Yikes — 5 observations from 49ers-Eagles a day later

The San Francisco 49ers talked crap since their NFC Championship loss in January and came into Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday and backed it up.

They did not just beat the Eagles they embarrassed them. That was their goal.

The Eagles have played risky football all season, and it caught up with them Sunday in an embarrassing 42-19 loss to the trash-talking, disrespectful, cheap 49ers.

Here are my five observations a day after the loss:

Starting slow, never recovering

The Eagles’ first two drives were great, up until they reached the red zone.

Coming in as the hottest in the red zone, the Eagles drove down to the eight and the 14 on their first two drives and settled for field goals. They had a 6-0 lead, and it obviously was not enough. Through the first quarter, the Eagles had outgained the 49ers 124 to -6, but they only led by six. They dominated early but could not turn that domination into more than a six-point lead.

That was the Eagles’ best opportunity to take command of the game, especially with Brock Purdy and the 49ers being one of the worst teams in the NFL while trailing. But they just could not do it. After that, the momentum swung over to the 49ers like a Bryce Harper swing on a hanging curveball.

The Eagles never recovered.

More offensive play-calling issues

First-year offensive coordinator Brian Johnson seems to have popped up in my observation features every week. Not one of them has been positive.

I am zoning in on one particular player he forgot existed Sunday and what feels like all season, D’Andre Swift.

I do not understand why Swift vanishes in games. He got his fourth carry of the game with a minute left in the first quarter with the Eagles up 6-0 and did not touch the ball again until 3:30 into the third quarter, and by then they were down 21-6.

He only got two more carries for the rest of the game.

Inexcusable. The Eagles will not beat a team like the 49ers, or anyone for that matter, without establishing any kind of running game, and the Eagles just never did it. This has been the past few weeks now.

Samuel backed it up

Deebo Samuel did a lot of the trash-talking through the last 10 months. And he backed it all up.

Samuel is not having the best season, but he had a career day against the Eagles Sunday with 138 yards and touchdowns of 12, 46, and 48 yards. Nobody was close to stopping him.

Linebacker room has problems

The Eagles went into this game with three linebackers that they had already released in Nicholas Morrow, Christian Elliss, and Ben VanSumeren. This shows how sinister their linebacker situation is.

Not that they had much of a choice. Zach Cunningham has played really well this year and should be back for the Cowboys. And of course, with the recent signing of Shaquille Leonard, things seem to be getting better.

Back to Sunday, Morrow has been fine this season, Ellis had an extremely tough task in his first NFL start, and VanSumeren is a special teamer.

Nakobe Dean probably will not be back this season and was not playing well when he got hurt.

Morrow and Cunningham are not signed past this year and Ellis and VanSumeren are undrafted guys who probably will not become full-time starters.

With the Eagles bringing in Leonard, it will help. However, keeping it real as I do, he was not playing exceptional for the Indianapolis Colts and is coming off some back injuries and would probably be a one-year rental anyway.

A position that has been a concern in Philadelphia forever is a concern again. This game put it on full display.

Embarrassing

The Eagles’ defense has been held together with duct tape all year, but they kept finding ways to beat good teams with good quarterbacks when they had to.

All the points and yards allowed and bottom-ten rankings were not concerning because they were a 10-1 team that only knew how to win.

So, do we just shrug it all off? 42 points? At home? In a huge game against a developing rival with tremendous playoff implications? Against a team that has been talking trash since January?

It is embarrassing.

After a couple of three-and-outs to open the game, the 49ers scored touchdowns on six straight drives. The Eagles did not put up a fight. This should not happen. It cannot happen.

But it did. It was not by chance. This defense is bad right now. On Sunday, it was awful.

Also, this is now three straight games the Eagles have trailed by a touchdown or more at halftime. Ten points in Kansas City, 10 points against the Buffalo Bills last week, 15 points Sunday.

Great comebacks in the last two weeks were awesome, but the Eagles cannot keep putting themselves in this position.

The bad starts were going to catch up with them, and they sure did Sunday.

The Eagles have not really even played a complete game this year. The comebacks are great, but they cannot keep winning like that. Nobody can. Especially with the playoffs fastly approaching.

So, the Eagles are 10-2. Are they still the best team in the NFL, like I titled my observations feature a few weeks ago? Is Jalen Hurts still the MVP, like I titled my observations feature last week? Right now, I cannot answer those questions.