Somehow, the San Francisco 49ers found a way to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 23-19 over the weekend, giving them the opportunity to move on to the divisional round of the playoffs.
It’s been quite the year
for the 49ers, whose injury luck got even worse on Sunday as star tight end George Kittle suffered a torn Achilles. Still, they’ve found a way to battle and stack up big wins in a variety of ways.
On Sunday, it was the unsung heroes who played a big role on both sides of the ball, as a different group of players stepped up when it mattered most. Let’s first look at the defensive side of the ball at the most injured position heading into the game: linebacker.
The 49ers were obviously down star linebacker Fred Warner. But Week 18 cost them their No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 linebackers, as Tatum Bethune was ruled out for the rest of the year with a groin injury, while Dee Winters was inactive due to an ankle injury. Moreover, Luke Gifford suffered a quad injury and also missed the Eagles game. The 49ers were hoping one of the latter two could go, but that wasn’t the case.
So, that left the team with recently-signed Eric Kendricks, who joined the team in late November, and Garrett Wallow, who was claimed off waivers from the Denver Broncos in December, as the team’s top linebackers. And, despite the circumstances, they both impressed on Sunday.
Kendricks didn’t miss a beat, recording eight tackles (tied for team high) and five stops while not missing a single tackle. Our own Kyle Posey shared that it’s the first time all season that a linebacker has gone two straight games without missing a tackle, which Kendricks did now in Week 18 and in the wildcard round.
Wallow, on the other hand, also had eight tackles, while recording three stops, and was solid enough in man coverage (23 yards allowed on five targets according to PFF). Both were key in an ugly final play from the Eagles.
Moreover, it seemed like the communication was great, despite both players seeing significant action together for the first time all season.
Elsewhere defensively, Keion White made a number of plays, leading the team with four pressures and a sack. That sack may have been the biggest play of the game, as the Eagles were driving on their final possession and had a 1st & 10 at the 49ers 21-yard line with 1:25 left in the game. Jalen Hurts seemed to have broken the pocket and had green grass ahead of him to set up a goal-to-go situation, but White collapsed and made a huge tackle.
Of course, Philadelphia would later be stuck in a 4th & 11 from that same spot and could not convert.
Then, there’s rookie safety Marques Sigle, whose role had been vastly diminished in favor of Malik Mustapha and Ji’Ayir Brown at safety over the last few weeks, playing just one total defensive snap since Week 12.
Well, in the biggest game of the season, Sigle, who came in for an injured Brown, had a stellar game. He had six tackles, didn’t miss one, and had a big pass breakup with good speed in the secondary on a potential explosive earlier in the game. Talk about a guy stepping up in a big moment.
C.J. West was also a factor for the 49ers in the run game, especially in the second half. According to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner, the Eagles had 19 carries for 85 yards (4.5 yards per carry) when West wasn’t on the field. That changed to 17 carries for 55 yards (3.2 yards per carry) with West on the field. With both West and fellow rookie defensive tackle Alfred Collins on the field, that number dropped to 38 yards on 13 carries (2.9 yards per carry). Not much will show up on the stat sheet, but they helped stop the run, which completely severed Philadelphia’s offense.
Offensively, there was Demarcus Robinson showing up with easily his biggest game of the year, catching six passes for 111 yards, including two huge ones on the first drive to get an early touchdown for the 49ers. With Ricky Pearsall out and George Kittle going down, the 49ers needed something other than Christian McCaffrey in the passing game. That was Robinson on Sunday, despite the wideout not having more than 45 yards in a game this season.
When you look at both sides of the ball, players are stepping up into bigger roles and making key plays for the 49ers. That’s been the mantra of the season. Now, we’ll see if the team can get healthier heading into the Seattle game and get a different outcome than the Week 18 loss.
