There is no joy in Mudville. Nor is there enough offense in Philly. The Eagles ended the 2025 season in predictable fashion, playing tough defense, erratic offense and blowing a late lead. The Niners made a couple of more plays than the Eagles and won 23-19.
In a way, this was a good outcome. The Eagles were clearly a flawed team throughout the season. Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman could see some stark differences in their team and the Niners on Sunday evening. One team played together and overcame tough circumstances. The other team got in their own way and looked like a bunch of individuals all trying to do their own thing. I’ll let you guess which team is which.
Kyle Shanahan had answers when his team needed them. The trick play TD was a great call and even better execution. That’s what you want from a coaching staff. SF also had a great call on their final TD. They had plays ready in key situations. The Eagles did not have good answers for most of the second half. They were given some really good situations and failed to take advantage of them. That’s how you lose.
That isn’t to say the loss is all on Kevin Patullo, Nick Sirianni and other coaches. Eagles players failed to make plays. AJ Brown had a bad drop and failed to make key catches on a couple of other situations. Saquon Barkley dropped an easy pass. Jalen Hurts bailed from clean pockets too often. There were too many missed blocks in the second half. Seeing Dallas Goedert get pushed back by Bryce Huff on a run play told you all you needed to know.
The Eagles still have a bright future. There is plenty of talent in place, with much of it being young talent. Losing this game should serve as a wake-up call to Eagles management that some changes need to be made. There will be coaching changes for sure. It also feels like Nick Sirianni’s messaging will need some work. Too often this group felt more like individuals than a team. Maybe that’s the price of winning a Super Bowl and having so many guys pulled in different directions. Whatever happened, it needs to be fixed.
The team itself could tell something was up. They talked about the need to have more joy. Things felt forced and awkward this season.
Whether they won or lost this season, the Eagles were boring TV.
2024 was a magical season. 2025 was anything but. There were some great moments to be sure, but it was like an engine that kept grinding to a halt. You couldn’t get it started and keep it running. There was no flow. There sure as heck wasn’t any magic.
If the Eagles had made it another game or two, they might have talked themselves into things being better than they are. By losing at home in the opening round in a favorable matchup, there is no escaping the hard truth. Changes are needed.
This team was good enough to compete with anyone. They were also flawed enough to lose to just about anyone.
Now the Eagles can focus on getting rested and healthy for 2026. Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens were a mess all year long. Lane Johnson had his health issues. Jalen Carter was banged up for part of the year. If the Eagles can get back to having their key guys healthy, that will make a huge difference next season. One thing is for sure. They must improve their OL depth moving forward. This season’s moves didn’t pan out as hoped. They will need to be more aggressive this offseason. This team is built around the OL and that hurt them all season long.
I didn’t want to be writing about 2026 tonight, but here we are. Let’s hope the team learned some key lessons this season that will serve them well moving forward.
A weird regular season is in the books and we get to see the Eagles back in the postseason. They host the Niners this afternoon in an intriguing game. SF finished the season on a roll, winning 6 of 7 games. The Eagles won 3 of their last 4, only losing the finale when a lot of key players sat out the game. And we know these teams don’t really care for each other. Sounds like the makings of a good playoff game.
The Eagles overwhelmed SF back in the 2022 NFC title game, knocking out two QBs. That was one fun day. The Niners got some measure of revenge in 2023 when they came to Philly and dominated, winning 42-19. That was not a fun day. The teams managed to avoid each other last year.
When you think about the postseason, you think defense. This is an advantage for the Eagles. They have been the best defense in football since about midseason. They can rush. They can cover. They play the run well. This is a complete unit. And a healthy one. The Niners offense has also been on a roll in that same time frame. Can the Eagles handle a red hot offense?
Per NFL’s NextGen Stats, #49ers Brock Purdy completed 72.6% of passes on in-breaking routes (6th best) and threw in-breaking routes and 2nd highest rate (39.8%) to Mac Jones. Eagles allowed 51.9% completion % on in-breaking routes, the lowest mark in 10 seasons of NGS data
Kyle Shanahan has gone up against Vic Fangio’s defense only four times. The last time was 2018. Shanahan’s offenses scored 11, 6, 15 & 9 points. His QBs were John Beck, Robert Griffin, Jimmy Garoppolo and Nick Mullens. Shanahan tried to hire Fangio in 2017, but Bears blocked it.
Those are encouraging numbers for the Eagles, but this will be Brock Purdy and Christian McCafferey and that makes a difference. We’ve seen Vic Fangio’s unit shut down elite offenses so we know it can certainly happen. Just don’t count on limiting SF to 13 points or some other low total. This will be a challenge.
The real key will be, as we saw in 2022, winning the LOS. It sounds like LT Trent Williams will play, but he won’t be 100 percent. Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith need to win some of those battles. Jalen Carter will have an advantage over Dominick Puni. Jaelan Phillips should be able to get pressure off his side. The Eagles DL should be the superior group in the matchup. They must win and make some plays.
Purdy has been using his mobility more than ever this season so he won’t be a statue in the backfield. He’s shown the ability to move around and even create some plays. You don’t need to spy him, but rushers do need to stay under control and stay aware.
McCafferey will be an interesting challenge. He is a good runner, but is really special as a receiver. We’ve seen some RBs burn the Eagles in the pass game this season. Fangio will make McCafferey a focus of his defense so that will be different than the previous games where the RB was part of the offense than the key guy. Eagles safeties and LBs will need to cover well and tackle well. You don’t want CMC loose in space and turning short/medium gains into big plays. Zack Baun wasn’t voted All Pro this past week. He can show the voters they made a dumb mistake with a strong performance against a great player.
Fangio can’t sell out to stop McCafferey because TE George Kittle is another dangerous weapon over the middle of the field. He can catch the ball short and downfield. He’s also outstanding after the catch. SF loves RAC yards from all of their weapons. The Eagles defense must tackle well. Don’t let this group get loose in space.
The other side of the ball is more of a mystery for both teams. The Niners have an injury-depleted defense. They finished the season with 20 sacks. 20! That’s nuts. Over the last month they allowed 25 points and 121 rushing yards per game. Their overall numbers aren’t terrible, but many of the guys from early on are gone.
We’ve discussed the Eagles offense all year long, waiting for it to finally get going. Never really did. This is the postseason and that will mean everything is on the table. Expect Jalen Hurts to use his legs more often. You aren’t protecting yourself for tomorrow. You’re focused on winning today.
The game will be cold and windy so that could lead to additional focus on the run game. Saquon Barkley ran the ball better down the stretch. We’ll see how the coaches want to run the ball. That could be more under center stuff, heavier packages or more Cam Latu as a FB/lead blocker. The coaches have options. The real key will be the play of the OL. That group has struggled this season. Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens got last week off so that extra rest should help them.
What about Lane Johnson? He did practice this week and looked good to go. Then came word that he aggravated the injury. It sounds like he is going to try to play. We’ll have to see how effective he is. If Lane is able to go and play reasonably well, that’s a huge upgrade for the offense and would make the run game all the more effective.
The OL should be able to give Jalen Hurts time to throw. It is then up to him and the receivers to make plays. That can be tough on a windy day. Hurts likes to throw downfield. Wind doesn’t work well with that. AJ Brown has a size advantage over Niners DBs so he should be able to catch slants and some other shorter stuff. This could also be a good day for Dallas Goedert.
I don’t fully trust the Eagles offense, but they won’t be facing Fred Warner, Nick Bosa and the other Niner defensive stars. Eric Kendricks and Bryce Huff will be in their place today. If you can’t beat those guys, you don’t deserve to win in January. This is a game the Eagles should win. Nothing is guaranteed of course. You never know when an unknown guy or over-the-hill vet will have a great game. That’s the beauty of football. Reality doesn’t always reflect what you see on paper. It is up to the Eagles to go win the game.
We got a pair of great games yesterday. Hopefully Nick Sirianni paid attention to what happened.
If there’s a lesson learned from the first two playoff games, don’t take your foot off the gas. The Panthers went into a soft shell defense they hadn’t played all day on the Rams’ final drive, and the Packers’ offense went conservative after building a 21-3 lead.
Saturday was a reminder that football games are 60 minutes. You can be up or down. Do not celebrate if up. Do not panic if down. Just keep playing for the full 60 minutes.