PHILADELPHIA — Miles Saunders scored two rushing touchdowns, Jalen Hurts ran for one as well and the Philadelphia defense forced three turnovers as the Eagles drubbed the San Francisco 49ers 31-7 to win the NFC Championship on Sunday punch their ticket to Super Bowl LVIII.
Philadelphia will be appearing in their third Super Bowl. They last went in 2017, where they defeated the New England Patriots 41-33 to win Super Bowl LII.
They will face either Cincinnati or Kansas City in Glennville, Arizona.
Statistically, Hurts didn't look impressive. He completed 15 of his 25 passes for 121 yards and ran for 39 yards. His 15 rushing touchdowns during the regular season and postseason are an NFL record among quarterbacks.
Philadelphia took the opening possession and marched down the field for the games' first points.
A key play came on a fourth-and-three play, where DeVonta Smith would make a one-handed grab on a throw by Hurts, who had to scrambled to keep the play alive.
On second glance, the ball did hit the turf as Smith came down the it, but the Eagles managed to run up on the ball and run the next play before the 49ers even had a chance to challenge the play.
Sanders found the end zone on second-and-goal to give the Eagles an early 7-0 lead.
For the 49ers, things went from bad to worse.
Eagles linebacker Haason Reddick would strip-sacked Brock Purdy on San Francisco's sixth offensive snap, giving the ball back to Philadelphia. However on the play, Purdy would injure his right elbow.
Josh Johnson, would be called on to replace Purdy, but would get knocked out by Ndamukong Suh in the third quarter and leave the game with a concussion.
Purdy would be forced to return but was unable to throw the ball at all.
Sanders would add another score late in the first half, going untouched into the end zone on a 13-yard run to put the Eagles back in front 14-7. Three penalties totaling 31 yards from the 49ers aided Philadelphia during the drive.
On the 49ers following possession, Purdy would whiff on the snap from center and Philadelphia would get the ball back at the San Francisco 30.
Four plays later, Boston Scott would take sweep the final 10 yards to extend the Eagles lead to 21-7 as the teams went into the locker room.
Reddick finished with a solid performance to lead a dominating Eagles defense, recording three tackles, two sacks, a quarterback hit, a tackle for loss, a forced fumble and a recovered fumble in the first half.
Kenneth Gainwell led the Eagles ground attack with 14 carries for 48 yards and even had two catches for 26 yards. Sanders finished with 42 rushing yards.
Christian McCaffery was one of the few bright spots for San Francisco, rushing for 84 yards and scoring the 49ers only touchdown on a 23-yard burst in the second quarter to tie the game at 7.
San Francisco 0 7 0 0 = 7
Philadelphia 7 14 7 3 = 21
First Quarter
Phil–Sanders 6 run (Elliott kick), 9:48.
Second Quarter
SF–McCaffery 23 run (Gould kick), 8:29.
Phil–Sanders 13 run (Elliott kick), 9:48.
Phil–Scott 10 run (Elliott kick), 0:16.
Third Quarter
Phil–Hurts 1 run (Elliott Kick), 0:43. Fourth Quarter Phil–Elliott 31 Field Goal, 5:17.
A–69,879.
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SF Phil
First downs 11 25
Total Net Yards 164 269
Rushes-yards 24-81 44-148
Passing 83 121
Punt Returns 2-17 0-0
Kickoff Returns 3-107 1-29
Interceptions Ret. 0-0 0-0
Comp-Att-Int 11-18-0 15-25-0
Sacked-Yards Lost 3-14 1-0
Punts 4-42.0 4-45.0
Fumbles-Lost 3-3 0-0
Penalties-Yards 11-81 4-34
Time of Possession 22:34 37:26
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–San Francisco, McCaffery 15-84, Kittle 1-4, Johnson 2-2, Samuel 6-minus 9. Philadelphia, Gainwell 14-48, Sanders 11-42, Hurts 11-39, Scott 6-21, Minshew 2-minus 2.
PASSING–San Francisco, Johnson 7-13-0-74, Purdy 4-4-0-23, McCaffery 0-1-0-0. Philadelphia, Hurts 15-25-0-121.
RECEIVING–San Francisco, Samuel 3-33, Kittle 3-32, McCaffery 4-22, Alyuk 1-10. Philadelphia, Smith 2-36, Brown 4-28, Gainwell 2-26, Goedert 5-23, Stoll 1-5, Sanders 1-3.
MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.
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