January 11, 2026
Colleen Claggett/for PhillyVoice
Tank Bigsby #37 of the Philadelphia Eagles reacts after carrying the ball during a NFL wild card playoff football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on January 11, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Eagles played with fire all season, relying on their defense to overcome their offensive warts en route to an 11-win season and the No. 3 seed in the postseason.
But in the first round, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni's belief in running the ball, winning the turnover margin and generating more explosive plasy than the opponent, failed him.
The Eagles created two turnovers Sunday at the Linc without turning the ball over, but didn't run the ball impactfully and lost the explosive play battle to a 49ers team that was missing its top wide receiver and watched its All-Pro tight end get carted off the field with an Achilles injury.
The defending Super Bowl champs blew two fourth-quarter leads and lost, 23-19, bowing out in the NFC Wild Card round to the sixth seed, ending a season that started with hope of becoming back-to-back champs.
The Eagles led 16-10 in the fourth before the Niners pulled out their own version of the "Philly Special," with receiver Jauan Johnson taking a handoff and firing a 29-yard pass to Christian McCaffrey for a touchdown. The Eagles went ahead on a field goal after Quinyon Mitchell's second interception of the game, but the Niners marched 66 yards and punched in another McCaffrey touchdown on a strike from Brock Purdy.
The Eagles had their chance in the final minutes, moving deep into Niners territory, but Jalen Hurts' fourth-down pass to Dallas Goedert tried to find its way through three defenders but didn't and fell to the grass to end Philadelphia's chance to win and to defend its Super Bowl title.
On with the observations:
• You knew it didn't go look for Lane Johnson when he didn't even have a full practice during the week. Then rookie OT Cam Williams went from just wearing some uniform pants to full uniform during warmups, a clear sign Johnson wasn't going to make it. Fred Johnson (no relation) once again started. At this point, it's fair to wonder if Lane Johnson will play at all this postseason.
• So you basically got the same Eagles offense you saw all year – a struggling run game with one explosive, a few shot plays on a long drive, and a poor third-down rate for a group with so much firepower. After a 29-yard Saquon Barkley run on the Eagles' first possession that set up a touchdown, explosive runs were non-existent. The Eagles tried a nifty formation in the third quarter with all three wideouts to the left side with Barkley making a sharp cut to the right, but it still led to Barkley losing two yards. The Eagles had five negative or zero-gain runs after Barkley's 29-yarder, including a 0-yarder after Mitchell's fourth-quarter interception that put the Eagles behind the sticks deep in Niners territory and led to just a field goal.
• You can't kill Kevin Patullo for being too conservative. Hurts took several shots against an average-at-best Niners secondary, especially to A.J. Brown, but they just had trouble connecting. The two just barely missed on a deep post before halftime from under center on play action; Hurts made a really good throw and Brown almost had it, but they just couldn't connect. Hurts tried again down the right side against a 3rd-and-long blitz but Brown got tangled up with Renardo Green and didn't make a good attempt on a still-catchable ball, then appeared to get agitated with Nick Sirianni.
• The Birds continued to be creative usage of tight end Dallas Goedert, who picked up his second career rushing attempt om his 1-yard touchdown. The Eagles have found unique ways to get him in the end zone when in the red zone in what is likely his final season with the team, and at times, it seems like the only consistent threat in their offense.
• This was not the best time for the Eagles to have a sporadic pass rush, give up big plays, and get burned by a trick play. Fangio's front-four rush didn't get home nearly enough and the defense somehow let fullback Kyle Juczszyk catch a season-high four catches for 49 yards despite the Niners losing George Kittle earlier in the game, reducing Shanahan to just one main weapon. Demarcus Robinson coming up with 111 yards can't happen in a playoff game. These guys didn't always win on their own, they were schemed open.
• Shanahan showed some real guts late in the fourth as the Niners, down by two with time winding down, got deep into Eagles territory. Some might have played conservatively and went for the go-ahead field goal, but Shanahan let Brock Purdy let it loose despite Purdy's two picks in the game, including on the prior drive. Purdy hit Juczszyk for 6 on second down and then let it rip for McCaffrey on a 4-yard touchdown pass for the lead.
• Meanwhile, Sirianni clearly lost faith in his defense. On the ensuing possession, facing 4th-and-5 from the Eagles' 40-yard line with three timeouts and 2:21 left to play, he kept his offense on the field and got the 15-yard conversion from Hurts to Goedert. But the message was sent that Sirianni wasn't gonna rely on his defense coming up with a stop.
• Hard to believe given all the firepower the Eagles have on offense, and the lack of ammo on a Niners offense that also watched All Pro tight end Kittle carted off the field, but the Niners were the more explosive offense. They averaged 6.2 yards per play to the Eagles' 4.3 and had the four longest plays of the game.
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