Instant observations from 49ers 23, Eagles 19: A disappointing end to the 2025 Eagles season

After winning the NFC East, the 11-6 and No. 3 seeded Philadelphia Eagles took on the 12-5 and No. 6 seeded San Francisco 49ers in the wild-card round of the playoffs on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.

The 49ers led 17-16 early in the fourth quarter on a trick-play touchdown pass from Jauan Jennings to Christian McCaffrey. After the Eagles responded with a field goal, Brock Purdy led to a 66-yard scoring to drive to beat the Eagles 23-19.

And that was how it ended, with Jalen Hurts driving deep into San Francisco territory and turning the ball over on downs. The Eagles’ season, and their repeat bid, is now over.

Here are the PHLY Eagles staff’s observations.

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EJ Smith

The story of this Eagles season was foreshadowed by a Jalen Hurts quote a few months earlier.

“Some things don’t get you until they get you.”

The sentiment loomed large even in the weeks leading up to the Eagles’ 23-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers and turned out to be the difference in the end. The prolonged periods of offensive stagnation, conservative play-calling and shaky kicking game each reared their ugly heads on Sunday and ended the Eagles season in the first round.

For as shaky as the offensive production was, the defense was nearly better. Quinyon Mitchell levied a big-time response to the 49ers circling him of all people as the vulnerability in the Eagles secondary with two interceptions.

But the defensive performance wasn’t enough to mask an uninspiring performance from the Eagles offense. This was about as tense as I’ve seen Lincoln Financial Field in my seven years covering this team, and for good reason with the most expensive offense in the NFL mustering just 19 points despite being granted several short fields.

Kevin Patullo will be under heavy scrutiny going into the offseason and deservedly so. Still, it may not be so simple to solve the rut the Eagles offense dug itself into this year with just one offseason change.

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Bo Wulf

Well, at least they died how they lived. Running the ball on 2nd and 10.

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Rich Hofmann

This game was the worst nightmare of every Eagles fan.

San Francisco, missing a million players (and George Kittle), has an offensive identity. They marry the run and the pass. They do not fall asleep for at least an hour every single week. They continually put pressure on the Eagles defense, one of the league’s best in the second half of the season. The Eagles offense went 3-and-out against one of the worst defenses in the NFL on four of five possessions in the middle of the game. Losing football.

I think back to the regular season game against the 49ers in 2023. Howie Roseman learned a lesson in that game, that investing in the defensive back-seven is important. The lesson is just as clear this time: There is a need for a major reinvestment on the offensive side of the ball with personnel, and a total overhaul of the offensive philosophy.

Much has been made of the high standard that Eagles fans have held this team to all season. And to be clear, repeating is very difficult. But what will sting in Philadelphia for a long time is that in a wide-open NFL playoffs, a talented Eagles team did not come close to meeting its usual standard on offense.

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Jamie Lynch

Did not have Kyle Shanahan attacking Quinyon Mitchell to start the game on my bingo card, but that was something! GREAT response by Saquon & the Eagles offense to neutral it right back. Outside of two explosive plays the Niners had, the Eagles defense kept things in check for the first half.

So much conservative offensive play calling in the second half that definitely made it seem like they weren’t calling plays to win the game, they called plays to protect a lead. Enough to make a grown man puke.

So much pain, such a bad offense. So many chances to win the game. This offense is so pitiful. Wholesale change was needed. Should’ve gone for a 2 point conversion earlier in the game.

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Fran Duffy

And just like that … the season is over.

This game went about how I expected it. A low-scoring defensive battle. The Eagles offense and defense both showed more of what we’ve come to expect from them throughout the year. Long bouts of ineffective play from Jalen Hurts and company. Long bouts of hoisting the team on their backs from Vic Fangio’s unit.

On offense, it was apparent from the jump that the Eagles wanted to assert themselves on the ground in this game. Saquon Barkley had more carries in the first quarter than he had in any other game this year. He and Tank Bigsby combined to rush for 91 yards rushing in the first half. They could not get rolling in the second half, as the Eagles failed to convert on third down six straight times, a stretch that included three consecutive three-and-outs. Some crucial penalties eliminated positive plays throughout the game as well.

Defensively, they gave up a quick scoring drive to start off the game but, in typical Fangio fashion, put the clamps on the opponent through the majority of the contest. The 49ers lost George Kittle early, but the run game was basically non-existent. After several drives of offensive futility, the group gave up an explosive play on a trick play to Christian McCaffrey on the first play of the fourth quarter. Kyle Shanahan had to pull out all the stops to combat Fangio.

So … now what? It’s going to be a long offseason, one where you can guarantee a good amount of turnover, and I would expect that turnover to happen both on the sidelines and on the field. There’s a lot to fix on offense.