The 49ers and Eagles met on Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia in one of the most anticipated games of the year, as the two top teams in the NFC met in a rematch of last year’s NFC title game.
After Philly started strong and took a 6-0 lead, the 49ers started to get it going and eventually hit their stride offensively, with the Eagles unable to stop Brock Purdy, Deebo Samuel, and Christian McCaffrey as the Niners rolled up a 42-19 win to make a statement in the NFC. Things really turned in the second and third quarters, as the Niners offense figured out how to attack the Philly defense, attacking laterally with their speed by getting Samuel, McCaffrey, and Brandon Aiyuk in space and getting the ball out of Purdy’s hands quickly to negate the Eagles pass rush that dominated the first quarter.
The third quarter also brought some levity in what became a chippy game, with some scuffles and ejections, as Christian McCaffrey tried to draw his own late hit flag on Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, spinning and dramatically flopping to the ground as Cox tossed him aside gently.
CMC’s flop was so bad even the ref had to laugh at him LMAOOOOO pic.twitter.com/SNImfeVPQF
— Video from: @TSV__1 (@TSV__1) December 3, 2023
It was so blatant a flop that referee Alex Kemp could only shake his head and laugh at McCaffrey, patting the star back on the helmet as he got up with a “nice try” look. That and Dre Greenlaw’s ejection were really the only missteps of the second half from the Niners, as they went on the road and dismantled the Eagles, with McCaffrey racking up 133 total yards and a touchdown, while Samuel 138 total yards and three touchdowns.