{"id":504313,"date":"2026-01-09T18:30:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T18:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/504313\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T18:30:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T18:30:21","slug":"eagles-news-philadelphias-x-factor-against-the-49ers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/504313\/","title":{"rendered":"Eagles News: Philadelphia\u2019s X-factor against the 49ers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eagles Question of the Day:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Call your shot now: If the Eagles win on Sunday, who is the going to be the player of the game? Head over to The Feed<\/a><\/strong> and weigh in with your answer and explanation!<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get to the Philadelphia Eagles news and links \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

NFL playoff wild-card game picks, predictions, schedule, odds – ESPN<\/a>
Matchup X factor: Eagles S Reed Blankenship. He will be asked to play a two-way role in the secondary, limiting the middle-of-the-field targets in the 49ers\u2019 route tree, while also filling the alleys to cut off RB Christian McCaffrey in the run game. Blankenship had 53 solo tackles and one interception this season. [\u2026] One bet to consider: 49ers QB Brock Purdy UNDER 1.5 passing touchdowns. The Eagles allow a league-low passing touchdown rate. And Fangio defenses historically suppress red zone passing efficiency, supporting Purdy\u2019s under.<\/p>\n

Eagles-49ers matchups to watch in wild-card round – NBCSP<\/a>
Eagles LBs, S vs. George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey. The 49ers no longer have Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk. Their top receivers are Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall, who has been dealing with a PCL injury. If Pearsall plays, it\u2019ll give the 49ers a more explosive threat in their offense. Without him? They\u2019re going to rely heavily on tight end George Kittle and running back Christian McCaffrey. McCaffrey this season was targeted 129 times and had 102 catches for 924 yards (9.1) and 7 touchdowns. Kittle was targeted 69 times (in 11 games) and had 57 catches for 628 yards (11.0) and 7 touchdowns. While McCaffrey and Kittle are obviously very good players, the Eagles have really good linebackers with Zack Baun and Nakobe Dean to be able to match up well against these two weapons. They also have solid play at safety with Reed Blankenship and Marcus Epps and an elite tackling nickel cornerback in Cooper DeJean. The 49ers this season were middle of the pack in terms of yards after catch but it can be a really big part of their offense. They want to get these two guys in space to create, so it\u2019ll be important for the Eagles to continue to get off their blocks and be a solid tackling team.<\/p>\n

Eagles-49ers playoff preview: 17 things to watch in Sunday\u2019s Wild Card game – BGN<\/a>
12 – Vic Fangio vs. Kyle Shanahan. It took too long for me to mention THE premiere matchup of the game but here we are. While assembling the research for this article, I was interested to learn that Shanny has only ever scored a single touchdown against Fangio. And that touchdown came in garbage time. Fangio-led defense are 3-1 against Shanny-led offenses. They have allowed just 41 points total for an average of 10.25 per game. In fairness to Shanahan, his quarterbacks for those four games were John Beck, Robert Griffin III (non-rookie edition), Jimmy Garoppolo, and Nick Mullens. But those players were still held to some of their very worst performances in those given seasons. Fangio\u2019s success against Shanahan isn\u2019t a mere coincidence and he\u2019s openly admitted as much.<\/p>\n

NFL Wild Card: 5 QBs and head coaches under the most pressure this weekend – SB Nation<\/a>
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts. It\u2019s been an odd season for Hurts and the Eagles\u2019 offense. No one connected with the unit has had a good, consistent season in their Super Bowl title defense campaign. Hurts has struggled a lot and if it continues in the Wild Card round and results in an Eagles\u2019 defeat to the visiting San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, it will be a long offseason for Hurts. In reality, going one-and-done the season after winning the Super Bowl isn\u2019t exactly a disaster. But this is Philly. The rules are different.<\/p>\n

How Jalen Hurts adapted his game in his most challenging season yet – The Athletic<\/a>
Those two factors are the only windows needed to see why 2025 has been Hurts\u2019 most challenging season yet. The last decade of title defenses has staged franchise quarterbacks along with their tenured play callers. Pan the cameras to the Eagles\u2019 sideline. There\u2019s Hurts and Patullo recalibrating an inefficient system that belies its talent. The Eagles finished the regular season with a negative total offensive EPA (-2.61) for the first time under coach Nick Sirianni, per TruMedia. Sirianni fired former offensive coordinator Brian Johnson after better production in 2023 (47.19). Hurts enters the playoffs in the crossfire of perpetual boos from home crowds that chant \u201cFire Kevin\u201d from their seats. He is a target of the offense\u2019s harshest criticisms \u2014 both within the NovaCare Complex and without. He insists he does not hear it. When asked about linebacker Nakobe Dean\u2019s assertion, \u201cIf I\u2019m hearing it, then I\u2019m betting that Jalen does, too,\u201d Hurts replied, \u201cHe\u2019d be a broke man if he made that bet.\u201d The carousel of coordinators has reinforced Hurts\u2019 indifference to how an offense looks \u2014 to fans, to foes, to fence-sitters \u2014 so long as the Eagles win. \u201cHe\u2019s always up for it,\u201d wide receiver DeVonta Smith said. \u201cNo matter what it is.\u201d But losing looms. The Eagles have scrabbled at multiple offensive schemes while leveraging the strength of their defense. They play offense without a clear identity. Hurts admitted this way is \u201cnot necessarily normal.\u201d But he\u2019s obliged.<\/p>\n

Things the Eagles Offense Doesn\u2019t Do – Too Deep Zone<\/a>
The Eagles offense doesn\u2019t do much. It doesn\u2019t score many points, at least by the standards of a mega-talented, playoff-caliber NFL offense: 22.3 per game, 19th in the league. Nor does it gain many yards: 311.2 per game, 24th in the NFL. Or sustain many drives, going three-and-out on a league-worst 29% of offensive series. There is even more \u2013 or should I say even less \u2013 to the Eagles offense than those numbers suggest, however. The Eagles offense doesn\u2019t appear to have any wrinkles. Or concepts. Or creativity. Or schematic diversity. Or, I dunno, \u201cplays\u201d as football fans have come to think of them. Even if you are a dedicated Eagles fan who has been howling at your television, freebasing 94 WIP and demanding the heads of Nick Sirianni and coordinator Kevin Patullo on silver platters since September, you may be shocked to discover just how little the Eagles offense actually does.<\/p>\n

49ers vs. Eagles: Three must-know storylines for Sunday\u2019s playoff game – NFL.com<\/a>
Meanwhile, Barkley, coming off a 2,005-yard 2024 season, didn\u2019t earn a Pro Bowl nod as the Eagles offense was stuck in the mud. The dynamo generated 1,140 rushing yards on 280 carries (4.1 YPC) with seven touchdowns. The big difference this season is that the massive runs have been absent from the offense. In 2024, Barkley earned 17 rushes of 20-plus yards and a whopping seven of 40-plus. In 2025, he had just four rushes of 20-plus yards and three going 40 or more yards. Part of the lack of explosives has been play-calling, and another is blocking concerns, with linemen not getting to the second level as regularly as they were a year ago. Like many backs who lead the league in carries, as Barkley did a year ago with 345, things started slowly. From Weeks 1-13, the RB averaged 61.7 rushing yards per game, 3.7 yards per carry on 16.5 totes per tilt. However, he\u2019s found a groove in recent weeks. Over his past four games, Barkley has averaged 100.0 yards on 20.5 carries per game for a 4.9 yards per carry average. With Lane Johnson and others along the Eagles\u2019 line hopefully healthier, we could see a return of 2024 Barkley in the 2025 playoffs.<\/p>\n

Bowen: Lane Johnson shapes Eagles\u2019 postseason outlook – PHLY<\/a>
It\u2019s all about Lane Johnson, and the offensive line. If you could promise me that the Eagles\u2019 35-year-old right tackle would return reasonably healthy and in top form this week for the Wild Card round playoff matchup against San Francisco, and that the rest of the O-line would perform to its potential and its pay grade, I would bet any amount of money on the Eagles advancing. I\u2019d even bet on them repeating as Super Bowl champions. When the O-line is rolling, Kevin Patullo\u2019s dull, repetitive play-calling doesn\u2019t matter. Jalen Hurts\u2019 reluctance to throw over the middle doesn\u2019t matter. Vic Fangio\u2019s defense squeezes the door shut on the opponent, and the Eagles\u2019 offense methodically bars and locks it.<\/p>\n

Eagles legend calls team out for never using secret weapon: \u2018Why are we not giving this guy more? – NJ.com<\/a>
\u201cI hope to see a pretty decent usage of Tank at this point,\u201d Kelce said on the 94WIP Morning Show. \u201cHow many times does a guy have to flash to be like, \u2018Why are we not giving this guy more?\u2019 That\u2019s the reality of it.\u201d Despite averaging 5.9 yards per carry, Bigbsy has been limited to 58 carries this season, taking 16 of those attempts in the team\u2019s Week 18 loss to the Washington Commanders. He also received 17 touches in their Week 15 win over the Raiders.<\/p>\n

Spadaro: How are the Eagles dealing with the shift to the playoffs? – PE.com<\/a>
Saquon Barkley: Who is going to be more detailed? What were the lessons learned from the Super Bowl LIX 2024 postseason? Running back Saquon Barkley understands the formula, which isn\u2019t much different than what it\u2019s like in the regular season. \u201cI think the vibes are great. They\u2019ve been great all year, but when you get to the playoffs, it goes to another level,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s probably my favorite part of playing football, outside of the Super Bowl. Win or go home. The speed increases. The plays matter more. The vibes are high and we\u2019re excited for it and we know we\u2019ve got a great opponent coming in and the mindset is just winning.<\/p>\n

Robert Saleh says newly-signed linebacker \u2018good to go\u2019 vs. Eagles – Niners Nation<\/a>
The San Francisco 49ers have been dealing with injuries all season long and got two crucial ones in their Week 18 loss to the Seattle Seahawks as Tatum Bethune suffered a season-ending groin injury, while Dee Winters left with an ankle injury. Winters hasn\u2019t practiced in the first two days of the week ahead of the 49ers\u2019 wildcard matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, and his status seems to be in doubt for the weekend. So, that could mean the 49ers are onto their LB4 and LB5 in a must-win game on Sunday, and they\u2019ll need some more depth. That\u2019s why the team signed veteran linebacker Kyzir White to the practice squad earlier this week, and he could see immediate action this weekend.<\/p>\n

Cowboys request to interview fan favorite for defensive coordinator – Blogging The Boys<\/a>
The Dallas Cowboys have started their search for a new defensive coordinator. Todd Archer of ESPN released a list of the team\u2019s initial requests to interview three candidates. The names included are Minnesota Vikings pass game coordinator Daronte Jones, Cleveland Browns safeties coach Ephraim Banda, and Denver Broncos assistant HC\/pass game coordinator Jim Leonhard. Out of the three names, Leonhard has emerged as a fan favorite to be the Cowboys\u2019 play-caller on defense. Leonhard is someone head coach Brian Schottenheimer is familiar with, having spent three years together with the New York Jets from 2009-2011, when Schottenheimer was the offensive coordinator, and Leonhard was the strong safety.<\/p>\n

Washington Commanders News: Marshon Lattimore arrested on gun charges in Ohio – Hogs Haven<\/a>
Washington Commanders CB Marshon Lattimore was arrested on gun charges in Ohio yesterday, and released pending further investigation. He was also arrested in 2021 for gun charges in Ohio, and he received probation after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor. Lattimore ended his second season with the Commanders on injured reserve after suffering a torn ACL on November 4th against the Seahawks. He is entering the final year of the contract that Washington took over from the New Orleans Saints after they traded for him at the 2024 NFL trade deadline. The Commanders will save $18.5 million by releasing him, a move which was expected before yesterday\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n

NY Giants or Miami Dolphins? For John Harbaugh, each has pros and cons – Big Blue View<\/a>
With the Miami Dolphins\u2019 firing of head coach Mike McDaniel, the John Harbaugh sweepstakes just got more interesting, as Ed discussed Thursday. The New York Giants and the Dolphins are only two of eight teams searching for a head coach this coming off-season, but as Ed reported, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has long ties to the Harbaugh family and apparently had been in touch with Harbaugh even before firing McDaniel. That makes Miami probably the most serious competitor for Harbaugh\u2019s services. Let\u2019s put aside those things and imagine that we\u2019re John Harbaugh, and ask a simple question that Harbaugh may have to ask himself: Personal relationships aside, which is the better job if you\u2019re interested in success? Let\u2019s go through the pros and cons.<\/p>\n

Dolphins get their man; Jon-Eric Sullivan hired as new General Manager – The Phinsider<\/a>
According to numerous reports from respected National Football League insiders, the Miami Dolphins are working to hire their new general manager this morning \u2014 Jon-Eric Sullivan, previously of the Green Bay Packers. [BLG Note: The Dolphins will not be hiring Eagles assistant general manager Alec Halaby, who reportedly interviewed with Miami.]<\/p>\n

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