NFC title game Eagles grades by position after beating 49ers

[time2rock]

NFC title game Eagles grades by position after beating 49ers

 

The Eagles punched their ticket to Super Bowl LVII with a dominant 31-7 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday afternoon at the Linc.

In their two playoff games, the Eagles have now outscored their opponents 69-14.

This NFC Championship Game was supposed to be a matchup between the two most talented rosters in the conference but once the Eagles got a lead and the 49ers were pretty much without a quarterback, the game was over.

Let’s get to the position grades:

Quarterback

Jalen Hurts: 15/25, 121 yards; 11 rushes, 39 yards, 1 TD

It wasn’t Hurts’ best game but he still did enough to help the Eagles earn a win. He missed a few passes he normally makes, especially a deep ball to A.J. Brown in the first quarter. But it didn’t matter. Hurts did make some big plays in crucial moments and rushed for a touchdown in the third quarter to cap a 15-play, 91-yard, 7:50 drive.

Grade: B

Running back

Kenny Gainwell: 14 carries, 48 yards; 2 catches, 26 yards

The Eagles’ rushing attack didn’t put up huge numbers but what they were able to do when the 49ers knew they were going to run the ball in the second half was impressive. In addition to Gainwell’s big game, Miles Sanders ran for two scores and Boston Scott ran for one.

Grade: A

Receiver

DeVonta Smith: 2 catches for 36 yards

Overall, the production from the Eagles’ receivers wasn’t overwhelming. In addition to Smith’s 36 yards, A.J. Brown caught 4 passes on 8 targets for 28 yards. But Smith’s 29-yard catch (or non-catch) in the first quarter on 4th-and-3 was the play of the game. The Eagles scored a couple plays later.

Grade: B

Tight end

Dallas Goedert: 5 catches on 6 targets for 23 yards

Again, the numbers aren’t great but Goedert did his job, made some tough catches and blocked his butt off. So did Jack Stoll when he was out there. The tight ends helped the Eagles pick up some gritty yards, especially in the second half.

Grade: B+

Offensive line

The Eagles ran for 148 yards and 4 touchdowns against the No. 1 run defense in the NFL. You know why? Because as good as that run defense is, the Eagles’ offensive line is better. And that’s pretty much the case for any team they play.

Grade: A

Defensive line

Haason Reddick: 3 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 QB hit, 1 TFL, 1 FF, 1 FR

Reddick was arguably the best player on the field Sunday from either team. He was an absolute menace and blocking him with a tight end isn’t a good idea. But it was more than Reddick. The Eagles’ vaunted defensive line made Sunday a nightmare for Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson. They pass rush in waves and Sunday was no different.

Grade: A+

Linebacker

Kyzir White: 6 tackles

It seemed like the 49ers tried targeting White in the pass game early and found some success. But the linebackers ended up playing fine in the win. Hard to argue with the results.

Grade: A-

Secondary

C.J. Gardner-Johnson: 5 tackles

A few guys in the secondary had missed tackles on that 23-yard Christian McCaffrey run and that wasn’t ideal. But after that, the 49ers couldn’t do anything. They finished with just 83 net passing yards in this game.

Grade: A

Special teams

Jake Elliott: 1/1 on FGs, 4/4 on PATs

Brett Kern had one punt hit the skycam wire and another that looked like a good one roll into the end zone for a touchback. But Jake Elliott was perfect on his one field goal and four PATs. And Britain Covey had three fair catches in tight areas where the Eagles couldn’t afford a muff.

Grade: A-

Coaching

Nick Sirianni, Jonathan Gannon and Shane Steichen out-coached the 49ers on Sunday. In-game management matters and we saw that in this one. The Eagles challenged the right call on the Purdy fumble and Kyle Shanahan kept the red flag in his pocket when he should have challenged the Smith catch. The Eagles were clearly the more disciplined team in this game too. Credit to the coaching staff; they had them ready for this one.

Grade: A+

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/nfc-title-game-eagles-grades-position-after-beating-49ers

[Cochis_Calhoun]

It's funny that this story mocks the 49er's for trying to block Reddick with a Tight End, when the Eagles dumbest play of the entire game involved Jack Stoll take evasive action to run around Joey Bosa in our backfield when the only thing behind Stoll was 2 yards of grass and Jalen Hurts.