Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
We’re looking at seven matchups to watch when the Philadelphia Eagles face the San Francisco 49ers in Week 13
After ten months of talking, speculations, what-ifs, and rule changes, the San Francisco 49ers will get another shot at the Philadelphia Eagles with a healthy Brock Purdy at quarterback.
Philadelphia will be without Zach Cunningham (hamstring), while Fletcher Cox (groin) is a game-time decision.
With kickoff fast approaching, here’s a look at seven key matchups to watch.
We’re previewing Philadelphia’s matchup vs. San Francisco and looking at who the NFL experts are picking in Eagles-49ers
After ten months of talking, speculations, what-ifs, and rule changes, the San Francisco 49ers will get another shot at the Philadelphia Eagles with a healthy Brock Purdy at quarterback.
It’s the return of Purdy, along with a talented skill position group that has the Niners favored on the road against a 10-1 Eagles team.
Philadelphia will be without Zach Cunningham (hamstring), while Fletcher Cox (groin) is a gametime decision.
With kickoff fast approaching, here’s a look at who the NFL experts are picking.
The Philadelphia Eagles are willing to do whatever it takes and dropped this epic hype video ahead of Sunday’s matchup against the San Francisco 49ers.
After ten months of talking, speculations, what-ifs, and rule changes, the San Francisco 49ers will get another shot at the Philadelphia Eagles with a healthy Brock Purdy at quarterback.
Purdy was knocked out of the NFC Championship loss to the Eagles.
After Josh Johnson was forced to exit, the NFL instituted a new rule, allowing teams to dress three quarterbacks, with the third signal-caller only entering the game in case of two guys leaving with an injury.
With the matchup now just 24 hours away, the Eagles dropped this epic hype video, letting fans and the Niners know that they”‘ll do “whatever it takes.”
Whatever it takes pic.twitter.com/oXqGA4cybg
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 2, 2023
Quarterback Jalen Hurts was 15-25 passing for 121 yards passing on the day, as Philadelphia racked up the bulk of their yards on the ground.
Miles Sanders and Kenneth Gainwell had 40+ yards rushing, while Boston Scott scored a touchdown in his third straight game.
San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy was forced to exit the first quarter with an elbow injury, and the NFC West champions saw their offense sputter from theirs.
Purdy was forced back into action after fourth-string quarterback Josh Johnson suffered a concussion.
Since then, Deebo Samuel has called James Bradberry “trash,” and Nick Bosa has called for the tush push to be banned.
During the NFL schedule release, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was excited about the league giving his team a chance to have a healthy Purdy under center.
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We’re looking at the Philadelphia Eagles updated 53-man roster for the Week 13 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers
The Eagles and 49ers are a little over 40 hours away from an NFC Championship game rematch that has grown contentious since last January.
Philadelphia will be without Zach Cunningham (hamstring), while Fletcher Cox (groin) is a gametime decision.
With kickoff fast approaching, here’s an updated 53-man roster for the Eagles.
We’re looking at several critical keys for the Philadelphia Eagles defense against the San Francisco 49ers offense in Week 13
The Eagles (10-1) will host the 49ers (8-3) on Sunday afternoon in a rematch of the NFC Championship Game.
This matchup is all about the Philadelphia defense, and their ability to handle, and contain the San Francisco offense.
Dating back to Week 4, Haason Reddick is tied for fourth in the NFL with 15 QB hits, 46 pressures and he’s tied for sixth in the NFL with 8.5 sacks. Josh Sweat has produced the 4th-most pressures (59) in the league, behind Micah Parsons (71), Nick Bosa (66) and Josh Allen (65).
With kickoff fast approaching, here are several critical keys for the Eagles defense.
The #49ers had their starting offensive line healthy and accounted for at Monday’s bonus practice.
The 49ers on Monday took the field for a ‘bonus’ practice coming off the mini bye that comes with playing on a Thursday. Teams with the additional practice aren’t required to issue participation reports, but Matt Barrows of the Athletic noted that right guard Spencer Burford and left guard Aaron Banks were both suited up for the session.
Burford missed Week 12 with a knee injury that likely only sidelined him because of the short week according to head coach Kyle Shanahan. His presence for Monday’s practice is a great sign for his availability in Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon.
Banks missed the first two games out of the bye after injuring his toe in Week 8 before the bye week. He played Thursday in Seattle and his participation Monday is an indicator that he didn’t suffer any setbacks during Thursday’s contest.
With a good defensive line awaiting them in Philly, the 49ers having a full slate of starting offensive lineman could be one of the most important developments of the week.
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The #49ers have 2 starting OL listed as questionable for Thursday night:
The 49ers could be without two starting offensive linemen Thursday night against the Seahawks. Both left guard Aaron Banks and right guard Spencer Burford are listed as questionable on the injury report released Wednesday.
Banks is working his way back from a toe injury. He was a limited participant in practice Tuesday and Wednesday after being listed as a non-participant in the projected Monday practice report.
Burford on Monday showed up with a knee injury that wouldn’t be as big of an issue if the team was playing Sunday per head coach Kyle Shanahan. The short turnaround has his status in question though.
The other two players listed as questionable are cornerback Samuel Womack and defensive end Robert Beal. Both of them are returning from IR and have until Monday to be either activated or placed on season-ending IR.
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Aaron Banks was back in practice for the #49ers on Tuesday, and 2 Seahawks offensive stars were out.
There was a little good news coming out of the 49ers’ practice participation report Tuesday. Left guard Aaron Banks was back in practice for the first time since suffering a toe injury in Week 8.
His return comes at a good time too with right guard Spencer Burford dealing with a knee injury that head coach Kyle Shanahan said puts his status for Thursday’s game against the Seahawks in question. Banks has a chance to play according to Shanahan.
Veteran Jon Feliciano has been doing a fine job holding down the LG spot in Banks’ stead. Shanahan was mum on what role Feliciano would play if Banks plays and Burford doesn’t, but it stands to reason he’d flip to the right side given the 49ers’ lack of depth on the interior.
Here’s a look at the full practice report for the 49ers, and a couple notes from Seattle’s report:
The #49ers will improve their team however they can at the trade deadline, but Aaron Banks’ injury could throw a wrench into how they do that.
The 49ers have a number of improvements they could make to their roster at the trade deadline, but an injury to left guard Aaron Banks could shift their priorities.
San Francisco could use some assistance on the defensive line and in the secondary. Given their struggles getting stops the last couple weeks it would make sense if that was the top priority for general manager John Lynch when he’s making calls around the league.
However, Banks injured his toe in the team’s Week 8 loss to the Bengals and will miss a few weeks according to head coach Kyle Shanahan. Losing Banks is significant for a 49ers offensive line that doesn’t have a ton of depth.
They’ll ideally get left tackle Trent Williams back after the bye week. Shanahan said he’s hopeful the week off will give Williams enough time to recover from a Week 6 ankle sprain. San Francisco has struggled without him anchoring the left side.
Even if they get him back in Week 10, they won’t have Banks for that game and perhaps a couple after that, leaving the team susceptible to some struggles on the left side of their offensive front. Running that way hasn’t been successful at all for the 49ers since Williams went down, and it could become a problem again with Banks – their second-best offensive lineman.
Jon Feliciano will likely replace him at left guard. When Banks left the team’s Week 5 win over the Cowboys with a shoulder injury it was Feliciano who stepped in and played well in a season-high 32 snaps.
The problem with Feliciano taking over at LG is that it essentially saps all of the 49ers’ quality depth along the interior. Feliciano is their only backup center, and Matt Pryor got all of his work at right tackle during the offseason. Their other option on the interior OL is second-year OL Nick Zakelj, who is still transitioning to guard after spending his college career at tackle. He’s probably not a player the 49ers want to rely a lot on.
That gives San Francisco a couple options in the trade market. They could take a big swing for a starting-caliber guard to plug in while Banks is out. That would certainly improve the team’s depth once Banks returns, and would give them some flexibility at both guard spots moving forward.
Another option is trading for a backup they’re more confident in than Zakelj or Pryor, who does have experience at guard in his career. This would give the 49ers some added flexibility if Feliciano needs to move to C while Banks is out, and some much-needed depth in the second half of the season to insulate them from another injury or two.
Ultimately they’re not going to pass up adding a helpful player at any position. Shanahan and Lynch always say they’ll make any move they believe will improve their team and they should be aiming to do that at the deadline regardless of position. The Banks injury though may change the nature and intention of Lynch’s phone calls as Tuesday’s 1:00pm Pacific Time deadline approaches.
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A handful of #49ers injury updates leading into their week off.
The 49ers on Sunday wrapped up their first half of the year with a Week 8 loss to the Bengals. Now they’ll head into the bye for a much-needed week off to rest a handful of players who were either banged up Sunday or before.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday jumped on a conference call and talked through the club’s injury updates:
