The Eagles had two red zone trips in the first half, settling for field goals, while the 49ers converted two red zone trips into touchdowns as they jumped out to a 14-6 lead at Lincoln Financial Field.
In a 2023 NFC Championship Game rematch, Philadelphia dominated the first quarter, while San Francisco regrouped and dominated the second quarter as the Eagles could not maintain any offensive continuity.
With the second half underway, here are takeaways and observations from an ugly first half.
A.J. Brown strikes first
AJ Brown gets 38 yards on 3rd and 9
📺: #SFvsPHI on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/xvCjbLUIcN pic.twitter.com/AqWf2ZBCNv— NFL (@NFL) December 3, 2023
Quez Watkins is back
Quez Watkins recorded his first catch since Oct. 8, before his stint on injured reserve.
Charvarius Ward vs. A.J. Brown
After Brown exploded for a 38 yard catch and run, Ward won the most important battle on the first drive.
Charvarius Ward locking it down early
📺: #SFvsPHI on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/xvCjbLUIcN pic.twitter.com/TKxstjw1IZ— NFL (@NFL) December 3, 2023
Ward had four tackles and two passes defended in the first half.
Purdy's seen a ghost
Haason Reddick has four sacks in the last five games. An intentional grounding last week kept it from being five.
— Brooks Kubena (@BKubena) December 3, 2023
Another Brock Purdy game sees Haason Reddick log a sack on the first drive.
Reddick is up to 9 1/2 sacks on the season, and the matchup we talked about came to fruition as the pass rusher beat Colton McKivitz on the play.
Checkin' into the backfield 😤 @Haason7Reddick pic.twitter.com/IGa36q6cwX
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 3, 2023
Reddick had 2 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 QB hit and 1 sack in the first half.
Eagles defense
San Francisco went almost the entire first and second quarter before they secure an initial first down conversion.
The 49ers had -6 total yards in the first quarter at Lincoln Financial Field.
A dominant first quarter from the @Eagles defense 😮 #SFvsPHI pic.twitter.com/1BNmqKWi3Q
— NFL (@NFL) December 3, 2023
The Niners had 11 first downs, 167 total yards, and went 2-2 in the red zone while the holding the football three minutes less than Philadelphia.
Sydney Brown playing STAR position
The rookie isn’t big enough to play linebacker, but when DC Sean Desai wanted another defensive back close to the line of scrimmage, he inserted Sydney Brown.
Kittle rumbling into the red zone 😤
📺: #SFvsPHI on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/xvCjbLUIcN pic.twitter.com/1b20lhCERm— NFL (@NFL) December 3, 2023
Brown’s inexperienced cost the Eagles on this long George Kittle reception.
Jalen Hurts
Hurts was 13 of 22 passing, for 143 yards, and the All-Pro was guilty of holding on to the football for too long.
Jalen Hurts is 10 for 15 with 116 passing yards so far. Eagles had been 10 for 10 in the redzone over the last three games but are 0-2 today against 49ers defense giving up 15 points a game
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) December 3, 2023
49ers
While Philadelphia settled for two initial field goals on their three opening drives, San Francisco extended a drive on a Josh Sweat offsides, and converted the extra down into a Brandon Aiyuk touchdown to take a 7-6 lead despite being outgained.
Brandon Aiyuk's diving catch is the first TD of the game!
📺: #SFvsPHI on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/xvCjbLUIcN pic.twitter.com/jDx7nOulUV— NFL (@NFL) December 3, 2023
San Francisco (27) ran six less plays than Philadelphia (33), and amassed 167 Yards after a dismal first quarter.
DeVonta Smith
A.J. Brown is Swole Batman, but DeVonta Smith is the toughest.
Skinny Batman bulldozing through defenders 😤
📺: #SFvsPHI on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/xvCjbLUIcN pic.twitter.com/BTVFYKlX56— NFL (@NFL) December 3, 2023
Braden Mann
Special teams is now a strength for the Eagles and you can add punter to the list of positives.
Braden Mann has two punts today (51 Yards Per) and they’ve both been 50+ yarders downed inside the 20.
Eagles pass catchers
A.J. Brown led the Eagles with 4 catches for 63 yards, while DeVonta Smith followed with 4 catches for 48 yards. Philadelphia again got no production from the tight end production.
49ers pass catchers
Brandon Aiyuk led the Niners with 4 catches for 36 yards and a touchdown. Deebo Samuel had 2 catches for 22 yards, and 2 rushes for 10 yards.
Tight end George Kittle had 3 catches for 60 yards, doing most of his damage late in the second quarter.
Christian McCaffrey
McCaffrey had 5 carries for 27 yards (5.4 YPC) and zero catches on 1 target.
Eagles rushers
In a first half that saw Jalen Hurts pass 21 times, Swift had 4 carries for 8 yards.
