What we know (and don’t) about the Eagles entering the wild-card round vs. the 49ers

Now that the regular season has concluded, the real fun can begin.

The No. 3-seeded Eagles are set to host the San Francisco 49ers at 4:30 p.m. Sunday in the wild-card round. The No. 2 seed was up for grabs with the Chicago Bears’ loss to the Detroit Lions, but the Eagles couldn’t win the regular-season finale against the Washington Commanders with their backups.

That loss, and Nick Sirianni’s decision to rest the starters in Week 18, is in the past now. After finishing the regular season 11-6, the Eagles get to start anew in the postseason.

Here’s what we know (and what we don’t) about the Eagles going into Sunday’s wild-card game:

For all of the discussion leading up to the season finale about whether to rest or play the starters with the hopes of facing the No. 7-seeded Green Bay Packers, the Eagles might have drawn an ideal opponent in the wild-card round.

The 49ers have one of the weaker defenses among the NFC’s playoff teams, which could be a gift to a shaky Eagles offense. San Francisco’s defense has suffered significant injury-related attrition this season. Inside linebacker Fred Warner and edge rushers Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams suffered season-ending injuries earlier in the year, which have proved to be significant losses for defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s group.

Their pass rush is practically nonexistent. The 49ers rank second-to-last in the league in quarterback pressure rate (26.7%), according to Next Gen Stats. Bryce Huff — remember him? — is tied for the team lead with four sacks. Bosa, who suffered a torn ACL in Week 3, still ranks third on the team with two sacks.

» READ MORE: Eagles react to facing the San Francisco 49ers in playoffs: ‘It’s going to be good on good’

Their inside linebacker corps is suspect in coverage. In the Week 18 loss to the Seahawks, 49ers inside linebackers conceded 126 of Sam Darnold’s 198 passing yards, according to Pro Football Focus. Darnold picked on Tatum Bethune, who left the game injured and was ruled out for the postseason on Monday, the most (six receptions allowed on seven targets for 78 yards).

The 49ers should provide a welcome first-round matchup for the Eagles offense. After all, if we’ve learned anything this season, it’s that Kevin Patullo’s play-calling has been generally lackluster.

His shortcomings took center stage Sunday in the loss to the Commanders in various situations, especially toward the end of the game when the Eagles abandoned the efficient, Tank Bigsby-led running game and put the contest on Tanner McKee’s arm to no avail. McKee’s inability to make plays out of structure served as a reminder that Jalen Hurts has often put a Band-Aid over otherwise dead plays with his knack for extending them.

Can the Eagles offense, with or without the help of Patullo, take advantage of the 49ers’ weaknesses?

The good news for the Eagles offense doesn’t end there — the 49ers have been porous against the run, too.

The Seahawks, led by the tailback duo of Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet, combined for 180 yards and a touchdown on 39 carries against the 49ers on Saturday, marking San Francisco’s worst performance against the run this season. According to Next Gen Stats, Walker and Charbonnet combined for 141 yards and a touchdown on under-center runs.

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Over the last two weeks, opposing teams have been generating plays of at least 20 yards against the 49ers at will. In Week 17, the Bears had seven plays of at least 20 yards, six of which were passing plays. The Seahawks had four, two of which came on the ground. Missed tackles plagued the 49ers — according to Next Gen Stats, Walker and Charbonnet each forced seven missed tackles.

That ought to be Saquon Barkley’s music. The 28-year-old running back has been making the most of an increased workload lately. In December, Barkley averaged 4.88 yards per carry and 100 yards per game, the latter being his best clip on a monthly basis this season. He also had 20.5 carries per game, his greatest share on a monthly basis, too.

Could the Eagles lean into the under-center running game against the 49ers? When they have, Barkley has been successful. He has averaged 4.9 yards per carry (531 yards on 108 attempts) on under-center runs this season, compared to 3.6 yards per carry (489 yards on 134 carries) on shotgun runs and 3.2 yards per carry (120 yards on 38 attempts) on rare runs out of pistol.

After a week off, and with the potential of getting Lane Johnson back into the mix for the first time since November, the entire Eagles rushing unit should have no excuses against a struggling 49ers defense.

Brock Purdy has fared well since his Week 11 return from injury, racking up 1,581 passing yards (No. 12 in the NFL among quarterbacks with at least 100 attempts) and 16 touchdowns (No. 3) while completing 70.6% of his attempts (No. 2) in that span.

But he isn’t the star of the 49ers offense. Christian McCaffrey is the 49ers’ greatest weapon, both in the running game and in the passing game. He has shouldered a staggering workload this season, with a league-high (and a single-season career-high) 413 touches through 17 starts.

He’s made the most of those touches. McCaffrey has 2,126 all-purpose yards, which ranks fourth in the NFL. That total is the second-greatest of his career, only behind his output in 2019 (2,392) as a member of the Carolina Panthers.

Even at age 29 and coming off a lost 2024 season due to injury, McCaffrey remains one of the most elusive players in the league. Going into Week 18, McCaffrey had forced a league-high 112 missed tackles across his touches, according to Next Gen Stats.

Still, he didn’t generate a single missed tackle against the Seahawks, who boast one of the best run defenses in the league. His fourth-quarter red-zone drop, which led to a Seahawks interception, also helped quash the 49ers’ attempt at a comeback on Saturday.

Keeping McCaffrey at bay will be the key to an Eagles victory. He has 10 games with at least 115 yards from scrimmage, the most of any player this season. The 49ers are 9-1 in those games. Reinforcements are on the way for the Eagles, with Nakobe Dean — one of their best defenders against the run — likely to return from a two-week injury layoff.

The 49ers’ best phase is arguably their special-teams unit.

Yes, the unit that muffed a punt and missed an extra point in the 49ers’ Super Bowl LVIII loss to the Kansas City Chiefs two seasons ago is now one of the strongest in the NFL.

Kicker Eddy Piñeiro is at the center of that turnaround. Piñeiro, whom the 49ers signed after Jake Moody struggled in the season opener, has been practically flawless on field goals this year. He has made 28 of 29 attempts (96.6% made, tied for the league lead among kickers with at least 20 attempts). His lone miss came on a 64-yard attempt three weeks ago.

The Niners have thrived in the return game, too. Skyy Moore ranks 10th in the NFL in yards per kick return (27.5; the league average is 25.9) and No. 9 in yards per punt return (11.6; the average is 10.2). The 49ers are tied for second in the NFL in average starting field position (their own 32.5).

The Eagles can’t afford to make mistakes on special teams because the 49ers have been so sound. Jake Elliott has been the most inconsistent piece of the group, as he has made just 74.1% of his field-goal attempts, which is the second-worst rate among kickers with at least 20 attempts this season.