Eagles versus 49ers: Expert shares San Francisco’s biggest weaknesses

It’s been quite the week. Admittedly, we’ve felt both adrenaline and fatigue. We’ve felt waves of confidence before allowing that to give way to worry. More often than not, however, thoughts about the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers game led us through the same pattern of thoughts over and over again.

The Eagles at their best are better than the Niners at their best. Whether you agree or not, arguments can be made that Philly is better at every position group than San Francisco, even if they’re only slightly better. Jalen Hurts is a better and more advanced quarterback than Brock Purdy.

Here’s the bonus, and it’s huge. There’s no way that Brock Purdy can walk into Lincoln Financial Field and walk out with a win… right? See… There’s that worry again. The game can’t get here fast enough. We’re running out of things to discuss. Then again…

Ahead of the Eagles’ clash with San Francisco, we sat down with a 49ers expert to discuss everything from under-the-radar players to San Fran’s weaknesses.

Once we realized we had exhausted our knowledge of the 49ers roster, coaching staff, and locker room, we came up with an idea. Let’s go behind enemy lines.

Peter Panacy is the editor at NinerNoise.com, FanSided’s home for all things related to the 49ers. We picked his brain on topics both public and private with the team he covers daily, and of course, we talked about the coming NFC Championship Game. What follows are some of the results of that conversation.

Inside The Iggles:

Brock Purdy is enjoying a Cinderella run, the likes of which we haven’t seen since Kurt Warner. Can he keep this up?

Panacy:

Brock Purdy is resilient, I’ll say that much. Every week seems to be the one when he should come crashing back down to earth, but he doesn’t. And, even when he hasn’t had his best games, he usually is responsible for helping the 49ers win somehow.

Case in point, in the divisional round against the Cowboys, Purdy wasn’t great, but he protected the ball and didn’t turn it over despite being under constant pressure.

It’s hard to say if he’ll be able to keep this kind of thing up. But the supporting cast is there, and that’ll help matters a lot.

Inside The Iggles:

What happens to Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo during the offseason? Obviously, San Fran will roll with Purdy now, right?

Panacy:

Jimmy Garoppolo is a free agent this offseason. If I was his agent, and in light of the awkwardness Garoppolo has gone through with San Francisco the last two seasons, I’d be telling him to steer clear of re-signing with the Niners. 

Unless there’s a ton of money and a guaranteed spot as a starter, of course, but that doesn’t seem to be what’ll happen. 

Things get more interesting with Trey Lance, though. With the 49ers having invested so much in him, it’s far too soon to completely give up on him even though he’s been in the league for two years now with little to show for it. 

It’ll be a competition in training camp, but Purdy is well in the lead.

Inside The Iggles:

The 49ers are stacked! What would you consider as this team’s biggest weaknesses on the offensive and defensive side of the ball? Where can the Eagles attack?

Panacy:

It is an embarrassment of riches, yes. But no team is perfect, and the 49ers aren’t an exception. 

On offense, the right side of the offensive line is a bit questionable. It hasn’t been bad in the run game, but pass protection is still a bit of a liability. Going up against an elite-level Eagles pass rush should be worrisome in this regard. On the other side of the ball, the only notable weakness is at cornerback where the depth behind Charvarius Ward isn’t particularly great. Things were OK before Emmanuel Moseley suffered a torn ACL earlier this year, but at least that unit isn’t as bad as it was in 2021.

Inside The Iggles:

Who are the wildcards? Who are the guys that may not be stars but stand the best chance of leading San Francisco to victory over the Eagles?

Panacy:

It’s always a wild card player who winds up making all the difference in a championship game, right? 

San Francisco has a few of those players, too, and one I’m looking at is running back Elijah Mitchell. All eyes are on Christian McCaffrey, and rightfully so, but Mitchell has the blazing-fast speed and might be the home-run threat later after halftime.

Fullback Kyle Juszczyk is a big name at his position but not necessarily a household one, and he usually ends up doing something big in games like this one. 

As far as the defense? Perhaps it’s one of the pass-rushers behind Nick Bosa like Samson Ebukam or Drake Jackson who’ll need to deliver a big play.

Inside The Iggles:

What’s your prediction for how this one plays out? Give me a prediction on the final score as well.

Panacy:

Well, I can’t go against the 49ers this time around, but I’ll happily be pulling for whichever team comes out of the NFC when the Super Bowl rolls around. 

It’ll be a low-scoring game with both defenses clamping down, as was the case between the Niners and Cowboys. But the run games for both teams wind up being the key factors, and I’ll have to give the edge to San Francisco there. And if that plays out, perhaps the 49ers pull off a 21-17 victory in this one. 

Watch, it’ll be a 35-31 finale, though!