3 Takeaways from Eagles' Week 13 Loss vs. 49ers
The Philadelphia Eagles delivered their worst performance in the biggest game to date in the 2023 NFL season.
The Eagles were embarrassed at home by the San Francisco 49ers in a 42-19 defeat that will sting for the rest of the season.
Philadelphia's defense was carved apart by Brock Purdy, Deebo Samuel and Co. and that led to touchdown concessions on six consecutive drives.
Jalen Hurts and the offense looked decent in the first quarter, but the inability to score touchdowns on the first two drives kept a window open for the 49ers to take control.
The passing offense looked fine, as Hurts connected with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith on 17 occasions, but the rushing attack was non-existent and it extended the run without a 100-yard rusher to nine games.
Defense Was Carved Up by Brock Purdy
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Purdy knew exactly which part of the Eagles defense he needed to exploit on Sunday.
The 49ers quarterback torched the middle of the field through Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle.
The Eagles entered Sunday with three healthy linebackers, all of whom were cut at some stage of the season.
The injuries to Zach Cunningham and Nakobe Dean left the Eagles barren in the middle, and that is where a majority of San Francisco's big plays took place.
San Francisco started to exploit that weakness on its third drive and it did not punt on any series after its first trip to the end zone.
Philadelphia needs to fix its linebacker depth to avoid another torching from the Dallas Cowboys in Week 14. That game carries more meaning after Sunday's loss since the Eagles are now just one game ahead of the 49ers in the race for home-field advantage in the NFC.
Lack of First Quarter Touchdowns Hurt Eagles
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The Eagles looked like they were going to have an easy day on offense after A.J. Brown's 38-yard catch on the third play of the game.
The home side marched into the red zone on eight plays, but then its progress was stunted by the San Francisco defense.
The lack of progress into the end zone could have been excused if the Eagles settled for a field goal once in the opening 15 minutes.
But the Eagles replicated their first drive with another 12-play series that stalled out in front of the end zone.
Philadelphia could have held a 14-0 advantage after two series, and that would have impacted how the game played out.
Instead, they allowed the 49ers to hang around, and after the Eagles' first punt on their third series, things got much worse for Nick Sirianni's team.
D'Andre Swift, Rushing Attack, Was Nonexistent
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The Eagles ran the ball 18 times for 46 yards on Sunday.
Nine of those carries and 26 yards came from Hurts and Marcus Mariota, who played part of one series while Hurts was being evaluated in concussion protocol.
Philadelphia did not need the rushing attack in certain parts of the game because the Hurts to Brown and Smith connection worked so well, but there was no overall balance in the offense.
Part of that can be attributed to San Francisco's effectiveness on the interior. The Eagles might not have gotten a ton of yards against Nick Bosa and Co., but the lack of a rushing attack extended a concerning trend.
Philadelphia has not had a 100-yard rusher since the Week 3 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and its leading ball carrier has been under 60 yards in five of the nine games since then.
The Eagles do not need to have a 100-yard rusher every week because of their dynamic passing game, but they at least need more support from Swift and Co. to be a more balanced offense in December and January.
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