SNF PREVIEW: PHILADELPHIA EAGLES AT SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

BY ADAM GREENE

Injuries and lackluster performances have taken the bloom off a game that looked pretty terrific when it showed up on the schedule last spring. The reeling and winless Philadelphia Eagles travel to Santa Clara to take on whatever’s left of the injury-riddled San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football.

Are there playoff implications in this game? Sure. The Eagles, in spite of having a goose egg in the win column, can right the ship quick with a victory over the defending NFC Champions, no matter how decimated they are at every position. No team in the NFC East has more than one win coming into this weekend.

San Francisco needs the victory to keep pace with the rest of their division, which, as predicted, already looks like the best in the league. Falling 2-2 at this point with the Arizona Cardinals facing the Carolina Panthers, the Los Angeles Rams hosting the New York Giants and 3-0 Seattle Seahawks playing the hapless Miami Dolphins could be a problem even later in the year, especially as the NFC West teams start playing each other.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES AT SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (-7, O/U: 46)

Kickoff: Oct. 4, 8:20 p.m. EST

Location: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, Calif.

Broadcast: NBC

THE HISTORY

This isn’t exactly a storied rivalry, in spite of the teams meeting 33 times since 1951. San Francisco leads the series 19-13-1, but most of those victories came in the 1980s and 90s, courtesy of Hall of Fame quarterbacks Joe Montana and Steve Young, not to mention Jerry Rice, John Taylor, Roger Craig and a host of others.

More recently, it’s the Eagles that have had the upper hand, winning six of the last eight match ups including their last, a 33-10 curb stomp in Philly on Oct. 29, 2017. That just so happened to be the same year the Eagles hoisted the Super Bowl trophy. Carson Wentz was 18 of 32 passing for 211 yards, two touchdowns and a pick in that game. San Fran started C.J. Beathard for an injured Jimmy Garoppolo and he was a disaster, finishing 17 of 36 for 167 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (0-2-1)

We’re just now a month into the season and it already seems to be slipping away for the Eagles. Caron Wentz is struggling, as is their offensive line and, really, their entire offense. The 23 points they scored last week against the Cincinnati Bengals is a season high. They blew a 17-0 lead in Week One to the Washington Football Team and gave up 312 passing yards and two touchdowns to rookie QB Joe Burrow last week.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (2-1)

While the 49ers can at least take solace in picking up a couple of victories in back to back trips to the Big Apple, they came at great cost. They lost Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas for the season two weeks ago and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo likely still won’t be ready to play Sunday night. Back up Nick Mullens played great against the Giants last week, completing 25 of 36 for 343 yards and touchdown, but that’s the Giants. They’ve got an XFL roster. The Eagles, in spite of all their problems, don’t.

THE PICK

Upsets happen. Teams get back on track and sometimes all it takes is putting it together for a week to turn your entire season around. Mullens can’t expect the same generosity from Philadelphia’s defense that he received a week ago. Doug Pederson is a great coach and Wentz has been a great quarterback. Their problems are fixable and I think they fix a lot of them Sunday night. Eagles 27, 49ers 20

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