Eagles overwhelm the 49ers in a 31-7 NFC championship win that sends them to Super Bowl LVII

The entirety of Lincoln Financial Field bobbed up and down in unison early in the fourth quarter Sunday.

The Eagles were cruising to a 31-7 win over the San Francisco 49ers for their fourth Super Bowl berth in franchise history and the second in five years.

It was time to dance.

“Seven Nation Army” gave way to “Shout,” and then an Eagles chant broke out as the music subsided and play resumed.

A while later, the confetti fell on the turf.

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The Eagles’ win was all but wrapped up going into the fourth quarter, giving fans enough time to scope out Super Bowl LVII tickets. Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and general manager Howie Roseman spent most of the quarter embracing players in celebration, and Jalen Hurts watched the final moments in a jacket while Gardner Minshew took the final knee of the game.

The Eagles are Super Bowl-bound.

Here’s our instant analysis off the game.

In the biggest game of his young career, DeVonta Smith made his mark early.

The receiver made an improbable one-handed diving catch to keep the Eagles’ opening series alive on fourth-and-3, gaining 29 yards and setting up a touchdown two plays later.

It was the type of catch that fans will still remember five years from now when discussing this playoff run and the type Smith has made a habit of making over the last two years.

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The Eagles’ 11-play, 66-yard opening drive was sparked by a strong return from Boston Scott. They faced fourth-and-3 when Hurts surveyed his options and escaped the pocket in search of an opening. Smith, running an out-breaking route, turned upfield and got behind San Francisco slot cornerback Jimmie Ward.

“With Jalen, no play is dead,” Smith said postgame. “You always have to stay alive. With his mobility, he’s always able to extend the play. So my mindset is always going to be to get open.”

Smith contorted his body for the acrobatic one-hander and popped up to signal that the Eagles needed to quick snap the next play before the 49ers had a chance to see a replay or challenge the catch. (The broadcast replay later showed the ball hitting the turf.) Two plays later, Miles Sanders found the end zone on a 6-yard run.

“Smart players do smart things,” coach Nick Sirianni said. “He did a smart thing right there. He made an unbelievable play.”

After the game, Smith said the win was the second best of his career.

“I give it two right now,” Smith said. “The job ain’t done yet. So I give it two.”

The 49ers’ revolving door of quarterbacks made a couple of more rotations at the worst possible time.

San Francisco’s opening drive ended with a Haason Reddick strip-sack that left quarterback Brock Purdy with an elbow injury.

Purdy, who took over at midseason after Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo each suffered season-ending injuries, was sidelined for the rest of the first half in favor of journeyman backup Josh Johnson.

Johnson was 7-for-13 for 74 yards when he took a hard hit from Eagles defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and smacked his head on the ground midway through the third quarter. Johnson was evaluated for a concussion, leading to a hindered Purdy returning but seldom throwing.

As quarterback-averse as the 49ers offense has been for most of the season, Purdy’s injury took the air out of the group driven by dynamic playmakers such as Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and George Kittle.

Purdy had just four passing attempts as the one-dimensional 49ers offense struggled to sustain drives. The seventh-round pick attempted two passes after returning from injury, even with the 49ers trailing by at least 21 points for the entire fourth quarter.

Reddick’s storybook run continued into Sunday.

The Camden native and former Temple standout, riled by his exclusion from the Associated Press’ defensive player of the year finalists, had another dominant showing on the biggest stage of his career.

By spurring the Eagles to a win, Reddick now gets a chance to go back to Arizona, where his career almost fizzled out.

Reddick’s forced fumble on the Niners’ opening drive was just the beginning. The edge rusher had another sack on Johnson the following drive that forced a punt two plays later and recovered a Johnson fumble in the second quarter.

After two dominant showings, Reddick is up to 3½ sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery in his first postseason. Javon Hargrave also logged a sack against the Niners and the defensive front tallied seven total quarterback hits.

“It definitely changed the game,” Sirianni said. “Those guys’ jobs are to hit the quarterback and affect the game and they sure did that today.”

Facing fourth-and-1 from his own 34, Sirianni kept his offense on the field.

Hindsight revealed how significantly the game hinged on Sirianni’s gutsy decision to call a quarterback sneak with the game tied at 7 midway through the second quarter. At the time, it seemed like a risky proposition against a 49ers team that hadn’t yet waved the white flag.

“You make the decision because you trust the people who are out there doing the job,” Sirianni said. “I trust Jason Kelce, I trust Isaac [Seumalo], I trust Landon [Dickerson], I trust Jalen to go do what they did in that scenario.”

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The Eagles responded by converting, and then promptly reeling off a 14-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. After Reddick’s recovered fumble on the Niners’ ensuing drive, the Eagles punched it in again and never looked back.

One of Hurts’ favorite artists was at midfield, but the quarterback seemed unfazed.

Anita Baker tried her hardest to move the Eagles quarterback, but the moment ahead of him seemed to win out.

Hurts’ numbers were modest: 15-for-25 for 121 yards through the air, 11 carries for 39 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Still, it was more than enough to put away the 49ers and give the Eagles their second decisive playoff win in as many weeks.

“They played a really good game,” Hurts said. “We ran the ball really well. They didn’t really give us many opportunities to take shots down the field. We had kind of some one-on-one shots and [they were] kind of hit or miss. We kind of took what they gave us, it kind of ended up being one of those games.”

The Eagles left Sunday mostly unscathed, but the starting left guard, Dickerson, left midway through the fourth quarter and didn’t return. The Eagles also pulled Lane Johnson a series or two before most of the other starters got rest, but his absence could have been precautionary as he’s playing through a torn tendon in his groin.