Eagles Lose Heartbreaker Wild Card Shootout To 49ers, Eliminated From Playoffs
Drew Hallowell / Philadelphia Eagles
Heartbreak at the Linc, as the defending champions go down in the first round.
The 2025 Philadelphia Eagles will go down as one of the biggest disappointments in the franchise’s history. Coming off a dominant Super Bowl win just one year ago, the Eagles reloaded and went into the year looking to repeat as champions. Unfortunately, this year’s team not only didn’t have the want or the juice to win, but all season long, they failed to play complete and sound football, and because of that, it cost them in the end.
Whether it was a struggling offense or poor game mismanagement, they did it all, but somehow, the Eagles found themselves winning the NFC East for a second year in a row and back in the playoffs. In the first round, they got matched up with the San Francisco 49ers, a team that, through injuries, has battled to get into the playoffs.
Despite being the favorites in the game, the Eagles couldn’t get anything going all afternoon and allowed the 49ers to stay in the game. As the game went on, the Eagles’ offense failed to once again score a second-half touchdown, which led to the 49ers scoring a late touchdown of their own to go ahead and hang on to win 23-19.
With the fans rocking at the Linc, Eagles kicker Jake Elliott kicked things off to the 49ers. Unfortunately for Eagles fans, Brock Purdy and the 49ers offense got going quickly, with Purdy hitting Demarcus Robinson over the middle for a 61-yard catch and run. A few plays later on 2nd and Goal, Purdy hooked up with Robisnon again, this time for a touchdown.
The Eagles took the first punch to the face, but fired one right back minutes later. Thanks to a 29-yard run from Saquon Barkley and a few small gains from passes from Jalen Hurts, the Eagles found themselves down at the 49ers’ one-yard line. On 3rd and Goal, Hurts handed the ball off to Dallas Goedert of all people, and he walked in for a touchdown. Unfortunately for the Eagles, Elliott missed the extra point, making it 7-6 49ers.
The Eagles’ defense finally showed up after the early touchdown, forcing back-to-back punts. One of the punts, down the Eagles at their own six-yard line, but fortunately for the Birds, that didn’t matter. Runs from Barkley and short gains from A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith got them across midfield, and a 20-yard screen pass to Barkley and 20 yards on the ground from Tank Bigsby brought them back inside the 49ers’ 10.
However, 4th down came up, and the Eagles elected to go. On the play, Hurts rolled out right and found Goedert open for his second touchdown of the game, capping off a 16-play, 94-yard, nine-minute drive to take a 13-7 lead.
The 49ers would score again before the half, using another deep completion, a 45-yard catch and run from Jauan Jennings, but a negative run from Christian McCaffrey forced a 36-yard field goal from Eddie Pineiro. Both teams failed to add on before the half as the Eagles went into the break up 13-10.
Out of the break, the Eagles did what they do best in the second half: go three and out and punt. Thankfully for the offense, the Eagles’ defense was finally going with newly crowned All-Pro cornerback Quinyon Mitchell stepping in front of Skyy Moore for his first interception of the year.
Despite the sudden change, the Eagles’ offense once again went three and out and punted. The 49ers answered with a punt of their own that was so bad, it led to the Eagles only needing two first downs to settle for a 41-yard field goal, extending their lead to six.
Back with the ball, the 49ers offense started humming with a 27-yard catch from Kyle Juszczyk and a few plays later, a double reverse with Jennings throwing a 29-yard rainbow pass into the hands of McCaffrey for a go-ahead touchdown. Following the score change, the Eagles once again went three and out, but the Eagles’ defense showed up once again, with Mitchell grabbing his second interception of the game.
Following the pick, the Eagles rode the Barkley train back into San Fran’s territory, but after he checked out, the offense stalled out, forcing them to kick a 33-yard field goal to retake the lead. Up two points, the defense needed another stop, but did the exact opposite.
The 49ers’ offense marched down the field, with Purdy and McCaffrey picking up multiple first downs and bleeding minutes off the clock. With under three minutes and in a goal-to-go situation, Purdy dropped back and found McCaffrey open in the middle of the endzone for a wide-open touchdown to go up 23-19.
With just over two minutes left, the Eagles needed a game-winning touchdown drive. Small gains brought up an early fourth down, but Hurts locked in and found Goedert open for a 15-yard catch. Two completions to Smith moved them into the redzone, but a sack and two straight incompletions brought up another fourth down.
After calling a timeout, Hurts dropped back and fired into triple coverage, but Goedert was unable to come down with it, forcing a turnover on downs. The 49ers then kneelt out the clock, with San Francisco hanging onto the 23-19 win, to advance to the Divisional round.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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