By: Kylan Watson

The San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles faced off in Philadelphia for the chance to go to the Super Bowl in Arizona. The match-up between these two teams did not disappoint, both offenses worked for everything but the Eagles were able to dominate San Francisco’s overmatched offensive line to get enough turnovers for Philly’s offense to take full advantage of. The Eagles used their running game to crush the Niners 31-7 and get to their fourth super bowl in franchise history and second in five years.

The Eagles and 49ers are two of the top defenses in the league and both units played like it tonight. It was tough sledding in all phases for both teams. The Eagles were able to march down the field and thanks to a Devonta Smith one handed catch that set the stage for Miles Sanders to put Philly in front seven-nothing. After that opening drive the Niners defense stiffened up to make things very difficult for Philly’s offensive unit. Their gameplan was very pass heavy and the on the deep pass opportunities that they did have, Jalen Hurts missed a pass to AJ Brown that would have blown this game wide open in the second quarter. However, the Eagles rushing game came to play tonight Sanders found the end zone twice tonight as Philly took full advantage of the overaggressive play of the 49ers front seven. They rushed for 148-yards and had three of the Eagles four touchdowns tonight. The Eagles showed why they are one of the most dynamic offenses in the league as they switched to the running game tonight when the pass game proved ineffective against the Niners tough secondary unit. That’s all they needed tonight as the best offensive line in football dominated the trenches and made sure they had enough room to at least get two yards per rush. The Niners had no answers for it tonight and that’s why Philly is headed to their second Super Bowl game in five years.

Despite being dominated in the trenches this game was still winnable for the 49ers, they were able to storm back into this game after Christian McCaffrey scored a touchdown to tie the game and that was the closest the Niners would be in this game. As a Josh Johnson turnover cost, them a chance to go in front and it set up another Miles Sanders touchdown and Haason Reddick ended the Niners hopes early in this game as he forced Brock Purdy to turn the ball over thanks to a sack and on that play, Purdy injured his elbow. That injury put the 49ers in an insurmountable hole that they could not dig out of.

This contest came down to a battle of the trenches and the Eagles offensive and defensive line dominated this game and whichever team wins tonight between the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs will have to deal with the two best lines in the league. Both the Bengals and the Chiefs are dealing with injuries to their offensive line so the Eagles front seven should be able to feast on their weakened offensive lines in two weeks in Arizona and put either Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow on the ground. Philly will also need to find a way to get their pass game working again, they were able to grind it out tonight. However, Jalen Hurts will need to be better as a passer if the Eagles want to get their second title in five years.