Dec 3, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) shake hands on the field after the game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports Bill Streicher
Michael Thomas Leibrandt: What this weekend’s Eagles–49ers game is really about.
The Eagles begin their postseason quest for a second consecutive Super Bowl Championship when they host the 49ers in South Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon. And when two of the NFC’s most successful franchises over the last two seasons meet this weekend, the significance of this weekend’s wildcard matchup will be both what the game will be about and what it won’t be about.
It won’t be about a season that included exhilarating highs like a 20–17 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, a 33–26 win over the St. Louis Rams, and an opening night 24–20 over the Dallas Cowboys. And it won’t be about a last-second loss to the Broncos, a post-Thanksgiving thumping by the Chicago Bears, an almost total collapse in Dallas after a 21-point lead, and an Eagles Reserves Show against the Commanders that would lose not only the game but also the #2 seed in the NFC Playoffs.
The 11–6 Eagles regular season is over.
It won’t be about the legacy of Jalen Hurts and Nick Sirianni. The quarterback and his coach have proven that they know how to win — no matter the outcome on Sunday evening. They’ve both earned the right for a reboot and besides, they’ve both rebounded before.
And it won’t be about two NFC franchises who have devoted themselves to competing for championships year after year. It won’t be about their injuries, late-game mistakes, or that neither team is having the season that they were expecting. None of that matters now.
This game will be about which of these two teams — equipped with star-studded talent like Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey, Jalen Hurts, Brock Purdy, Quinyon Mitchell, Nick Bosa, Cooper DeJean, Fred Warner, and Zach Baun — can make just enough plays to move on to the Divisional Round.
And for the Philadelphia Eagles, it is another chapter in a story that is the most successful in its over 92 year history. These modern-era Eagles have the opportunity to do something never before accomplished in Philadelphia professional football — two Super Bowl Championships in succession. It all starts with a win at the Linc this weekend.
It’s about playing with the Championship caliber form that they have displayed multiple times under Sirianni’s leadership — including a 31–7 throttling of these very same San Francisco 49ers in the 2023 NFC Championship Game in South Philly.
The 49ers will be trying to take the first step in playing in a Super Bowl in their home city this February — a feat only accomplished by two other NFL teams.
Please Eagles: beat them anyway. That is exactly what it will be about.
Michael Thomas Leibrandt lives and works in Abington Township, Pennsylvania.
