Samuel called one Eagles cornerback “trash” and blistered Philly as his “most-hated” team in the
Samuel backed up his big mouth with a blockbuster performance that showed the 49ers have plenty of room left to chase the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
The fiery NFC championship game rematch also featured 49ers' touchdowns on six straight possessions and a pair of ejections that showed this year’s title game might not run again through Philly, after all.
“There wasn’t much to last year with this,” 49ers coach
The 49ers (9-3) left Philly 10 months ago battered in the NFC championship game behind injuries to Purdy and his backup, and they never stood a chance in a 31-7 loss. The 49ers spent an offseason chirping at the Birds — Samuel called
“Talking trash, it’s part of the game,” Samuel said. “Hopefully, no one took it to heart. It’s all fun and games at the end of the day.”
It wasn't much fun for the Eagles.
The Eagles (10-2) suffered a scare when Hurts jogged off the field in the fourth and went straight to the locker room. He was cleared to play and returned to action.
It was not immediately clear when Hurts was injured. He declined to get into specifics of the injury.
By the time last season’s
Purdy put the finishing touches on the win with a 46-yard TD to Samuel.
Perhaps all that braggadocio paid off for the 49ers. Hard feelings spilled into the game, highlighted by a scrap in the third quarter that got 49ers linebacker
Greenlaw was ejected. DiSandro, a cult hero in Philly for his ever-present backup when Eagles are out in public, also was told to leave and walked to the locker room to a roaring ovation.
“I love how we rallied after,” Shanahan said.
The Eagles offered few other reasons cheer.
Purdy picked apart a defense that left receivers open for big chunks of the game. Samuel also inflicted his damage in the third quarter on a 12-yard rushing TD and caught a 48-yard TD pass from Purdy that stretched a 14-6 halftime lead to 28-13.
Purdy got a kick out of Samuel adding some added spice to an already anticipated rematch.
“In the locker room, maybe he was saying stuff that was fun for us to hear,” Purdy said. “Was it anything out of the ordinary? Deebo's Deebo. His play did the rest.”
It sure did. Samuel turned just four catches into 116 yards. The scores were clutch in any game, of course. But they kept an Eagles offense that made a habit of halftime rallies at bay and sucked the atmosphere out of the
The Eagles turned halftime deficits into wins in each of the last four games — including a
One pesky detail among all those comebacks — Philly never trailed against Shanahan. The 49ers are 33-1 (including playoffs) when leading by eight-plus points at the break under Shanahan.
Hurts did his part in the first half to drive the Eagles inside the 20, connecting with
“Typically, when you play to the standard, you win," Hurts said. ”I don't think we've played to the standard and won."
The 49ers shook of a first-quarter funk that saw them finish with minus-6 total yards until Purdy got the offense rolling in the second. Much like in the NFC championship game, Purdy was pressured early. But he stayed strong, notably on a scramble where he was popped twice but stayed on his feet and still got a 6-yard gain. He capped that drive with a 2-yard TD pass to
The 49ers never really looked back — and maybe the black attire was fitting for this rout, even as Samuel insisted otherwise.
“It's just the outfit,” he said, laughing. “It all clicked. The fit came together well.”
So did the 49ers' offense.
UP NEXT
The Eagles are off to
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AP
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