Miles Sanders rushed for two touchdowns, Haason Reddick delivered a huge performance and the Philadelphia Eagles are headed to the Super Bowl after posting a 31-7 victory over the visiting San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday.
Jalen Hurts passed for 121 yards and rushed for a touchdown as the top-seeded Eagles advanced to their first Super Bowl in five years and fourth overall. Boston Scott tacked on a rushing score while Reddick had two sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
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Second-seeded San Francisco was left without firepower after rookie quarterback Brock Purdy injured his right elbow in the first quarter after a blow from Reddick. He later re-entered the game in the third quarter after backup Josh Johnson sustained a concussion.
Purdy was 4-of-4 passing for 23 yards but threw just two short passes after returning despite the 49ers facing a large deficit. Johnson completed 7 of 13 passes for 74 yards and Christian McCaffrey rushed for 84 yards and one score.
Philadelphia outgained San Francisco 269 to 164. The Eagles will face either the Cincinnati Bengals or the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Ariz.
The Eagles drove 66 yards on 11 plays on their first drive with Sanders ending it with a 6-yard scoring run.
On the sixth play after San Francisco took over, Reddick slammed into Purdy’s right arm. The ball slipped out of Purdy’s hand and was knocked up field by his wrist before being recovered by Philadelphia’s Linval Joseph at the Eagles’ 44-yard line.
Johnson took over on San Francisco’s next possession when Purdy determined he couldn’t throw the ball.
The 49ers tied the game in the second quarter when McCaffrey powered his way to a 23-yard touchdown run.
The Eagles regained the lead when Sanders rumbled through a big hole on a 13-yard run with 1:36 left.
On San Francisco’s next possession, Johnson took his eyes off a shotgun snap and dropped the ball, and Reddick recovered at the 49ers’ 30. Three plays later, Scott scored on a 10-yard run to give Philadelphia a 21-7 advantage 16 seconds before halftime.
Early in the third quarter, Johnson threw an incomplete pass and hit his head on the turf after a hit from Philadelphia’s Ndamukong Suh. He exited the game. Purdy finished the drive with a handoff and then returned for San Francisco’s next offensive drive.
The 49ers went three-and-out and punted the ball back to the Eagles. Philadelphia received help from a 15-yard roughing the kicker penalty while driving 91 yards on 15 plays, with Hurts scoring on a 1-yard keeper to make it 28-7 with 43 seconds left in the period.
–Field Level Media
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