National Football League

Embarrassing loss to 49ers leaves Eagles exposed in wide-open NFC race

Published Dec. 3, 2023 9:40 p.m. ET

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Ralph Vacchiano

NFC East Reporter

The Philadelphia Eagles spent so much of this season looking like a powerhouse — the kind of team that could beat any opponent any time, anyway they wanted. They looked for a while like they might be unstoppable.

They don't look that way anymore.

Little by little, over the last month, their flaws have been exposed, and it all came crashing down on them on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. They were embarrassed by the San Francisco 49ers 42-19 in yet another game where their once-proud defense was ripped to shreds. They couldn't tackle. They couldn't cover. They couldn't run the ball on offense. They even lost some of their usual cool.

Now, all of a sudden, the NFC race the Eagles were once dominating looks wide open to a handful of teams. And if they don't beat the Cowboys (9-3) next Sunday in Dallas, the Eagles (10-2) will even be looking up (at least temporarily) in the NFC East.

That has to be alarming, since just a few weeks ago they looked like they were on the fast track to their second straight Super Bowl. 

Now it looks like maybe all that hype was a little premature.

"We didn't coach good enough. We didn't play good enough. It's as simple as that," Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. "You don't come out and play your best game against the guys that they have, it's going to look like that."

That's true. And to be fair, this is the first time the Eagles have really been blown out since Sirianni's first season — two long years ago. Also, while they've looked very beatable over the past month, this was still only their second loss of the season. They came into this NFC Championship rematch having won five straight games.

But this huge loss to the 49ers (9-3) also can't just be dismissed as a one-off, because Philly has been flirting with disaster for a while — weeks now. Back on Oct. 29 they came really close to losing to a Washington Commanders team that has lost nine of its last 11 games. They came literally within inches of losing to the Cowboys the next weekend. Then when they came out of the bye, they had to climb out of 17-7 halftime holes to beat both the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills. 

And don't forget, they needed the officials to miss a horse-collar tackle on Josh Allen to seal the Bills game, and for Marques Valdes Scantling to drop a touchdown pass that was right in his hands in order to beat the Chiefs.

Of course, games between good teams are supposed to be close, so a stretch like that against some strong NFL competition and division opponents isn't what should worry them. What should really terrify them is the play of their defense during that stretch. In the first seven games of the season, the Eagles defense was giving up just 290.2 yards per game. After giving up 456 to the 49ers on Sunday, they've averaged 435 yards against over the last five games.

Against San Francisco, the defense imploded — at least after they stopped the 49ers on three-and-outs on the first two drives. The 49ers scored a touchdown on each of their next drives, right up until they took a knee to end the game. Quarterback Brock Purdy torched the Eagles secondary for 314 yards and four touchdowns. Christian McCaffrey tortured the Eagles defensive line, rushing 17 times for 93 yards.

Deebo Samuel and Brock Purdy discuss 42-19 win over Eagles

And Deebo Samuel just ran through everyone, with 138 total yards and three touchdowns. He scored completely untouched on a 12-yard reverse and again on a screen pass he turned into a 46-yard touchdown. And he scored a 48-yard touchdown that should've been stopped for a short gain, if only Eagles linebacker Nicholas Morrow had held on when he tried to wrap Samuel up.

"We didn't make tackles when we needed to," said Eagles cornerback James Bradberry. "We blew some coverages.  And they got some room on some of those runs when we didn't tackle well."

Sirianni added: "That's a tough team to tackle. A little bit uncharacteristic day on our part as far as the tackling."

If only that were true, nobody would be worried. But these Eagles had all sorts of troubles tackling in recent weeks against players like Buffalo's Allen (nine carries, 81 yards, 1 touchdown), Chiefs running back Isaiah Pacheco (19 carries, 89 yards), and Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb (11 catches, 191 yards). This defense has now given up nearly 1,000 yards (961) in the last two games. They've given up more than 400 yards in four of their last five games.

That's not uncharacteristic. That's a trend.

They have clear problems at safety and linebacker — one reason why they've been pursuing free agent linebacker Shaq Leonard. The tackling in their back seven has been generally poor, especially in open space. And their coverage isn't nearly as good as it was a year ago. Their pass rush has been inconsistent, too.

What was really uncharacteristic in this game was that the Eagles offense struggled. They didn't seem to want to commit to a rushing attack even when the game was close, and they ended up rushing for just 46 yards. They got stuck in the red zone on their first two drives, settling for two field goals when they had a chance to build a really big early lead.

In other words, this game was a mess on both sides of the football.

"We didn't play to the standard," Jalen Hurts said. "And we lost."

They did. They lost a game. They lost part of their lead in the conference and division. And they lost a bit of their cloak of invincibility. They are still leading the NFC. They're still a Super Bowl contender at 10-2. And there's still, as Sirianni pointed out, a lot of football left to be played. But the door is now open for the 49ers, the Cowboys, and maybe even the Detroit Lions (9-3).

Surely they all sense that the road to the Super Bowl is a little wider than everyone thought it was. The door is now wide open with five games left in the season on a day when Philadelphia could have all but slammed it shut.

They still might. The Eagles are still very good. They might still end up winning the NFC. And in the end, they might still be the best team in football. Maybe when they look back at the end of the season, this game will look like the anomaly they were trying hard on Sunday to believe that it was.

But the truth is, that's far from certain, and the rest of the conference knows it. They no longer look like the kings of the NFC, which they've been for most of the last two seasons.

If they want their crown back, they're going to have to earn it again.

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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Ralph Vacchiano