The Eagles fly to Super Bowl LVII and beat the battered Niners 31-7 in the NFC title game

PHILADELPHIA (WCMH) — The Philadelphia Eagles head to Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Arizona, after a 31-7 win over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game at Lincoln Financial Field.

The lopsided win was highlighted primarily by injuries to the 49ers’ two quarterbacks, Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson. The injuries forced San Francisco to call only running plays or short screen passes for the entire second half, as Philadelphia hit four rushing touchdowns on offense and forced three turnovers.

The Eagles will now face either the Kansas City Chiefs or the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl on February 12 in an attempt to win the franchise’s second NFL championship.

Philadelphia started the game with early momentum after a highlight reel game. On the 4th and 3rd, the Eagles decided to keep the chance of a TD alive, and it paid off. Jalen Hurts scrambled away and found Devonta Smith running down the sideline as Smith grabbed a one-handed hold for a 29-yard gain. Further replays long after the game showed the ball hit the field and Smith failed to complete the catch.

Even so, running back Miles Sanders would swing in at the 7-0 Eagles from six yards out.

The Eagles then forced an early fumble when Brock Purdy was hit by Haason Reddick as Purdy moved his arm back to throw. The ball was taken from his hand after a duel before he could throw it forward. Despite the huge snack, Philly couldn’t score on the subsequent drive.

The punch to Purdy caused a right elbow injury, meaning Josh Johnson, San Fran’s fourth QB this season, came in while Purdy was looked at. The first 15 minutes ended only with Sanders’ touchdown and Philly’s 7-0 lead.

With Johnson in the QB, San Francisco running back Christian McCaffrey carried offense on Niner’s six-play, 46-yard scoring drive early in the second quarter. McCaffrey was able to dance through Eagles defenders and pull through to scamper for a 23-yard TD and tie the game at 7 a piece. It was his ninth straight game with a touchdown.

Philadelphia retook the lead with a nearly seven-minute drive across the field to make it 14-7, finishing with Sander’s second touchdown run of the day from 13 yards. Eagles were then lucky to get a second snack when Johnson fumbled a shotgun shot and couldn’t recover it at 1:11 in the first half.

A face mask penalty from the Niners led to an easy 10-yard touchdown run from Boston Scott to extend the Eagles’ lead to 21-7 at halftime. Philly’s three rushing TDs in the first half took the team to 38 this season, including the playoffs, to break the NFL all-time record. That record would be broken on the Eagles’ next scoring drive.

The third quarter began with another San Francisco quarterback injury. Johnson was sacked hard and took a big hit to the back of the head as he fell onto the field. He was ruled out for the game due to a concussion, forcing Purdy to return to the game with his elbow injury.

The day in San Francisco went from bad to worse after multiple defensive penalties gave the Eagles yards and first downs on a drive late in the third quarter. Hurts was then pushed in for Philadelphia’s fourth rushing TD of the day and a 28-7 win. His TD run set a new NFL record for rushing TDs by a QB in a season, including the playoffs, at 15.

With Purdy in San Francisco, only running games went with him under center and had little chance of making a comeback. The Eagles win sent the franchise to its fourth Super Bowl and second in the last six seasons.

Philadelphia lost Super Bowl XV to the Oakland Raiders and Super Bowl XXXIX to the New England Patriots before winning its first Vince Lombardi Trophy after beating the Patriots in Super Bowl LII five years ago.

The 49ers have now lost two straight conference championship games, extending their Super Bowl drought to 29 years.