Missed opportunities cost Eagles in loss to 49ers, 17 to 11

The Birds left too many points on the table.

The Philadelphia Eagles are 1-1 after losing to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday afternoon. Final score: 17 to 11.

The Eagles didn’t get thoroughly outplayed by a superior opponent in this one as much as they failed to capitalize on some prime scoring opportunities. The Birds weren’t that far off from having 17 first half points alone. But the reality is they didn’t capitalize and that really cost them. The Eagles also weren’t helped by two major injuries to Brandon Graham and Brandon Brooks.

Read on for a recap and stay tuned for more BGN postgame coverage.

FIRST QUARTER

• The Eagles won the opening coin toss and elected to defer. Javon Hargrave immediately tackled Elijah Mitchell for a 4-yard loss. That play set the tone for a 49ers three-and-out.
• The Eagles would’ve went three-and-out if not for a pass interference penalty by Josh Norman. Jalen Hurts aired it out deep to DeVonta Smith but the quarterback’s pass was underthrown despite a clean pocket. The Eagles ran on 3rd-and-6 (why?) for no gain and punted. Too much running from Nick Sirianni early on, especially on a suspect pass defense. Arryn Siposs gave the Eagles a chance to down his punt around the 1-yard line but Zech McPhearson accidentally knocked the ball into the end zone for the touchback. Womp womp.
• Jimmy Garoppolo overthrew an open receiver on third down for another 49ers three-and-out. The defense came to play early. Hargrave already had two tackle for loss and one quarterback hit on just six plays.
• The Eagles methodically moved the ball down the field, mixing a nice option pitch in there. Better stuff from Sirianni. Hurts targeted Smith on a roll out to his left on 3rd-and-3 but the pass was too high and incomplete. Looked like he could’ve thrown to Dallas Goedert or just ran himself for the first. The Eagles should’ve gone for it on fourth down but settled for a 45-yard field goal. EAGLES 3, 49ERS 0.
• Josh Sweat pressured Jimmy G into a high throw that should’ve been picked off by Anthony Harris. The Eagles held the 49ers to another three-and-out despite Hargrave getting held.

• Hurts almost got picked on a miscommunication with Miles Sanders. Yikes. Hurts used his legs to pick up 12 yards and a first on third down. Then he hit Quez Watkins down the right sideline for a chunk gain into 49ers territory. Hurts aired it out deep to Jalen Reagor for a TOUCHDOWN … but the receiver’s feet went out of bounds (got squeezed out by the defender) before he caught the pass deep down the field. Really taking up Nelson Agholor’s mantle as a talented but frustrating player. And not only was the play overturned but it was a penalty for the Eagles because of illegal touching. Shame because that was an absolute dime from Hurts.

SECOND QUARTER

• The Eagles ended up settling for an Elliott field goal attempt that … got blocked. Dallas Goedert caught it and tried to run for the first down but came up short. Bummer to get no points after thinking they had a touchdown.
• The 49ers drove into Eagles territory but SF’s drive stalled in part due to some missed throws by Jimmy G. The 49ers ended up punting from Philly’s 38-yard line.
• Landon Dickerson came in to play right guard with Brooks injured and got pancaked into Hurts … but it didn’t really matter because Hurts aired it out deep to Quez Watkins for a 91-yard reception. QB hit the WR right on the money. The Eagles got to 1st-and-goal from the 1-yard line but couldn’t get it in. Sirianni went for it on 4th-and-goal from the 3-yard line, the Eagles ran the Philly Special and Greg Ward had no one open so he sailed the ball out of bounds. Turnover on downs. Huge wasted opportunity. Unacceptable, really. Could’ve just tried multiple QB sneaks.

• The 49ers drove 97 yards in 12 plays to get a wide open touchdown. Bad breakdown. Disappointing end to a first half that wasn’t far off from being much better for the Birds. Could’ve had 17 points but instead went into the half down four. EAGLES 3, 49ERS 7.

THIRD QUARTER

• Hurts was very fortunate to have a strip-sack forced by Nick Bosa recovered by Jack Stoll. instead of the 49ers. QB held on to the ball for too long. Hurts aired it out deep to Smith but the ball was underthrown and Smith couldn’t come up with it as he was looking into the sun and had two defenders on him.
• The 49ers got to 3rd-and-6 around midfield and Steve Nelson almost picked Jimmy G’s pass but couldn’t hang on.
• A good punt by the 49ers had the Eagles start at their own 7-yard line. The Eagles ran the ball seven straight times — including some good Miles Sanders touches in there — to get to 3rd-and-4 from the 49ers’ 46-yard line. Hurts finally attempted a pass with a completion to Zach Ertz for a first down. Ertz’s first reception of the game. The Eagles got to 3rd-and-10 and pressure forced Hurts into an incompletion. Reagor didn’t look like he expected the ball to come to him. Punt.

FOURTH QUARTER

• The 49ers got to a 3rd-and-7 and converted to move into Eagles territory. Then they pounded the rock into goal-to-go territory. On third down, Anthony Harris got called for pass interference. The 49ers ran it up the middle from the 1-yard line for a touchdown. Or not because the runner’s knee was down. But the 49ers snuck it with Jimmy G for the score anyway. Hey, what a concept. EAGLES 3, 49ERS 14.
• Hurts aired it out deep to Reagor but the ball was a bit short and off target for an incompletion. Reagor didn’t exactly fight back to the ball to try to draw PI. Bit of a wild play with Hurts throwing to Smith along the sideline but the ball getting deflected into Sanders’ hands, who unfortunately couldn’t hold on. Weird to call that a drop but he very much could’ve had it. Hurts got sacked on 3rd-and-2 to force a punt.
• It looked like the Eagles had a gift with JaMycal Hasty dropping the ball but it bounced out of bounds and Derek Barnett got hit with (yet another) unnecessary roughness penalty. Way too many dumb flags in his career. The 49ers fumbled after a big run on their next play and Darius Slay recovered but K’Von Wallace got called for unnecessary roughness and the 49ers got to keep the ball. Wallace went in with his shoulder and hit the 49ers running back in the head after the RB lowered his head. Don’t really love that call! The 49ers ultimately settled for a 46-yard field goal. EAGLES 3, 49ERS 17.
• Hurts took off running on multiple plays to move the chains. He got hit as he was going out of bounds on one of them to pick up a 15-yard penalty on San Fran. Hurts has a real good tight window throw to Dallas Goedert, who got the ball to the 1-yard line. JUST short of the goal line. Hurts then snuck it in (like the Eagles should have done earlier!) for the score. The Eagles went for a two-point conversion, as analytics suggest teams should do down 8 points late in the game, and got it with a Kenny Gainwell run. Down only six points with 4:02 to go. EAGLES 11, 49ERS 17.

• The 49ers got to 3rd-and-1 and Jimmy G snuck it for the first down. That was the game with the Eagles having no timeouts left to stop the clock.

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LINEUP NOTES

• K’Von Wallace, not Marcus Epps, got the start at safety with Rodney McLeod out.

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INJURIES

• Brandon Brooks got banged up early in the second quarter. He was holding his arm when he came out of the game. He was ruled questionable to return with a chest injury. Brooks was replaced by Landon Dickerson. And eventually downgraded to OUT.
• Brandon Graham got hurt late in the second quarter. He was carted off the field after he was unable to put any pressure on his left leg. Not great.

• Davion Taylor (calf) was ruled questionable to return early in the fourth quarter. Been dealing with this issue since training camp.