in the room like AJ Brown, Jalen Hurts etc? I don't know but I know this, the offense has to go back to the drawling board in the offseason. Whether its with a new coordinator or not. Clean up the penalties and if that means some of these lineman have to go then so be it. Figure out the passing game.

11. Vic Fangio - His defense plays with smoke and mirrors. When the smoke isn't enough he doesn't have answers. Today he blitzed Purdy a few times. Those times resulted in Q's ints and some incompletions. However he sat back in soft zone while rushing 4 guys too much in this game. Purdy and his group of no name receivers picked him apart. This defense is dead last in producing 3 and outs. We talk about our offense has too many 3 and outs but our defense doesn't put them in a position enough. Today thanks to Q's Ints they did get some good field position twice. There were several times when the 49ers started inside their own 20 and you allowed them too many yards. They may have punted but punting from their own 45 in goaling to pin you. Punting from inside their 20 and you give the offense good starting position.


Overall this was a disappointing season but not a season they I would call a failure .Its very hard to repeat. Especially when your coaching staff gets raided year in and year out. Its bound to catch up to you. I know one thing and this is why I have hope. Lurie will go to Rodger and kiss and make up. Next year the officials will back off and we will get more fairly officiated games. I think we will win another Super Bowl next year. The tweaks above are doable.

I didn't expect much from the post season so I'm not really upset by the loss. The biased officiating, and it's provenance, does really upset me. There were two "key" blatant non calls that were, IMO, blatant DPI. It troubles me greatly to believe in the very real possibility, if not likelihood, that Goodell is such vengeful reptile that he would endorse a season long plan to punish the Birds by having the officials "understand" that the Eagles' audacity of shoving the "tush push" in the NFL's face justified some "special policing" by the league officials. It does not surprise me to have my view substantiated that Goodell is, at heart a small, shameless venal pissant..

[Eaglebreath]

It was a fitting end to a very frustrating season. I'm glad the Eagles won the Super Bowl last season, because it made it easy to be comfortable with a loss, because it felt like they put themselves, and myself out of our misery. It was really hard to watch this team for a good part of the season this year.

We've all been through plenty of playoff losses like this. It's the same stuff. The other team has opportunites for chunk plays, they make them. The Eagles have opportunities, and they don't execute. Questionable playcalling on both sides of the ball. Bad officiating, or biased, either way. And on and on. So, here we are. I hate to say it but a part of me is glad it's fucking over.

There are going to be a lot of hard decisions made. That's for sure.

On a side note, I thought AJ Brown short armed that first pass he dropped. I could be wrong, but those drops man.

I think the O-line has to be a major priority going forward.

They're going to have to pay some guys on defense. That side of the ball is where the young talent is.

[Eagle60]

Again, it was penalties. Every game it's penalties with this team.

[Eaglebreath]

Again, it was penalties. Every game it's penalties with this team.

There were some for sure, but it's kind of hard to win that battle when the refs have little to no interest in calling them on the other team. SF held like crazy the whole game. Nolan Smith was blatantly held on the TD pass by Purdy. It should have been called back. I don't know if Taz is right and it's due to some vendetta by the league office, but the Eagles got the short end of the stick on penalties all season long. And, I don't think it was because they were more undisciplined than their opponents every single week.

[Pliny]

I said several weeks ago that this season was a success by me if they won the NFC East and Dallas flopped (missed the playoffs). So, I am also OK with things. But, I feel this team had the talent to repeat. They just didn't play well enough on offense across the board. And yeah, penalties were their Achille's Heel all season

Injured 49ers were there for the taking. I thought the Eagles would get knocked out next week in Chicago, not at home.

Defense was good enough to win.

Not sure where this team is headed to be honest. I do feel they need to upgrade at OC. New kicker is a must. Sirianni is going nowhere and shouldn't. Vic is a rock. If AJ Brown had Smitty's heart, he would probably be the best receiver in the league.

[Eagle60]

These guys are the most expensive offense in the league and they do squat every week.

[andrewaters]

I am shocked they lost. Not because I thought they were legit going to make a run but because the 49ers were decimated by injuries. We played a JV team and lost on our home field even after they threw 2 picks. This is the most disappointing loss in the history of the Eagles in the playoffs because if they just could put it together a little bit they could have made a run. There is not a dominant team out there at all. Again... not that they deserved to make a run but the league is so weak this year they easily could have.

1. I do think Lane Johnson may finally call it quits and if he does I'd be OK with giving Fred Johnson a season to see if he can play the position. They also like what they have in Cam Williams. That said... if they trade A.J.... and I think that is going to happen. They will probably get a 2 for him. They need to draft a RT/RG of the future on day 2. I still believe in Jeff Stoutland. Even if Lane comes back, Tyler Steen looks like a guy that can play enough that after next year someone is going to overpay for him so they need to draft another athlete to put on the right front of the OL.

2. Cam Jurgens is so hot/cold as a player. I think his back is screwed. We are going to regret paying him only because he is not going to be great consistently because he is never fully healthy.

3. Landon Dickerson and JM were not great this year but they weren't terrible. And as I said, Steen can start. He is fine as a player. You need guys like him.

4. The run game/Patullo/route combinations... I have said this all year. If I can look presnap at the alignment and with about 75% likelihood predict which direction they are going to run the ball than so can a DC. We were so predictable all year. It was just a running joke. Patullo had never had the play sheet in his hand and he should NEVER have it in his hand again. Howie needs to move quickly and overpay Mike McDaniel or Brian Daboll. Give them a multiyear agreement and overpay. This can't keep going on.

5. I finally am ready to say this unequivocally.... Jalen Hurts is a system QB. That is not a slight. A lot of QBs are system QBs and have done quite well. The issue is the system this year sucked. The run game was predictable all year. The passing game had terrible design. This is NOT me talking either. I follow a number of "experts" both known and unknown on X and all season they talked about play design. Seth went off last night on the offense schematically. KP needs to be run out of town. All year he could have put Tank and Barkley on the field at the same time and he rarely did it. All year, he could have put in a FB and run out of an under center/power formation... he rarely did it. He finally started doing the bootleg a bit but the route combinations were too deep. There were very few shallow cross routes all year. Why is that? Is it because teams are always playing zone again us because they worry about Jalen's legs and they don't want the DBs backs to the LOS. OK, then run stop routes over the middle to your WRs. Nothing we did this year offensively made sense to me.

6. Moro Ojomo is a stud. I read that he is NOT a free agent. I don't think that is right. At the very least he is an RFA. He should be brought back if you can afford him because he is a utility player all across the front. Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter should also be resigned this offseason. They aren't going to get any cheaper.

7. Nakobe Dean will not be back unless you can get him back on the cheap. And maybe you could because honestly he can't stay healthy. And, he is a hot/cold player. He looks great some games. Yesterday he looked very average. He was a day late and a dollar short almost all game.

8. Shanny beat Vic and by that I mean Shanny outschemed Vic. That is not a slight. Shanny is an outstanding play caller and schemer. It only took 5-6 great plays to beat the Birds yesterday. Think about what happened yesterday. The 49ers threw 2 picks in the second half both at or close to midfield. At one point in the first half, the Eagles had ran 33 plays to 12 for the 49ers. And still the 49ers won the game. I don't think that is on Vic. His scheme is sound. They won the Super Bowl last year with this scheme. Don't panic. But Shanny outschemed the Eagles yesterday. The first TD to Robinson in the back of the end zone was a thing of beauty. Fake pitch to freeze the defense for a count and Brock had one option.

9. Jaelen Phillips won't be back unless he takes a hometown deal and I don't think he will. Some team like the Raiders who has a lot of cap room is going to pay him. So say goodbye to him. I also think Reed Blankenship is going to get a big contract some place else and with Makuba back they are going to let him walk also. You have to save the money to pay DeJean and Mitchell plus the DL guys.

10. Last one... on the officiating. I agree that the game looked a bit rigged. First off, the team assigned Alan Eck to the game. I think it was his first ever playoff game. He is a Philly guy and grew up an Eagles fan. And then the crew goes out there and calls one penalty on the 49ers all day. Zero holding penalties on the 49ers blocking arguably the best front in the league. Ticky tack Defensive Holding on the 49ers last drive of the game to take away a sack. That really mattered. The 49ers would have been in 3rd and 12 if they don't throw that flag. That was the kind of play that happens 25x a game and you wait until that moment to throw that flag. My best friend growing up is a 49ers fan and he immediately texted me that the hold was a bullshit call on the Eagles.

Lastly... on A.J. I am done guys. It is going to be an enormous cap hit but let someone else deal with his bullshit. If you can get a 2 from a team like the Raiders than trade him. I'd love to see A.J. and Tanner packaged together to a team like the Raiders, the Jets, or Arizona. Tanner is still a work in progress. He might be an NFL starter. He looks to me like a young Matt Ryan other than the Redskins game. Put him and A.J. together and get a 2 for them. I really don't want to trade A.J. and maybe if you can move quickly on an OC you can salvage it but if that doesn't happen you just have to let him walk.

Good season guys. We got back to the playoffs and won our division. And now next year we won't be the team defending. If we can get a new OC and maintain the core roster than the Super Bowl window remains wide open.

[rspurr]

We sucked all year on offense but the reffing is again????
Why does it seem like the flags only come out after we have a positive play? There were at least 3 where the yellow flag didn’t appear on the screen until well after the play and this includes the TD that had to be overturned because the replay showed that it was complete BS.

Did anyone else get the sense that their trick play TD was coming back on a hold? Shanahan looked mad.
Then instead it’s roughing the passer on Carter for hitting Jennings in the chest right as he throws the ball? I’d love to see the all 22 on that play. Something seemed fishy.

[sfphillyfan]

There were some for sure, but it's kind of hard to win that battle when the refs have little to no interest in calling them on the other team. SF held like crazy the whole game. Nolan Smith was blatantly held on the TD pass by Purdy. It should have been called back. I don't know if Taz is right and it's due to some vendetta by the league office, but the Eagles got the short end of the stick on penalties all season long. And, I don't think it was because they were more undisciplined than their opponents every single week.

there's a conspiracy theory that the refs don't call anything against us because Lurie pissed off Goodell with the Tush Push.

However, we sucked even without the refs.