Why the Eagles are a Tough Matchup for the 49ers

The 49ers certainly could win this time, but there are a couple big reasons the Eagles won in January.

Grant Cohn | Nov 24, 2023

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San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers and Eagles will have an NFC Championship rematch this weekend in Philadelphia. And the 49ers certainly could win this time, but there are a couple big reasons the Eagles won in January.

First, their defensive line. Remember, it knocked out not only Brock Purdy, but Josh Johnson. And that's because the Eagles defensive line generated pressure on more than 50 percent of the 49ers' drop backs in that game and completely exposed the 49ers offensive line as the sub-par unit it is. So if they didn't get to Purdy on the first drive of the game, which they did, odds are they would have gotten to him later in the game.

The Eagles defensive line was dominant in that game, the 49ers signed Javon Hargrave away from the Eagles this offseason. Unfortunately for the 49ers, the Eagles replaced him with rookie Jalen Carter, who's even better than Hargrave. Which means the 49ers offensive line has an even tougher task this time around and will have to perform much better than last time around.

Second, the Eagles run game. Remember, they rushed for 148 yards and 4 touchdowns against the 49ers in the NFC Championship. And that was with Miles Sanders as their starting running back. Now they have D'Andre Swift, who's much better than Sanders. And the Eagles still have the best offensive line in the NFL.

Can the 49ers stop Philly's rushing attack? Run defense was an issue earlier this season for the 49ers. And although they've shut down the run the past few weeks, they faced Travis Etienne, Rachaad White and Zach Charbonnet. The Eagles run game will present much bigger challenges.

Published Nov 24, 2023

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.