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  • Sixers takeaways: Inability to close out games and stop dribble drives are glaring in loss to Raptors

    Sixers takeaways: Inability to close out games and stop dribble drives are glaring in loss to Raptors

    The 76ers still have a problem closing out games.

    Their guards also need to do a better job of preventing straight-line drives.

    But on the positive side, Kelly Oubre Jr. is back to contributing on both ends of the floor.

    Those things stood out in Sunday’s 116-115 overtime loss to the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena.

    Inability to close out

    The Sixers (21-16) were trending in the right direction after winning two straight and five of their last six games heading into this matchup. And with Tyrese Maxey scoring a game-high 38 points, they appeared capable of overcoming the huge absences of Joel Embiid (left knee injury management/left groin soreness) and Paul George (left knee soreness).

    Don’t look now but the Sixers have turned a dire situation into a hopeful one behind their new Big Four

    But an inability to close out the game reared its ugly head.

    Maxey hit a what appeared to be a 29-foot dagger three-pointer to give the Sixers a 107-103 cushion with 20.1 seconds left.

    However, they failed to inbound the ball. The Raptors (24-16) won two challenges and made two baskets to force overtime.

    The Sixers built a 112-108 lead with 2 minutes, 23 seconds remaining in overtime. But the Raptors responded with a 7-0 run to take a 115-112 lead after the Sixers missed two shots and committed a costly turnover.

    Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes (left) led the team in points with 31 against the Sixers.

    VJ Edgecombe made a 30-foot three-pointer to knot the score at 115. However, Scottie Barnes got away with initiating contact with Oubre, who was called for a foul, on a drive with 0.8 seconds left.

    Barnes, who finished with 31 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds, made the first foul shot and intentionally missed the second to win the game.

    The Sixers committed 22 turnovers and made just 8 of 31 three-pointers. But they were ultimately doomed by poor late-game execution. Something they need to correct.

    “We just got to be better, be more disciplined and stay together in those moments where we’re facing a little bit of adversity, because we both made runs,” Oubre said to reporters. “But you know, theirs was the final shot.”

    Scottie Barnes hits tiebreaking free throw in final second of OT as Raptors beat Sixers, 116-115

    Too many straight line drives

    Barnes will get the credit for winning Sunday’s game. However, the Raptors backcourt of Immanuel Quickley and Jamal Shead had their way with the Sixers guards. Quickley finished with 20 points and seven assists, while Shead had 22 and six assists.

    The duo had several downhill drives in the lane. If they couldn’t score, they kicked the ball out to teammates. Late in the game, Shead and Quickley drove the lane. Once the Sixers provided help defense, the guard would dump the ball off to a big man for a dunk.

    “We just got out of position on some of that,” coach Nick Nurse said to reporters. “I felt we went to help a little too early, and obviously left too big a passing lane for those dumboffs late.”

    But it started with the Sixers guards needing to do a better job of keeping opposing perimeter players in front of them.

    Oubre’s impact

    Before missing 22 games with a sprained left knee ligament, Oubre was the quiet assassin for the Sixers. The 6-foot-8 small forward averaged 16.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.1 steals in his first 12 games. In addition to excelling when the ball was moving, Oubre did a solid job of guarding the opposing team’s best perimeter player.

    He returned on Wednesday and provided solid defense that night against the Washington Wizards and again on Friday vs. the Orlando Magic. However, he averaged one point on a combined 1-for-9 shooting in those two games.

    Toronto Raptors guard Alijah Martin, left, strips the ball from Sixers’ Kelly Oubre Jr. during overtime.

    He had the complete package against the Raptors.

    Oubre finished with 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting to go with five rebounds and season highs of four steals and three blocks in his third game back. Nine of his points came in the third quarter.

    “He hasn’t really scored much since being back, so that’s obviously nice to see,” Nurse said. “He even hit a three, but had some really nice drives. He had a couple of good blocks and steals as well, which is why we ended up playing him as much as we did down the stretch.”

    He’ll go back to being an X-factor if he can keep this up.

    “It definitely felt good,” Oubre said. “It’s just, I think I could be better. I got blocked because I’m not trusting myself and the work that I put in.

    “So you know, just watching film, continue to just show up every day and get better. That’s all I can do. But it definitely felt good to get some run.”

  • The defense propped the Eagles up all season. On Sunday, it bent, broke, and the 49ers advanced.

    The defense propped the Eagles up all season. On Sunday, it bent, broke, and the 49ers advanced.

    In the days leading up to the Eagles’ Dec. 28 road game at the Buffalo Bills, defensive assistant Jeremiah Washburn, who coaches the Eagles edge rushers, handed out a new accessory to the entire defensive line.

    The green bracelet has “Isaiah 6:8″ and the phrase “send me” written in white. In the Bible verse, the prophet Isaiah hears the voice of God ask: “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” Isaiah responds: “Here I am. Send me.”

    That, defensive tackle Moro Ojomo said, was the mindset of the entire defensive line. And the entire Eagles’ defense.

    “Send us,” Ojomo said as he fiddled with the bracelet on his left wrist. “We want to be the ones to get the job done.”

    For most of the 2025 season, especially after the Eagles’ Week 9 bye, the defense answered the call. Vic Fangio’s unit propped up an inconsistent offense. It stifled good offenses and carried the team to victories that maybe it didn’t deserve. The Eagles beat Green Bay 10-7. They beat Detroit 16-9. They won that Bills game, 13-12. They entered the postseason, in what was a wide-open NFL playoffs, with a puncher’s chance to repeat as Super Bowl champions in large part because they had the talent on defense and Fangio, the mastermind, calling the shots.

    The season ended in abrupt fashion Sunday for myriad reasons, but the San Francisco 49ers advanced to the NFC’s divisional round in part because the Eagles didn’t have enough answers defensively down the stretch. The 49ers scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns. They had a 10-play, 66-yard touchdown drive that lasted more than five minutes and ended with less than three minutes on the clock.

    Hayes: Kevin Patullo’s offense wastes two Quinyon Mitchell interceptions in crushing Eagles playoff loss

    The strength of the Eagles defense was its ability to limit explosive plays and clamp down in the red zone.

    The 49ers threw the first haymaker. Lincoln Financial Field roared after Will Shipley crunched Brian Robinson on the opening kickoff and then the Eagles stuffed Christian McCaffrey’s first rushing attempt on San Francisco’s first play for a loss of one yard. But then Quinyon Mitchell allowed a 61-yard catch-and-run from Brock Purdy to Demarcus Robinson that set the 49ers up in the red zone at the Eagles’ 16-yard line. Four plays later, Purdy hit Robinson, who beat Mitchell for a 2-yard touchdown and the game’s first points.

    “I got to start the game off faster,” Mitchell said. “Maybe that could’ve changed the game in a way.”

    Mitchell would eventually atone. The Eagles forced punts on the next two San Francisco drives before allowing a field goal and then later stopping the 49ers as the second quarter ended. Mitchell then picked Purdy off on the 49ers’ first drive of the second half. He had another interception in the fourth quarter, too, but after the 49ers added another score.

    San Francisco, which was already banged up and lost star tight end George Kittle to an Achilles injury in the second quarter, dipped into the bag of tricks to open the fourth quarter. Out of the timeout, Kyle Shanahan dialed up a trick play, a reverse that found the ball in the hands of Jauan Jennings, who threw on the move to a streaking and wide-open McCaffrey for a 29-yard score.

    “We knew they liked to do some sort of trickery down in the red zone,” safety Reed Blankenship said. “We were just in a different call that allowed him to sneak through.”

    Shell-shocked Eagles locker room emotional after losing to the 49ers: ‘It’ll never be the same team again’

    The Eagles took the lead back on a Jake Elliott field goal with eight minutes to play. The defense needed to deliver one final stop. Instead, the 49ers moved the ball with ease. The Eagles, who sacked Purdy once on the day, applied pressure at times, but not enough. Purdy felt the pressure and was excellent in escaping it. The 49ers didn’t face a third down on that 10-play, game-winning drive until the play they scored on, a 4-yard pass from Purdy to McCaffrey on third-and-goal. The 49ers converted six of their 11 third-down attempts.

    “They just made more plays than we did,” Blankenship said.

    Shanahan, Ojomo said, “is a hell of an offensive play-caller.”

    “At the end of the day, he kind of had a better plan and we should have executed at a higher level,” Ojomo said. “You got to play complementary football. After our scores, we needed to stop them. When we get turnovers, we need scores. We didn’t do that at a high enough level to win. That’s kind of the result when you’re in the playoffs. You’re playing good teams every week. You can’t have any hiccups.”

    Jordan Davis (90) and Moro Ojomo (97) were encouraging pieces of a fine Eagles defense in 2025.

    Especially not with an offense that rarely allowed for wiggle room. It was a lot to ask if the Eagles were going to try to repeat. The offense did not permit much in the way of a margin for error. It is a taxing way to play football, and it’s taxing on a defense that got better as the year went on. Ojomo, though, wanted to look only internally.

    “You could always get one more stop, one more turnover,” he said. “At the end of the day, we fell short as a defense. They don’t score, they don’t win. We didn’t get the job done.”

    The defense will look different next season. Blankenship is one of a few key free agents. The loss, he said, was tough.

    Sielski: The 2025 Eagles played not to lose. In the end, that’s why they did.

    “This is one of the toughest things about football and about life,” he said. “You go through the challenges throughout the year, training camp, whatever. You create this relationship and these bonds and it ends so fast. You’re not really prepared for it and it’s tough.”

    How will the 2025 defense be remembered? It was the year of Jordan Davis’ breakout. Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, both second-year players, were named first-team All-Pros. Brandon Graham came out of retirement. Ojomo stepped in for a key free agent, Milton Williams, and shined.

    “I think everybody will just remember this game,” Blankenship said. “That’s the last game we played in and it wasn’t us.”

    You’re only as good as your last, they say.

    “You lose in the first round of the playoffs, I don’t think you’re remembered much,” Ojomo said. “That’s effed up. This defense played our tail off all year, young and hungry and filled with a bunch of guys who are selfless.”

    Washburn, Ojomo said, handed those bracelets out to provide some perspective. The message, he said, was received. The defense wanted to be the unit that carried the Eagles.

    “It’s sad,” Ojomo said. “I loved being on this defense.”

  • The 2025 Eagles played not to lose. In the end, that’s why they did.

    The 2025 Eagles played not to lose. In the end, that’s why they did.

    The play that encapsulated everything the Eagles offense wasn’t this season was a play that they themselves didn’t even run. First snap of the fourth quarter Sunday night for the San Francisco 49ers, first-and-10 from the Eagles’ 29-yard line, and there was Kyle Shanahan, calling a double-wing reverse pass that made one of the NFL’s best defenses look like a bunch of suckers. Brock Purdy handed the football to Skyy Moore, who pitched it to Jauan Jennings, who rainbowed a pass toward the end zone to Christian McCaffrey, who didn’t have an Eagles player within 5 yards of him.

    A six-point Eagles lead suddenly was a one-point deficit. And though that touchdown technically wasn’t the winning score in the 49ers’ 23-19 wild-card victory, it was the perfect symbol for the difference between a team that played like it had nothing to lose and a team that played like it was fearful of taking the slightest of chances.

    From Nick Sirianni to Kevin Patullo to Jalen Hurts, the Eagles spent too much of this season acting as if being daring was taboo for them. Sirianni preached the importance of minimizing turnovers, citing the Eagles’ marvelous record during his tenure as head coach when they protected the football better than their opponents. But it turned out that a Super Bowl champion cannot defend its title on caution alone. The 49ers committed two turnovers. The Eagles didn’t commit any. And the final score was the final score.

    In the locker room afterward, player after player used the same word as the cause of the Eagles’ struggles during the regular season and their quick exit from the postseason: execution. “If there are multiple players saying that,” tackle Jordan Mailata asked, “why don’t you believe us?” Good question. Here’s why: It’s a familiar, sometimes default way of thinking among elite athletes: It doesn’t matter what the coach calls. It doesn’t matter if my opponent knows what’s coming. If I do exactly what I’m supposed to do exactly when I’m supposed to do it, nothing can stop me, and nothing can stop us.

    “I don’t think we were playing conservatively,” running back Saquon Barkley said. “I think it comes down to execution. A lot of the same calls we have — I know it was a new offensive coordinator and new guys, but we kind of stuck with the same script, to be honest, of what we did last year. It’s easy to say that when you’re not making the plays. … If we’re making the plays, no one is going to say we’re being conservative.”

    Kevin Patullo’s offense wastes two Quinyon Mitchell interceptions in crushing Eagles playoff loss

    The Eagles could get away with following that mantra last season. Their offensive line was the best in the league, and they shifted midseason from having Jalen Hurts throw 30-plus passes a game to giving the ball to Barkley and counting on him for consistent yardage and big plays. But, as Barkley acknowledged, they returned this season with pretty much the same offense — after the other 31 teams had an offseason to study what the Eagles had done and come up with ways to neutralize it.

    “If they call inside zone and we call inside zone and they run it better than us, they just ran it better than us,” Barkley said. “They executed better than us. That’s just my mindset. Maybe I’m wrong.”

    He is. There rarely was any surprise to the Eagles’ attack this season, rarely any moments when A.J. Brown or DeVonta Smith was running free and alone down the field, when Barkley wasn’t dodging defenders in the backfield, when anything looked easy for them. When everyone in the stadium knows you’re likely to call a particular play in a particular situation, yes, you had better be perfect in every aspect of that sequence. But when you catch a defense off guard — as Shanahan did on Jennings’ pass — your execution can be less than ideal, and the play will still work.

    Look at Sunday: Barkley had 15 carries in the first half and 11 in the second. He had 71 yards in the first half and 35 in the second; after halftime, the 49ers started sending more players toward the line of scrimmage just before Hurts took the snap. The proper countermove would have been to throw the ball downfield more often, but the Eagles were reluctant to court such risk. It doesn’t much matter whether Patullo couldn’t scheme up such plays or whether, even if Patullo had opened up the offense, Hurts would have held the ball anyway. The result was the same. They settled for what was safe.

    “I think that’s always the go-to. … People think you take your foot off the gas,” Sirianni said. “We didn’t create enough explosives. They did.”

    To the end, the head coach struggled to see the connection between his conservatism and the problems that plagued his offense. No Super Bowl appearance, no title defense, not even a spot in the playoffs’ second round. Over 18 games, this team wrote its own epitaph.

    The 2025 Eagles: They played not to lose. Which is why they did.

  • Shell-shocked Eagles locker room emotional after losing to the 49ers: ‘It’ll never be the same team again’

    Shell-shocked Eagles locker room emotional after losing to the 49ers: ‘It’ll never be the same team again’

    Up until the final failed fourth-down attempt, the Eagles still believed they were winning Sunday’s NFC wild-card game against the San Francisco 49ers.

    But after Jalen Hurts’ pass fell incomplete, it all hit linebacker Nakobe Dean. It may have been his final game in an Eagles uniform.

    “I don’t know what’s going to happen the next couple months, next couple weeks,” Dean, a pending unrestricted free agent said. “I don’t know if I’m going to play with the guys that I’ve been playing with for four years or had a good relationship with, or the guys that I went school with. I’m going through all the emotions.”

    Eagles grades: Another overly conservative offensive performance results in season-ending flop

    The Birds had much higher expectations for themselves this season than a 23-19 loss in the wild-card round. Eagles players looked shell-shocked in the locker room, knowing they will never all be together again.

    Jordan Davis choked up in the locker room talking about how much Dean, his teammate since their days back at Georgia, meant to him.

    “We love to have his face and his leadership and his poise, his effort and just everything about him, the way he plays the game,” Davis said. “But it’s just the NFL. I’m not here to make decisions. I’m more here to play and move forward, but it’s unfortunate that it’s just the nature of the beast. It’s the league, be here today and gone tomorrow. But I love that man like a brother. Like a brother.”

    Dean said he took one last photo of his locker, unsure if he’d ever return to it. The Birds drafted linebacker Jihaad Campbell in the first round last spring to potentially serve as Dean’s replacement.

    But Dean wasn’t the only player who may have worn midnight green for the final time.

    Jordan Mailata said postgame that he couldn’t even look at Dallas Goedert, his teammate of eight years, without wanting to cry. Goedert signed a one-year contract extension to return to Philadelphia last offseason, but after catching a career-high 60 passes and 11 touchdowns, he might be out of the Eagles’ price range.

    Jake Elliott’s missed kick proves costly in what could be his final game with the Eagles

    “I had a moment with Dallas, and I wasn’t crying until I saw him,” Mailata said. “We’ve been together for eight years, and we just played a lot of ball together, a lot of time in the locker room, and so that one was hard for me. I don’t know what’s going to happen next year, I hope we bring him back, but he was one face that immediately after the game, I had to stay away from him, because I’d just cry.”

    Goedert caught four passes for 33 yards and one touchdown, and added another touchdown on the ground in the loss. He downplayed whether this game was more emotional than past losses as he approaches what might be the end of his tenure with the team that drafted him.

    “Saying goodbye to this team, it’ll never be the same team again, it’s always tough,” Goedert said. “You just grow as a family, and I got a lot of love for the brothers on this team, you know, and it’s just a somber state.”

  • Jake Elliott’s missed kick proves costly in what could be his final game with the Eagles

    Jake Elliott’s missed kick proves costly in what could be his final game with the Eagles

    The sudden finish to the Eagles’ season cannot be narrowed down to one play, but perhaps Sunday’s 23-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers would have at least reached overtime had Jake Elliott converted an extra point in the first quarter.

    The Eagles’ final drive as reigning Super Bowl champions ended with a fourth-down incompletion at the 49ers’ 21-yard line — a play that instead would have been a field-goal try to force overtime had the Eagles been down three points instead of four.

    Elliott, who missed four of his final 13 field-goal attempts in the regular season, battled the wind and lost when his extra point smacked the upright after the Eagles scored on their first drive of the game.

    “It’s a lot of guessing out there. You saw his, too,” Elliott said as 49ers kicker Eddy Piñeiro missed an extra point in the fourth quarter. “We both tried to play it left to right, and there’s a 40-mile-per-hour wind blowing left to right. For both of those balls, the wind just didn’t quite hit them the way we thought it would. It’s a tough night to kick, but you obviously want to make them all.”

    The first weekend of the postseason featured games in which missed kicks played a key role as Green Bay’s Brandon McManus (North Penn, Temple) missed two field goals and an extra point in a loss to Chicago, and Jacksonville’s Cam Little — who made an NFL-record 68-yarder earlier this year — missed a 54-yarder in a loss to Buffalo.

    Like Eagles-49ers, those games were not exclusively decided by a leg, but it was hard to see the outcome and wonder what could have been had the ball went through the uprights.

    “I’m just thinking about the next kick,” Elliott said when asked if he was thinking about his missed PAT while the Eagles had to try for a touchdown in the final minute. “You saw he missed one, too. It’s a tough night to kick. That’s not really what I’m thinking about during that moment in time. I’m thinking about that next kick.”

    Grading the Eagles’ loss to the 49ers in the wild-card round of the playoffs

    Elliott, one of three players remaining from the Super Bowl LII champions, is under contract for next season but the team could look for an upgrade this offseason.

    He made just 74.1% of his field goals this season, below the league average of 85.6%. His 77.8% rate last season also fell below the league average. Since last season, Elliott is 5-for-15 on field goals from 50-plus yards, while NFL kickers are converting long-range kicks at record rates.

    “You show up every week and try to hit the ball well,” Elliott said. “I think for the most part, I did that. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, especially playing in the Northeast like this. We’ve had some pretty tough weather games. But, obviously, you want to make them all. It’s part of the job. You expect perfection and if it’s not that, it’s tough.”

    Kevin Patullo’s offense wastes two Quinyon Mitchell interceptions in crushing loss | Marcus Hayes

    Brandon Graham, Elliott, and Lane Johnson — the three remaining players from the Super Bowl that capped the 2017 season — could be gone before next season. Johnson missed Sunday’s loss with the foot injury that has sidelined him since November and has openly pondered his retirement. Graham already retired after last season and his plans for next season are uncertain. Elliott, the author of so many important kicks in franchise history, could be kicking elsewhere in 2026.

    “We’ll deal with that when we get there,” he said. “This is all pretty raw right now. I’m under contract here, so that’s the expectation, but you never know in this business. I’m just trying to get over this game.”

  • Scottie Barnes hits tiebreaking free throw in final second of OT as Raptors beat Sixers, 116-115

    Scottie Barnes hits tiebreaking free throw in final second of OT as Raptors beat Sixers, 116-115

    TORONTO — Scottie Barnes hit a tiebreaking free throw with 0.8 seconds remaining in overtime and the Toronto Raptors beat the 76ers 116-115 on Sunday night in the first of back-to-back meetings between short-handed teams.

    Barnes made the first of two from the line and intentionally missed the second as Toronto won its third straight home meeting with the Sixers. He finished 10 for 12 at the line.

    Barnes scored 31 points, Jamal Shead added a career-high 22, and Immanuel Quickley had 20 as Toronto won its third straight at home. Collin Murray-Boyles had 17 points and matched his career-high with 15 rebounds.

    Tyrese Maxey scored 38 points for the Sixers and VJ Edgecombe had 17. Kelly Oubre Jr., Dominick Barlow and Quentin Grimes each scored 13 points but Philadelphia lost for the second time in seven games.

    Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey (right) scored a game-high 38 points.

    Joel Embiid (left knee and left groin) and Paul George (left knee) both sat out on the first night of this back-to-back.

    Barnes returned after sitting out Friday’s loss at Boston because of a sore right knee but RJ Barrett was inactive because of a sprained left ankle. Brandon Ingram (right thumb) missed his second straight game and Jakob Poeltl (lower back) missed his 10th straight. There is no timetable for Poeltl’s return.

    Ja’Kobe Walter started for the Raptors but exited four minutes into the first quarter because of a sore right hip.

    Joel Embiid, Paul George miss Sixers’ game against the Raptors in Toronto

    Philadelphia had 22 turnovers, one shy of matching a season-high. The Sixers’ 11 assists were a season-low.

    Toronto finished 5 for 32 from three-point range, its worst shooting percentage from distance this season.

    Up next

    The 76ers and Raptors play in Toronto again on Monday night (7:30 p.m., NBCSP).

  • A.J. Brown vs. Nick Sirianni, Tom Brady scouts Big Dom, and the best of the Eagles-Niners broadcast

    A.J. Brown vs. Nick Sirianni, Tom Brady scouts Big Dom, and the best of the Eagles-Niners broadcast

    The Eagles were unable to overcome the offensive woes that plagued them all season, and lost, 23-19, to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC wild-card round.

    Here’s everything you may have missed from the broadcast:

    Grading the Eagles’ wild-card loss to the San Francisco 49ers

    Boiling point

    The frustration between Nick Sirianni and A.J. Brown finally went from talk to action on the sidelines.

    Following a drop from Brown that led to a consequential three-and-out, Sirianni sprinted toward Brown to tell the two-time All-Pro receiver to run off the field to avoid a penalty. Fox cameras showed Sirianni and Brown in a passionate argument soon after, and the pair eventually was broken up by Big Dom DiSandro, the Eagles’ chief of security.

    “Now on the sideline,” play-by-play commentator Kevin Burkhardt said. “Nick Sirianni going at him a little bit, Big Dom says ‘Hey, take it easy. We’re good.’”

    Sideline reporter Erin Andrews caught up with Sirianni at halftime, and asked the coach about the tense moment with the star wide receiver.

    “Emotions run high, especially in the playoffs,” Sirianni said, according to Andrews. ”Of course, after this game, we’ll go back to loving each other. But, look, this is just the way it is. We’re just fine, thanks.”

    Added analyst Tom Brady: “I just don’t think you can expect everyone to be super balanced and chill. You’re a warrior; you’re a gladiator down on the field. Emotions are running high every single play.”

    Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown’s drop here in the second quarter led to a tense exchange between he and head coach Nick Sirianni.

    Fox NFL analyst and Hall of Famer Michael Strahan also weighed in, but he had a different perspective on the exchange.

    “I don’t understand why Sirianni is running down there yelling at one of his star players,” Strahan said at halftime. “I don’t think that brings out the best in your player. … In my opinion, as a player, I wouldn’t have taken very well from my coach on the sideline.”

    Brown finished with only three catches for 25 yards and failed to record a reception after his confrontation with Sirianni.

    Big play Dom

    Despite fielding Brown and DeVonta Smith at wide receiver, Big Dom had the biggest highlight catch for the Eagles.

    Kevin Patullo’s offense wastes two Quinyon Mitchell interceptions in crushing Eagles playoff loss

    Early in the third quarter, Jalen Hurts was forced to throw the ball away, sailing the rock over the head of Brown straight into the arms of DiSandro.

    Brady, in analyst fashion, reviewed Big Dom’s technique.

    “Tough catch,” Brady said. “Where’s his hands, Dom, with the grab. Look at him, He can’t believe it’s coming his way. I don’t like the body catch. I want to see hands, thumbs together when the ball is there. The body catch I don’t love.”

    Every time the Eagles step into the arena with the 49ers, DiSandro seems to take center stage — the security chief was ejected in 2023, the last matchup between the teams after breaking up a scuffle between Smith and San Francisco linebacker Dre Greenlaw.

    Eagles destroyed by 49ers as popular security chief gets ejected | Marcus Hayes (from 2023)

    Fur-tastic

    If you thought you saw Staley Da Bear, the Chicago Bears mascot, on the sidelines to kick off the Birds’ wild-card matchup — don’t worry, so did we.

    Not emu, not polar bear: Erin Andrews’ coat at Eagles-49ers game gets internet talking

    Turns out it was just Andrews, Fox Sports’ sideline reporter, making a fashion statement.

    “I also want to hear about that coat,” Burkhardt said in the second half. “It’s terrific.”

    Big furs have been popular on the Eagles’ sideline over the years, with Chris Long and Josh Sweat, among others, donning similar coats after securing Super Bowl victories in 2017 and 2025. Andrews will be the only person donning one on the Eagles’ sideline this year.

    Andrews’ jacket, theorized by internet sleuths as a faux fur Auter product, will run you around $950 if you want it for yourself. We’ve got more reactions to the coat here.

    Perfect no more

    Early in the first quarter, Burkhardt and Brady were eager to sing the praises of Sirianni, pointing out his perfect home playoff record.

    “Two Super Bowls in five years,” Burkhardt said. “One championship, in the playoffs every year, second-most wins of all time in first five years of any coach.”

    “There’s always an expectation with winning,” Brady responded. “That’s when you come to the next season, like they did after winning the Super Bowl this year, ‘Oh, everything’s going to be perfect.’ And the reality is, it’s never perfect. You’re always trying to solve problems in the NFL. Every year is a little bit different. How he kind of inserts himself in different roles is what I appreciate. A head coach’s role is really special in what he’s able to do for this club.”

    The compliments aged poorly, as Sirianni suffered the first home playoff loss of his career in a matchup featuring plenty of penalties and drama on the sideline.

  • Eagles grades: Another overly conservative offensive performance results in season-ending flop

    Eagles grades: Another overly conservative offensive performance results in season-ending flop

    Instant grades on the Eagles’ performance in their 23-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers:

    Quarterback: C-

    Jalen Hurts struggled in the windy conditions, especially when throwing over 20 yards. He also left the pocket too early a bunch even though he often had time. He did have a few nice moments in the drop-back game and again protected the ball. It wasn’t all on Hurts, of course. The offense went into conservative mode for like the 100th time this season.

    But some of Hurts’ flaws as a passer were on display, and the Eagles may have to go back to the drawing board in finding him a compatible coach this offseason.

    Kevin Patullo’s offense wastes two Quinyon Mitchell interceptions in crushing playoff loss | Marcus Hayes

    Hurts showed great patience on his touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert in the second quarter. Hurts waited for his tight end to break free and fired a dart for a 9-yard touchdown on fourth down. His fourth-down pass in the first quarter was late and nearly intercepted, although the play wasn’t exactly desirable vs. man coverage. In the third quarter, Hurts seemed to unnecessarily leave the pocket on a drop that resulted in a throwaway.

    Running back: B

    Saquon Barkley started hot, cooled off, and got cooking again late. He had three carries for 23 yards in the fourth quarter before a run for no gain resulted in him hobbling off. Barkley would return and finished with 106 yards on 26 carries.

    He started the game with a 29-yard run off the right edge and went into halftime with 71 yards on 15 carries.

    As a receiver, Barkley gained 20 yards on a screen pass in the second quarter. In the third quarter he dropped what could have been a third-down conversion.

    Our first glimpse of Tank Bigsby came in the second quarter when he was split outside and motioned into the backfield. The decoy didn’t fool the 49ers, who dropped DeVonta Smith in the flat for no gain.

    Bigsby spelled Barkley in the backfield later and rushed three times for 20 yards. The next time he got a handoff, he went lateral and was dropped for a loss, finishing with four carries for 19 yards.

    Receiver/Tight end: D+

    With the Eagles ground-and-pounding, the drop-back pass offense wasn’t often featured. Wide receiver A.J. Brown was involved early, but not much after that. He appeared to get dinged up on a deep post route that ended up incomplete, but returned almost immediately and couldn’t pull in a third-down fade that bounced off his hands.

    The TV broadcast caught Nick Sirianni yelling at Brown to get off the field, and the receiver didn’t seem to like it and went back at his coach. Brown later couldn’t pull in a third-down catch over the middle, which was costly.

    DeVonta Smith did a lot of dirty work with catches underneath. He finished with eight grabs for 70 yards. Smith’s 14-yard pickup on a third-and-15 hitch route got the Eagles into fourth-down Tush Push range. Dallas Goedert — the Eagles’ leader in touchdowns on the regular season — scored their first of the postseason on a 1-yard jet sweep. He also had a receiving touchdown. Goedert struggled as a run blocker and had a few moments that led to losses. He made a huge fourth-down catch after Brown’s drop.

    Receiver Darius Cooper converted third-and-7 in the first quarter with a 9-yard grab over the middle. Cooper’s holding penalty negated Barkley’s 11-yard catch in the fourth quarter. Tight end Grant Calcaterra had a poor blocking attempt on a Barkley run that was stopped at the line of scrimmage.

    Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert celebrates a second-quarter touchdown with tight end Grant Calcaterra on Sunday.

    Offensive line: C-

    The unit mostly could push around an inferior 49ers front that was missing key players on the line and at the second level. Inside zone runs were particularly effective. The pass protection was sound as Hurts often had time in the pocket. He was sacked once.

    With Lane Johnson unable to go, despite practicing in a limited capacity for the first time since a foot injury, Fred Johnson started at right tackle for an eighth straight game. He left on the opening drive, and was replaced by Matt Pryor, but missed just one play. Johnson had a third-down false start.

    Center Cam Jurgens had another rough outing. His holding penalty brought back a Hurts 10-yard draw. A drive later, Jurgens was driven back and Barkley was dropped for a loss. He did have the pulling lead block on a Barkley 6-yarder in the second quarter.

    The other four O-linemen all had good moments in the run and pass protection: left guard Landon Dickerson, left tackle Jordan Mailata, right guard Tyler Steen and Johnson. The Tush Push made a triumphant return with two successful attempts.

    Defensive line: B-

    49ers quarterback Brock Purdy didn’t have a lot of time in the pocket, but he did escape containment a few times and make big throws. His 262 yards on 18 of 31 passing seemed to be more on the secondary than the pass rush. He was sacked only once, though.

    The Eagles held running back Christian McCaffrey to just 1.6 yards on eight carries in the first half. Defensive tackle Jordan Davis was a beast up front, per usual, and led the Eagles with four stops before halftime. He made three straight stops on McCaffrey in the second quarter that forced fourth down.

    Outside linebacker Nolan Smith was just as impactful as a run stopper and had three tackles in the first half.

    Defensive tackle Jalen Carter cleaned up to sack Purdy after outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips won with an inside move and forced the quarterback to step up. Carter failed to wrap up McCaffrey on a third-quarter 9-yard rush — his longest carry to that point.

    Moro Ojomo made sure Purdy didn’t turn the corner on an early third-down scramble. Jalyx Hunt had a relatively quiet day, considering how well he played in the second half of the season. Facing a future Hall of Famer in Trent Williams will make even the best look merely mortal.

    The Eagles defense had early success stopping 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, here being tackled by linebacker Nolan Smith in the first quarter.

    Linebacker: C+

    The linebackers were exposed at times in pass coverage. Nakobe Dean appeared to miss the shift in coverage when fullback Kyle Juszczyk motioned across the formation and was wide-open for a 27-yard pass in the third quarter. Dean was in coverage on McCaffrey’s go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, but Purdy had time after stepping up.

    Zack Baun finished with six tackles. He made a run stop near the line in the third quarter.

    Eagles go cold in second half as 49ers end their bid to repeat as Super Bowl champs

    Cornerback: B

    The 49ers, particularly their pass offense, suffered a blow when tight end George Kittle tore his Achilles in the second quarter. But a cast of relative unknowns still gashed the Eagles’ secondary at times.

    Quinyon Mitchell had two big second-half interceptions. Mitchell somehow has four postseason picks, but none in the regular season in his two-year career. The recently named first-team All-Pro had a rough opening drive. The 49ers went at him on their first pass with receiver Demarcus Robinson catching a 61-yard pass over Mitchell. Later in the drive, Robinson beat him inside on a 2-yard touchdown catch in the back of the end zone. But he bounced back on the next drive and broke up a pass to Kittle and was big time in the second half.

    Cooper DeJean was closest in coverage when receiver Jauan Jennings caught a 45-yard pass out of the slot on the seam route in the second quarter. DeJean broke up a pass to Jennings into the end zone late in the game. Adoree’ Jackson played too soft on third down-and-long, and Robinson caught a 15-yard pass to convert. Jackson got beat by Robinson again on a 15-yard out route after the break.

    Safety: C+

    Marcus Epps tackled Kittle after the tight end’s first and only catch of the game for 6 yards. Kittle never got up on his own and had to be carted off. Epps picked up an illegal use of the hands penalty. He had good coverage on McCaffrey on an errant third-down throw in the third quarter.

    Reed Blankenship appeared to be the guilty party when a 49ers trick play freed McCaffrey for a 29-yard touchdown catch made over the shoulder to open the fourth quarter. Michael Carter was used in certain nickel packages on obvious passing downs.

    Special teams: C

    Jake Elliott rebounded after an extra-point attempt doinked off the left upright after the Eagles’ first touchdown. He made his next PAT, a 41-yard field goal, and a go-ahead 33-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. Braden Mann averaged 44 net yards on four punts. He skyrocketed a 58-yard boomer with no return in the third quarter.

    The 49ers kicked away from Will Shipley, but he made a nice tackle on the opening kickoff. Britain Covey averaged 30.5 yards on two kick returns. He didn’t have a punt return.

    Shell-shocked Eagles locker room emotional after losing to the 49ers

    Coaching: F

    We’ve seen this movie before with Nick Sirianni’s team this season. The offense performs solidly to start the game and then goes into overly conservative mode and melts down. It wasn’t all on his game plan and the play-calling; the execution was lacking, too. But Sirianni is responsible for it all, and his team failed, once again, to get out of the first round and won’t repeat as Super Bowl champions.

    He gambled early on fourth-and-2 at the San Fran 48. It was aggressive but not reckless. The Eagles failed to convert, but Sirianni was rewarded for his gumption a drive later when a fourth-and-2 attempt resulted in Hurts’ touchdown pass to Goedert.

    Offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo’s successful play-calling in the red zone continued in the postseason with the Eagles converting their first two trips inside the 20 into touchdowns. After a solid start, though, the offense struggled and went three-and-out on three straight possessions. The execution wasn’t sound, but a run on second-and-18 in the third quarter was indicative of Patullo’s play-calling over that stretch. His future at his current post clearly is uncertain.

    Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s unit again folded under the weight of the offense’s inefficiency. That said, his defense was way too leaky in pass coverage. Fangio quickly adjusted after his group allowed a touchdown on the opening drive. He was able to stop McCaffrey on the ground with mostly a four-man front and nickel personnel. The Eagles did allow two explosive pass plays in the first half — one for 61 yards and another that went for 45 yards.

    There were more explosives allowed through the air in the second half, including a double-reverse option play with Jennings tossing the touchdown pass to McCaffrey.

    We’ve seen this story before from Nick Sirianni’s Eagles teams.
  • Kevin Patullo’s offense wastes two Quinyon Mitchell interceptions in crushing Eagles playoff loss

    Kevin Patullo’s offense wastes two Quinyon Mitchell interceptions in crushing Eagles playoff loss

    This time last year, few fans outside of the most rabid of the NFL knew who Kevin Patullo was. For the record, he was the Eagles’ passing game coordinator and coach Nick Sirianni’s favorite lieutenant.

    Now, everybody knows his name. After 18 games of ineptitude as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator, Patullo will bear the blame for the lost season of 2025, no matter how much he looks like his buddy, Nick.

    Patullo cannot survive the week. The blame will fall to him.

    It might not be true. The defense needed two months to round into shape.

    It might not be fair. Sixty percent of the offensive line was injured to some degree all season, and neither wide receiver A.J. Brown nor running back Saquon Barkley played to his usual standards.

    Still, it’s hard to believe that owner Jeffrey Lurie, who spent $128 million on an offense that cost him more than twice what the defense cost, will give another chance to the least popular assistant coach since Juan Castillo moved from offensive line to defensive coordinator in 2011. Castillo was fired in October 2012, two months ahead of Andy Reid’s departure.

    An offense that featured Barkley, Brown, Jalen Hurts, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, and a well-paid, pedigreed offensive line scored two early touchdowns against the visiting 49ers on Sunday night. And then just six more points.

    It had been 22 years since the Eagles suffered such a gutting home playoff loss, a 14-3 collapse in the NFC championship game. Move over, Carolina.

    The Eagles gave away a 23-19 wild-card playoff loss to a 49ers team that had crossed three time zones with a depleted roster, that, after the second quarter, also had lost one of its better players, tight end George Kittle. Hurts and Patullo’s offense had a chance to score the winning touchdown in the closing minutes, but the drive broke down and failed at the 21-yard line on the quarterback’s fourth-down incompletion intended for Goedert with 40 seconds left.

    Asked his evaluation of Patullo’s first season, Hurts replied: “We’ve all got to get better.”

    Eagles tackle Fred Johnson sits on the bench after the loss to the San Francisco 49ers at Lincoln Financial Field.

    Left tackle Jordan Mailata said, effectively, let he who is without sin cast the first stone:

    “Nobody wants to blame the guy we paid $22 million, so let’s blame the offensive coordinator,” said Mailata, who averages $22 million per season.

    Niners coach Kyle Shanahan acts as his team’s play-caller, and, despite absences and injury, he gave Patullo a master class in scheme and preparation.

    The 49ers’ first possession, comprised mainly of passes for 61 and 11 yards, lent credence to the people who wanted the Eagles to play their starters instead of resting them in Game 17 the week before. The defense looked more than just rusty. It looked inept.

    The Eagles’ maligned offense somehow stayed sharper than their celebrated defense. On its first possession, six runs from Barkley helped move the Eagles to the 1, where tight end Goedert ran the ball for just the fourth time in his career and scored his first rushing touchdown.

    What if everything isn’t Kevin Patullo’s fault? What if the Eagles’ aging, exhausted offense just stinks?

    The Eagles’ next score happened because Barkley waited for Landon Dickerson to block a defender on a 20-yard screen pass. Later, Hurts waited for a defender to clear the path between himself and Goedert, whom Hurts found for a 9-yard touchdown pass.

    The game was punctuated by a sideline incident with 2 minutes, 2 seconds to play in the first half as the Eagles prepared to punt. Head coach Nick Sirianni ran 30 yards down the sideline toward the touchy wide receiver Brown, who, in Sirianni’s view, was taking too much time exiting the field. Brown stopped and appeared to heatedly argue the point. Security chief Dom DiSandro separated them.

    A few seconds later Brown left the bench and shouted in Sirianni’s direction, and was ushered away by sideline personnel and teammates.

    Some of the stars starred.

    Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts runs off the field after the loss to the 49ers.

    Goedert, who this season set an Eagles record with 11 touchdown catches, tied for the league lead, ran for one touchdown — the first tight end to do so in NFL playoff history — and caught another.

    Quinyon Mitchell, the team’s best defensive back since Brian Dawkins, collected his third and fourth interceptions in his five career playoff games.

    Barkley ran 26 times for 106 yards and caught a 20-yard pass.

    Brown? He managed just three catches for 25 yards. He failed on two consecutive deep shots to connect with Hurts, disconnects that immediately preceded his latest sideline incident.

    Eagles go cold in second half as 49ers end their bid to repeat as Super Bowl champs

    Brown often has expressed frustration with the Eagles offense the past two seasons. Sunday, as he has done for more than a month, he left the locker room without fulfilling his league-mandated obligation to speak with reporters.

    It continued the season’s theme:

    Brown wearing a frown.

    Patullo’s offense breaking down.

    Philly might have seen the last of both of them.

  • Eagles go cold in second half as 49ers end their bid to repeat as Super Bowl champs

    Eagles go cold in second half as 49ers end their bid to repeat as Super Bowl champs

    In the end, the Eagles offense couldn’t rise to the occasion, a shortcoming it had all season long.

    With under a minute remaining in the wild-card round Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, Jalen Hurts was tasked with driving down the field and leading a touchdown drive to erase the Eagles’ 23-19 deficit. Upon reaching the 49ers’ 20-yard line, Hurts was sacked and threw three straight incompletions, ending the Eagles’ aspirations of repeating as Super Bowl champions.

    There were three lead changes in the fourth quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. The 49ers managed to pull off the win without injured inside linebacker Fred Warner, defensive end Nick Bosa, and tight end George Kittle, who suffered a torn Achilles tendon in the second quarter.

    Here’s our instant analysis from the Eagles’ loss to the 49ers:

    Nick Sirianni’s first home playoff loss was a story of missed opportunities.

    Tale of two halves, again

    The Eagles offense followed an all-too-familiar script — it came out strong in the first half, only to disappear at times in the second.

    In the first half, Kevin Patullo and Nick Sirianni opted to run early and often to great success. On the second play of the Eagles’ opening drive, Saquon Barkley took a handoff from Hurts in the shotgun, bounced to his right, and scampered upfield for a gain of 29 yards. His run helped set up the Eagles’ first touchdown of the day, a 1-yard run by Dallas Goedert to make it 7-6, 49ers, after a missed Jake Elliott point-after.

    Barkley finished the first quarter with nine carries for 48 yards (5.3 yards per carry).

    Barkley had an up-and-down showing in the passing game. First, the good. In the second quarter, Hurts had an unblocked defender in his face on second-and-6 from midfield, and dumped the ball off to Barkley, who turned a routine checkdown into a 20-yard gain.

    His play eventually led to Goedert’s second touchdown of the game, a 9-yard catch that made it 13-7, Eagles.

    Then, the not-so-good. On third-and-3 from the Eagles’ 37-yard line early in the third quarter, Barkley dropped a pass in the open field, causing the Eagles to go three-and-out for a second straight possession.

    His woes continued in the second half. After averaging 4.7 yards per carry (71 yards on 15 carries) in the first, Barkley went for 0.8 yards per carry (six carries for 5 yards) in the third quarter.

    Patullo and Sirianni seemed to lean conservative in their play calls in the third quarter as they clung to their 13-10 lead. Three plays after Quinyon Mitchell’s first interception of the night in the third quarter, Barkley was stuffed for a loss of a yard by 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir on a second-and-18 zone run.

    The Eagles lost nine yards on the four-play drive and punted. On the following possession, still up by three, the Eagles settled for a 41-yard field goal. They had seemingly waved the white flag on third-and-13 with a Hurts 4-yard keeper, appearing content to take the points. However, Sirianni pushed back on the notion that he had grown conservative in the second half.

    “I think that’s always the go-to [perception] if it [doesn’t] go the way you want,” Sirianni said. “If it goes the way you want it to go in the first half and then not the second half, I think that’s the go-to of people [thinking] you take your foot off the gas, but we were playing more balanced, got the run game going a little bit, trying to mix our play actions in, trying to get our passes in to create explosives. At the end of the day, we didn’t create enough explosives.”

    Barkley was slightly more effective in the fourth quarter, and was able to return after being hobbled by a leg injury after a hard hit that caused him to miss snaps. But at that point, the Eagles were often in catch-up mode due to the 49ers scoring a pair of touchdowns.

    Rare drops plagued A.J. Brown. The 28-year-old receiver had three receptions on seven targets for 25 yards. On the Eagles’ final possession, he dropped a third-down pass over the middle of the field, only to be bailed out by Goedert’s conversion on the ensuing fourth down. With the season on the line, Goedert was targeted later in the drive on fourth-and-11 from the 49ers’ 21, but linebacker Eric Kendricks broke up Hurts’ pass.

    As a passer, Hurts went 20-for-35 (57.1%) for 168 yards and one touchdown. While the Eagles won the turnover battle, they didn’t win the explosive play battle. Hurts’ longest pass went for 20 yards and Barkley’s longest run was 29, marking the Eagles’ only plays of 20-plus yards.

    “I take ownership for not being able to put points on the board,” Hurts said postgame. “It all starts with me and ends with me. And so there’s a sense of a lot there that you can learn from. I think as a team, as a collective group and personally for me as a quarterback, how you see the game, how you feel the game, and ultimately just, ‘OK, how can I find a way to win?’ We weren’t able to do that today.”

    Quinyon Mitchell logged two interceptions in a losing effort for the Eagles.

    Mitchell’s two picks for naught

    Quinyon Mitchell, named to his first All-Pro team on Saturday, stepped up in the second half in an attempt to reinvigorate the Eagles offense.

    The 24-year-old cornerback contributed a pair of interceptions, keeping the surging 49ers offense off the field and giving Hurts & Co. an opportunity to put points on the board.

    However, the Eagles only mustered a field goal off his picks. On his first interception in the third quarter, Mitchell undercut an erratic play-action pass intended for Skyy Moore, giving the Eagles offense prime field position at their own 48.

    They punted after four plays, one of which was a Cam Jurgens holding call on second-and-10.

    One series after the 49ers took a 17-16 lead on a fourth-quarter trick play — a 29-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Jauan Jennings to Christian McCaffrey — Mitchell struck again. Again, he undercut Brock Purdy’s pass, this time intended for 49ers tight end Jake Tonges.

    The Eagles began the series at their own 38 and managed to move the ball 32 yards on eight plays. But the wind proved problematic in the passing game. Late in the drive, a deep pass intended for Jahan Dotson in the end zone died in the wind, eventually leading the Eagles to settle for a field goal. Elliott made the 33-yard attempt, putting the Eagles up, 19-17, with eight minutes remaining.

    Ultimately, Mitchell’s interceptions proved to be missed opportunities for the Eagles offense.

    The Eagles defense made some big plays but also had key miscues and allowed Christian McCaffery to get into the end zone twice.

    Mistakes haunt Eagles

    A litany of mistakes crippled the Eagles on both sides of the ball. The Eagles lacked detail, one of Sirianni’s core values, reflected by their seven penalties for 48 yards. The 49ers, conversely, were flagged once for 15 yards.

    The Eagles’ mistakes led to 49ers points. Late in the fourth quarter, the Eagles up 19-17, Reed Blankenship was flagged for holding Tonges on second-and-6 just outside the red zone. His transgression wiped away a Jalen Carter sack and gave the 49ers a fresh set of downs at the 20.

    The 49ers took advantage of his mistake, as Purdy connected with McCaffrey on a 4-yard touchdown pass to regain the lead, 23-19.

    “I should have never held him,” Blankenship said. “I thought I was pretty late. But at the end of the day, I’ve just got to be better doing that and be better doing my job.”

    The defense also had breakdowns in coverage. Wide receiver Demarcus Robinson’s 61-yard reception against Mitchell on the second play of the game brought the 49ers into the red zone. Robinson caught a 2-yard play-action pass for a touchdown, also against Mitchell, putting the 49ers up, 7-0.

    In the second quarter, Jennings had a 45-yard reception while aligned in the slot, slipping past Cooper DeJean to make the grab. His big play eventually led to points, too, in the form of a 36-yard field goal.

    Elliott’s missed extra point was also costly. Had he made it, the Eagles could have played to tie the game with a field goal on their final possession.