Eagles vs 49ers: Grading San Francisco’s position groups before title game
. Offense. . player. 42. .
Kyle Shanahan is a genius. The Eagles can’t take the 49ers’ defense lightly.
This isn’t an exaggeration. Kyle Shanahan has already proven that he’s a genius. He is responsible for Matt Ryan’s MVP trophy. He made Kirk Cousins look like he was better than he is, and this season, he led San Francisco to the NFC’s second-best record AFTER losing Trey Lance AND Jimmy Garoppolo.
No one should be surprised that his team is in the NFC Championship Game. No one should be shocked that his offense is explosive.
Running backs: B
Elijah Mitchell and Tyrion Davis-Price have contributed here and there. Kyle Juszczyk makes teams wonder if they’d actually like to employ a fullback, but make no mistake about it. Christian McCaffrey is the star of the show.
Once upon a time, the Eagles thought about using a first-round choice on him, but the Carolina Panthers selected him eighth overall during the 2017 NFL Draft. Philly wound up with Derek Barnett at 14. The rest, as they say, is history.
Collectively, they were inefficient during the Divisional Round. Still, it’s hard to give them any grade other than above average as long as McCaffrey is on the roster.