Haason Reddick delivered the biggest blow, and the rest of the Philadelphia Eagles teamed up to finish off the visiting San Francisco 49ers.
Reddick effectively neutered the 49ers’ offensive game plan with his hit on San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy to set the tone early during an easy 31-7 victory in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday to propel Philadelphia into the Super Bowl.
Reddick had two sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery, but his blow on Purdy’s right arm eight minutes into the contest caused the rookie to miss substantial time and later prevented him from being able to throw downfield passes.
“My arm felt like it stretched out, just felt like really shocks all over from my elbow down to my wrist,” Purdy said. “Just pain all over.”
Purdy will undergo an MRI exam while sixth-year pro Reddick will be preparing for his first Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs on Feb. 12. He had a career-high 16 sacks in the regular season in his first season with the Eagles and has added 3.5 more in his first two career postseason games.
“It means everything to me,” Reddick said of reaching his first Super Bowl. “It took me a long time to get to the playoffs. … This team, the things we’ve been through, the way we played to get to this point, I can’t explain it. It’s been a heck of a journey.”
Miles Sanders rushed for two touchdowns and Jalen Hurts passed for 121 yards and rushed for a touchdown as the top-seeded Eagles advanced to their first Super Bowl in five years and fourth overall. Boston Scott tacked on a rushing score in a game Philadelphia controlled throughout.
“We worked really hard to have this opportunity,” Hurts said of reaching the big game in Glendale, Ariz. “The job ain’t done.”
San Francisco was left without firepower after Purdy — the 262nd and final pick of the 2022 draft — injured his throwing elbow. He re-entered the game out of need in the third quarter after backup Josh Johnson sustained a concussion.
Purdy was 4-of-4 passing for 23 yards but threw just two short passes after returning despite the 49ers facing a large deficit. Johnson completed 7 of 13 passes for 74 yards and Christian McCaffrey rushed for 84 yards and one score.
San Francisco had won 12 straight games — the last seven with Purdy starting — before committing three turnovers and being outgained 269-164.
“Losing feels awful,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “This one (hurts) a lot harder. … I thought we had a chance to knock them off today and we came up short.”
Shanahan was disappointed with how the game played out, primarily the bad fortune of Purdy’s injury.
“He couldn’t throw,” Shanahan said. “He wouldn’t have gone back in if we hadn’t had to. It was that or we were going to have Wildcat.”
The Eagles drove 66 yards on 11 plays on their first drive with Sanders ending it with a 6-yard scoring run.
On the sixth play after San Francisco took over, Reddick slammed into Purdy’s right arm. The ball slipped out of Purdy’s hand and was knocked upfield by his wrist before being recovered by Philadelphia’s Linval Joseph at the Eagles 44-yard line.
Johnson took over on San Francisco’s next possession when Purdy determined he couldn’t throw the ball.
The 49ers tied the game in the second quarter when McCaffrey powered his way to a 23-yard touchdown run.
The Eagles regained the lead when Sanders rumbled through a big hole on a 13-yard run with 1:36 left in the quarter.
On San Francisco’s next possession, Johnson took his eyes off a shotgun snap and dropped the ball, and Reddick recovered at the 49ers 30. Three plays later, Scott scored on a 10-yard run to give Philadelphia a 21-7 advantage 16 seconds before halftime.
Early in the third quarter, Johnson threw an incomplete pass and hit his head on the turf after a hit from Philadelphia’s Ndamukong Suh. He exited the game. Purdy finished the drive with a handoff and then returned for San Francisco’s next offensive drive.
The 49ers went three-and-out and punted the ball back to the Eagles. Philadelphia received help from a 15-yard penalty when San Francisco was flagged for roughing punter Brett Kern while driving 91 yards on 15 plays. Hurts capped it with a 1-yard keeper to make it 28-7 with 43 seconds left in the period.
Jake Elliott added a 31-yard field goal with 5:17 left in the game as the Eagles finished off the win before a raucous atmosphere.
“There’s no place like this in the NFL,” Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni said. “It’s a hard-working city, a blue-collar city, and we tend to think that is the type of team we have.”
–Field Level Media
