BROCK Purdy threw for 314 yards and four touchdowns and the San Francisco 49ers overcame a shaky first quarter to pound the host Philadelphia Eagles 42-19 on Sunday in a rematch of last season’s National Football Conference (NFC) Championship Game.
Deebo Samuel caught four passes for 116 yards and accounted for three touchdowns (two receiving, one rushing) for the 49ers (9-3), who put together consecutive touchdown drives of 85, 90, 75, 77, 75 and 48 yards in a dominating performance.
Christian McCaffrey accounted for 133 scrimmage yards (93 rushing, 40 receiving) and rushed for a touchdown as San Francisco won its fourth straight game. Mr. McCaffrey topped 1,000 rushing yards for the fourth time. He has 1,032 this season.
Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings also caught touchdown passes for the 49ers. Mr. Purdy completed 19 of 27 passes as San Francisco outgained Philadelphia 456-333.
Jalen Hurts completed 26 of 45 passes for 298 yards and one touchdown and also rushed for a score for the Eagles (10-2). DeVonta Smith (nine receptions, 96 yards) caught a touchdown pass and A.J. Brown had eight catches for 114 yards for Philadelphia, which had its five-game winning streak halted. Mr. Hurts briefly left to be examined for a concussion after taking a hit late in third quarter and was replaced by Marcus Mariota. Hurts returned to the contest with 8:38 left in the game.
San Francisco lost 31-7 to the Eagles in last season’s NFC title game. Purdy sustained a major injury to his throwing elbow in the contest as the 49ers’ offense was non-existent.
This time around, San Francisco’s offense was clicking over the final three quarters, and Samuel’s 12-yard score on a reverse gave the 49ers a 21-6 lead with 11:41 left in the third quarter.
The Eagles moved back within eight on Mr. Hurts’ 1-yard keeper with 6:51 to go before Samuel caught a short pass from Purdy and turned it into a 48-yard touchdown to make it 28-13 with 3:54 left in the third. The lead grew to 22 when Mr. Purdy tossed an 18-yard scoring pass to Mr. Jennings with 10:43 remaining in the game.
Mr. Hurts threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Mr. Smith with 5:33 left, but the Eagles trailed 35-19 after an incomplete two-point conversion pass. Two offensive plays later, Mr. Samuel caught a receiver screen and navigated his way into the clear for a 46-yard touchdown to make it 42-19 with 5:19 to play.
The 49ers led 14-6 at halftime after dominating the second quarter.
In the first quarter, Philadelphia outgained San Francisco 124 to minus-6. But the Eagles had two 12-play drives stall and settled for field goals of 26 and 39 yards from Jake Elliott.
In the second quarter, the 49ers outgained Philadelphia 173-21 with Mr. Purdy hitting Mr. Aiyuk for a 2-yard score with 7:10 left and Mr. McCaffrey scoring from the Eagles 2 with 38 seconds to go. — Reuters
