PHILADELPHIA (AP) \u2014 Jauan Jennings hid his eyes behind sunglasses, but could not hide his emotions with the San Francisco 49ers set to play an NFC postseason rubber match in Seattle.<\/p>\n
The 49ers wideout-turned-backup quarterback slammed his fists on the table and essentially told the Seahawks to bring it on. He leaned into the microphone and yelled, \u201cCAN\u2019T WAIT!\u201d before he walked off with a knowing smile that perhaps the best in San Francisco was yet to come.<\/p>\n
The 49ers are in for a playoff treat, thanks in large part to a pretty neat trick pulled off by Jennings.<\/p>\n
Brock Purdy threw a go-ahead 4-yard touchdown pass<\/a> to Christian McCaffrey late in the fourth quarter, San Francisco used a trick play on a TD toss from Jennings to McCaffrey, and the 49ers eliminated the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles<\/a> with a 23-19 wild-card victory Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe went to the Super Bowl,\u201d Jennings said. \u201cSo, we\u2019ve got to top that.\u201d<\/p>\n Maybe if the Eagles watched that 49ers\u2019 Super Bowl loss to Kansas City after the 2023 season, they wouldn\u2019t have been so caught by surprise by the play. A former high school quarterback, Jennings threw a TD pass on a similar play in the Super Bowl and this one to McCaffrey put him on a list with Purdy, Joe Montana and Steve Young as 49ers QBs who have thrown for multiple career touchdowns in the postseason.<\/p>\n How\u2019s that for heady company?<\/p>\n The play was called \u201cSkyy Bang reverse pass\u201d \u2014 in honor of wide receiver Skyy Moore \u2014 and the double reverse was suggested by offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was a hell of suggestion,\u201d coach Kyle Shanahan said.<\/p>\n The not-so Philly special was quite a way to put a dagger in the Super Bowl champs\u2019 season. <\/p>\n The 49ers head to top-seeded Seattle next weekend for an NFC divisional playoff game. The NFC West rivals split the season series. BetMGM put the Seahawks as early 6 1\/2-point favorites.<\/p>\n Purdy threw for 262 yards and got the road win in Philadelphia he failed to get three seasons ago when he was injured in a dismal outing in Philadelphia in a loss in the NFC title game.<\/p>\n Purdy had two passes intercepted in this one by All-Pro cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, but the Eagles scored just three points off the turnovers.<\/p>\n The 49ers could head to Seattle without star tight end George Kittle, who was carted off the field with a right Achilles tendon injury late in the first half.<\/p>\n The Eagles \u2014 who won a Super Bowl on a trick play \u2014 were foiled by one when Jennings was pitched the ball and rolled right and hit McCaffrey for an over-the-shoulder catch and a 29-yard touchdown<\/a>. The score on the first play of the fourth quarter gave the 49ers a 17-16 lead.<\/p>\n \u201cI looked up, the ball\u2019s in the air and Christian tracked it,\u201d Purdy said. \u201dIt was wobbling in the wind. The fact that Christian caught it over his shoulder, dude, I was like, \u2018Oh my gosh.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Jennings had 66 yards receiving and 48 rushing in addition to his TD pass.<\/p>\n \u201cJJ thinks he can make every play known to man,\u201d Shanahan said.<\/p>\n The Eagles would only get Jake Elliott\u2019s 33-yard field goal in the quarter for a brief 19-17 lead. <\/p>\n Philadelphia was again doomed by a lethargic offensive effort under embattled offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo that cost it a shot at a repeat championship. Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts threw for only 168 yards and a touchdown and the Eagles failed to build off a 13-10 halftime lead by totaling only 36 total yards in the third quarter on 16 plays. <\/p>\n Hurts was incomplete on a last-gasp fourth-and-11 attempt<\/a> with 43 seconds left that ended their final drive.<\/p>\n \u201cI just didn\u2019t make the play,\u2019 Hurts said. \u201dI own it. I own it all.\u201d<\/p>\n The game never reached its offensive slugfest potential after the teams traded touchdowns on their opening drives.<\/p>\n Purdy, rendered ineffective by a torn ligament in his right elbow on the opening drive against the Eagles in a disastrous NFC title game loss three seasons ago, completed all three passes for 74 yards and capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Demarcus Robinson.<\/p>\n The Eagles tied it on a 1-yard sweep by Dallas Goedert, their red zone go-to ace with 11 TD receptions who became the first tight end to rush for a score in NFL postseason history.<\/p>\n The Eagles turned again to Goedert on fourth down when Hurts hit him for a 9-yard TD that made it 13-7.<\/p>\n Eddy Pineiro kicked a 36-yarder for the 49ers that cut it to 13-10 at halftime.<\/p>\n The 49ers took it from there and hope to pull off their second road win of the season in Seattle.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just cool for everybody across the board to be able to have this kind of win and celebrate all the stuff that we\u2019ve been through,\u201d Purdy said.<\/p>\n Heat of the moment<\/p>\n Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown had to be separated from coach Nick Sirianni by chief security officer Dom DiSandro during a sideline blowup<\/a> late in the first half. Brown ripped off his helmet in frustration and yelled more in Sirianni\u2019s direction after the Eagles punted to end a drive.<\/p>\n Injuries<\/p>\n Kittle was pushed out of bounds on a 6-yard reception and grabbed the back of his lower right leg. He was ruled out for the rest of the game.<\/p>\n Eagles running back Saquon Barkley ran for 106 yards, but was slow to get up on a run in the fourth quarter. He used the stationary bike on the sideline to stay loose.<\/p>\n Up next<\/p>\n 49ers: The 49ers won 17-13 in Seattle in the season opener only for the Seahawks to return the favor with a 13-3 win in the season finale.<\/p>\n Eagles: Could make yet another change at offensive coordinator as they try not to waste more prime years from Hurts, Barkley and the receivers.<\/p>\n \u2014 <\/p>\n This story has been corrected to fix the go-ahead touchdown pass to 4 yards, not 6 yards. <\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n