Eagles Headed to Super Bowl LVII, Win Second NFC Championship in Five Years

The Philadelphia Eagles handily downed the San Francisco 49ers to punch their ticket to Super Bowl LVII!

It was a tale of two halves for the Eagles during their quest for the NFC title. During the first half, after an impressive first drive, the 49ers defense routinely held the Eagles to poor field position and forced several bad punts. It took an incredible showing by the defense, which forced two fumbles in the first half, to keep the game as close as it was with bad field position for most of the first half. Towards the end of the first half, the Eagles began to capitalize on costly mistakes by the 49ers, and once the second half started, they never looked back.

Eagles Quarterback Jalen Hurts, who led the Eagles fans in a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly” at the trophy presentation following the game, was quick to share the spotlight with his teammates.

“We put in a lot of work for this opportunity,” he remarked, “and that’s a moment we want to enjoy as a team.”

During the first half, Jalen Hurts went 13-19 on pass attempts for 97 yards passing. In the second half, he went 2 for 6 in passing attempts. The Eagles made the adjustment to run the football more during the second half, despite the fact that the 49ers had the best run defense in the league. It paid off, as the Eagles utilized Kenneth Gainwell, who in the first half had three touches for 21 yards. He became the Eagles’ leading rusher in the second half, ultimately getting 14 carries for 48 yards. The consistency, combined with plenty of mistakes by San Francisco, kept the 49ers out of the game.

“They didn’t really give us many opportunities to take shots down the field,” Hurts observed. “It was kind of hit or miss, so we took what they gave us, and it kind of ended up being one of those games.”

Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni was quick to praise the defensive performance and the leadership of Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon.

“This defense just keeps coming to work every single day,” he said after the game. “This is the most physical defense in the league.”

Now, the Eagles head back to the Super Bowl, their fourth in franchise history, and their third in the last 20 years.

“We’ve got to do this more often,” joked Eagles Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie as he accepted the George Halas trophy, the trophy presented to the NFC champion named for the former Chicago Bears owner.

“Obviously, this is something you dream about as a kid,” Sirianni said, “and all these guys have dreamed about it too. To be able to do this together with a bunch of men who love each other, that are connected to each other, that would do anything for each other, it’s very sweet.”

The 49ers were not without their own problems. On their first drive of the game, Haason Reddick forced a fumble by Brock Purdy, which was recovered by Linval Joseph. Purdy’s throwing arm was injured on the play, forcing their third string quarterback Josh Johnson into the game. Johnson was gifted great field position for most of his drives but could only get seven points out of it, off of a 46 yard drive in the second quarter that culminated in a 23 yard run by Christian McCaffrey for the touchdown.

In the first drive of the second half, Johnson was forced to leave the game after his head hit the ground during a concussion protocol. Purdy came back in the game for most of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter, but the passing game, especially the deep ball, was effectively eliminated and allowed the Eagles to stop the run. Ultimately, in the fourth quarter, Christian McCaffrey had to take over as a wildcat quarterback, but by then it was too little, too late.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Brock [Purdy] that he came back in and fought,” Sirianni said after the game, “because he obviously was hurting. And that’s what all my former teammates at Iowa State said about him, that he’ll fight.”

Fans were quick to celebrate following the game. In scenes that were reminiscent of five years ago, Broad Street was filled with fans, including some climbing poles, and generally celebrating the return to the Super Bowl. Hurts took a moment to praise the fans after the game, reiterating that this was for them.

“This is a special city,” he said. “They deserve everything that’s going on. And we’ve got one more.”

Featured photo: Nick Sirianni gets a Gatorade bath thanks to Fletcher Cox and other players.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misspelled Haason Reddick’s name.