Niners defeat defending champs for NFC wild-card win

PHILADELPHIA — Somewhere along the way in an unlikely playoff season marred by injuries to some of their brightest stars, it was going to catch up to the San Francisco 49ers.

Sunday was not that day.

The 49ers, who won 12 games despite playing most of the season without defensive end Nick Bosa (ACL) and linebacker Fred Warner (ankle), among others, had withstood the repeated injuries.

San Francisco had even shrugged off a massive offseason roster reset and used the doubts about its outlook as fuel. That resolve was tested again Sunday, when tight end George Kittle left because of an injured right Achilles that kept him out for most of the game and could cost him all of next season, as well.

Despite that devastating injury to another team leader and captain, the 49ers, as they had so many times this season, continued to battle. Unlikely heroes — such as wideout Demarcus Robinson and a much-maligned defense — emerged once more.

Common sense would indicate the magic is destined to run out at some point. But these Niners will keep playing with house money, betting on themselves even in the toughest of times.

With Sunday’s 23-19 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, the Niners will travel to Seattle for the NFC divisional round next weekend. The deck will again be stacked against them.

But so long as these Niners get to keep playing, it’s unwise to count them out.

San Francisco 49ers

What to make of the QB performance: Absent his top pass catchers, San Francisco needed quarterback Brock Purdy at his best. What the Niners got was a mixed bag that included some key mistakes but a big delivery when it mattered most.

Trailing 19-17 with eight minutes to go, Purdy engineered a drive that ended with him evading pressure and hitting McCaffrey for a 4-yard touchdown to stake the Niners to a 23-19 lead with 2:54 to go.

Earlier, Purdy hit some critical throws to get the Niners moving and made a few plays with his legs, but he also tried to do too much at times.

The latter led to him throwing his first two career postseason interceptions, ending two drives, as Purdy finished 18-of-31 for 262 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

Most surprising performance: Wide receiver Demarcus Robinson. Already without receiver Ricky Pearsall because of knee and ankle injuries, the Niners also played most of Sunday’s game without tight end George Kittle because of a right Achilles injury.

That left San Francisco in desperate need of someone who could produce in the passing game. Enter Robinson, whose season high for receiving yards occurred in Week 6, when he finished with 44.

But Robinson set the tone on the second play of the game with a 61-yard catch and run. He finished with easily his best game as a Niner, posting six catches for 111 yards and a touchdown.

Turning point: In desperate need of a big play, Shanahan dug into his bag of tricks, having receiver Jauan Jennings — a former quarterback — take an end around and throw to running back Christian McCaffrey.

Jennings’ pass initially looked to be overthrown, but McCaffrey adjusted and hauled it in for the score. The extra point made it 17-16 with 14:52 to go, giving the Niners a lead and the offensive momentum they needed to finish strong.

It was the second career postseason touchdown pass from Jennings, who also connected with McCaffrey for a 21-yard score against the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII. Jennings has the past two playoff touchdown passes thrown by a non-quarterback. — Nick Wagoner

Next game: TBD

The defending champs exited in the first round of the playoffs, in large part because of their offensive inconsistency.

It was a major theme of their season. The defense was one of the best in the NFL and kept the Eagles in most games while the offense struggled to find its footing. Second-half funks were frequent, and it happened again Sunday as Philadelphia managed just six points after halftime.

This was a highly winnable game against a San Francisco defense that was hit hard by injury, but it required the Eagles’ offense to elevate its play to match the 49ers’ firepower.

Attention will turn immediately to the future of first-year playcaller Kevin Patullo after the highest-paid offense in the NFL once again fell flat.

QB performance: Jalen Hurts went 20-of-35 for 168 yards and a touchdown. He played turnover-free, which has been a big part of the Eagles’ winning formula during the Nick Sirianni era, and this year in particular, but Hurts and the offense lacked punch for much of the game. A completion to tight end Dallas Goedert on fourth-and-5 late in the game kept hope alive, but the Eagles’ last-ditch effort ended just outside the red zone.

Stat to know: All-Pro cornerback Mitchell has zero career interceptions in 32 regular-season games but has four in the postseason, including a pair off Brock Purdy in the second half Sunday. Mitchell moved into a tie with Brian Dawkins for most Eagles postseason interceptions and trails only Herm Edwards (5) in that category.

Trend to watch: Tight end Dallas Goedert continues to deliver in the red zone. He had a pair of touchdowns, one of which came on a jet sweep to open the scoring for Philadelphia. It was the first postseason rushing touchdown by a tight end in NFL history, per ESPN Research. The impending free agent finished with 13 touchdowns this season, shattering his previous high. — Tim McManus