“Skyy Bang Reverse Pass? Don’t mind if I do.” Jauan Jennings, probably.
The San Francisco 49ers came into Philadelphia with a banged-up defense, which might the biggest understatement of all time. The second quarter gave them yet another devastating injury, when tight end George Kittle exited the game with a torn Achilles. Quarterback Brock Purdy threw two interceptions, while the Eagles had zero turnovers.
None of this sounds like the recipe for a Wild Card win on the road, but a little trickery goes a long way, and the 49ers left Philly with 23-19 victory and a trip to Seattle in the Divisional Round.
“I kind of felt it in OTAs,” said 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. “I remember saying it after week one. I thought we had a special group of guys, and I wasn’t sure exactly how good we would be, but I knew what we had a chance to be with these guys, and they battled throughout the whole year. We’ve overcome a lot of stuff and to be able to come down here and get a win in our first playoff game, all the credit to those guys.”
As the windy – like things flying all over the field that weren’t eagles windy – fourth quarter began, with the 49ers down 16-10, WR Jauan Jennings found running back Christian McCaffrey for a 29-yard touchdown. Jennings also delivered a touchdown to McCaffrey on the same play in the Super Bowl, but it was called Deebo Bang Reverse Pass then – no explanation needed on the name change, but let’s dive deeper into Sunday’s version of the play.
“We were trying to set it up a little bit,” said 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. “We got a jet sweep to [WR] Skyy [Moore] earlier in the game and had to be in right hash for the play because Jauan is not left-handed. We were just hoping to get it around there. [49ers OC] Klay [Kubiak] had suggested it. It’s a hell of a suggestion and Jauan threw a perfect ball, which made me a little scared. I thought he should just throw a bad ball and put it on him. I thought it was a hell of a catch by Christian. I didn’t see it but knowing that he got roughed up and stuff just shows what a G that Jauan was, a high school quarterback.”
Yes, the dual-threat high school QB drew a roughing the passer call.
“That was a blur,” McCaffrey, who quipped it felt like the ball was in the air for 15 seconds, said. “Normally you don’t think about anything during a play, but I felt like I had a lot of time. Not easy for sure, with the wind, but Jauan made a great throw. Glad he threw it.”
It is no secret that George Kittle is one of the lifelines of the 49ers, both with his play and his leadership. Losing him early in the game could have been the straw to break the proverbial camel’s back, but instead San Francisco did what they’ve done all year, they let it fuel them.
“This team has carried the character of George Kittle throughout the entire year,” McCaffrey said. “He’s the heart and soul of this team. That’s a tough loss. When he’s not playing, it means a lot…When you lose a leader like that, you never really lose him because his presence is still in this locker room. His energy is still here.”
McCaffrey went on to say that upon arriving in the locker room after the win, Kittle was there celebrating and happy for his team.
As has been well-documented, the 49ers have been playing without LB Fred Warner and pass rusher Nick Bosa for most of the season. Last week, they lost Warner’s replacement Tatum Bethune to a season-ending groin injury. Sunday, they were without linebackers Dee Winters and Luke Gifford, forcing Eric Kendricks and Garret Wallow to be the 49ers’ starting linebackers. Fun Fact: six weeks ago, neither player was on San Francisco’s roster.
But it was Kendricks who sealed the win, because obviously. The 49ers season has been going offscript since Week 1, so why change things up now?
With 43 seconds left in the fourth, Kendricks broke up Jalen Hurts’ last-ditch effort 4th-and-11 at the San Francisco 21-yard line and the defending champs were eliminated.
“I wish I picked it off, I usually do that,” Kendricks said after the game. “But I was happy I was able to make the play.”
All in all, Kendricks and Wallow had 21 combined tackles and San Francisco exposed, and capitalized on, what had been an anemic Eagles offense all season long.
“I’m proud of the guys, how hard they battled,” Shanahan said. “I was just kind of saying in [locker room after the game], having two linebackers who weren’t on our team a month ago, and those guys playing that whole game and playing at a high level was so impressive…We thought it would be a grimy game; that’s how we say it. It was. Our defense allowed it to be that way.”
Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh has been nothing short of magic for San Francisco. Players make plays, but good coaches, really good coaches, put them in the position to do so, no matter who is on the field.
“He was unbelievable today,” Shanahan said. “Just the plan that he put together, keeping it somewhat simple but still challenging – having new guys in there, you have to somewhat keep it simple. But anytime you have a quarterback with a running element, all the RPOs they do, the wideouts that they have on the outside, the talent of their running back, their tight end, it was a huge challenge, and they did a hell of a job all day with it.”
And then there was the infallible Brock Purdy of it all. Purdy’s reputation is that of an even-keeled quarterback that can bounce back from pretty much any adversity, and he showed it to be true on Sunday.
“That last drive, some of the plays [49ers FB Kyle Juszczyk] made on it, I thought were so big. Brock had a couple of mistakes, obviously with his two picks and stuff, but to come back on that last drive, get us in the end zone, and lead us all the way down there and get to a third guy in his progression on the touchdown. Real proud of the guys.”
Coming off throwing his second interception, one that led to an Eagles go-ahead field goal, Purdy proceeded to go 5-of-7 for 42 yards on the 49ers final offensive drive, capping it with a four-yard touchdown pass to McCaffrey.
“Obviously, he’s my last guy in the progression,” Purdy said. “But, if we had a certain look where he was one-on-one, if he ended the play then it was going to be there if I got to him. So, I just checked out the front side of the play and didn’t feel anything. So, I just stepped up and knew Christian should be right where he was and he was. So, it was just perfectly drawn to play and then executed greatly by Christian.”
The 49ers started the game on offense, and on their second play, WR Demarcus Robinson made a 61-yard catch and ended up in the end zone two plays later. Robinson, who was not much of a factor in the 49ers’ offense during the regular season, finished the day with six receptions for 111 yards.
“That was huge,” Shanahan said. “That play at the beginning of the game was big-time to finish it with the touchdown.”
So, with that, the 49ers earned themselves a re-match with the Seattle Seahawks in the Divisional Round on Saturday at Lumen Field, the place they started the season with the win, the team to whom they ended the regular season with a loss.
Pounding the podium at the end of his press conference, Jennings said, “Can’t wait! Can’t wait! Can’t wait!”