[New post] Is 49ers-Eagles the biggest game of the year? Don’t ask the Niners
gqlshare posted: "SANTA CLARA — It's finally here: 49ers vs. Eagles on Sunday. Brock Purdy and Jalen Hurts. The Brotherly Shove. The bitter 49ers howling at the injustice of losing Purdy, whose elbow was rendered useless after a Haason Reddick sack off the edge" Daily Democrat
SANTA CLARA — It's finally here: 49ers vs. Eagles on Sunday. Brock Purdy and Jalen Hurts. The Brotherly Shove. The bitter 49ers howling at the injustice of losing Purdy, whose elbow was rendered useless after a Haason Reddick sack off the edge with 7:03 left in the first quarter in the NFC title game.
The Eagles won 31-7 and went on to lose 38-35 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. When the 2023 schedule arrived on May 11, it contained the Dec. 3 gift of a 49ers-Eagles rematch in Philadelphia.
The most anticipated regular-season game of the season has arrived. Mainstream and social media are abuzz. Columnists and bloggers are weighing in. It's the biggest topic on local radio in the Bay Area and Philadelphia, not to mention national platforms such as the NFL Network and ESPN.
Yet at 4949 Marie P. DeBartolo way in Santa Clara and the NovaCare Complex in Philadelphia, Jan. 29 is very much yesterday's news. That's the way coach Kyle Shanahan wants it, and the way the 49ers dealt with the advance buzz of a Week 5 win against Dallas which they won 40-12.
"I think it's always tougher when the moment's a lot bigger outside of the building just because of the obvious ramifications and history," Shanahan said. "But the moment is exactly what it is every Sunday you've got to make sure that's reality for your players."
The 49ers (8-3) are different and probably better than they were last Jan. 29. The Eagles (10-1) aren't as formidable statistically, but in Hurts they have a quarterback who matches Purdy in poise and composure with the added bonus of presenting physical challenges as a runner in a way Purdy never will.
But Purdy has grown in the last 11 games in ways other than physical stature. He is different, just like the 49ers are different and the Eagles are different from the two teams that met last season.
"I was still trying to find my way in the NFL and play consistent and prove to the guys I can play," Purdy said. "Now it's about being consistent, every single drive, every game and being able to handle all the factors that come with playing quarterback — the noises, keeping guys calm, cool, collected. In that game, at that time, I don't know if I was that guy yet."
Purdy showed no outward emotion about returning to the scene of the crime, so to speak, and the 49ers as a veteran team appear zeroed in on what they're about and what it will take to win rather than obsessing about their crash landing in the title game.
Defensive tackle Arik Armstead, the longest-tenured 49er in his ninth season, is taking that approach.
"I might not have been able to say this in the past, but with the team we have, if we focus on ourselves when we're at our best, I think we can beat anyone for sure," Armstead said. "Are we being disciplined? Are we executing? If we do that we can beat anybody."
It may not make for exciting pregame fodder, but few things are more overrated than bulletin board material and its impact on the game. I remember Bill Walsh at Stanford telling the media that words said in anger, sarcasm or overconfidence may get a team fired up for a few plays or so, and then it's just a football game.
It's doubtful anyone on the 49ers, when deciphering the next play call from Shanahan or the next defensive order from Steve Wilks, will be worrying about what happened last season when the ball is snapped.
Tight end George Kittle said he flushed last year's result "in about a week" and hasn't given it much thought since.
"We lost. They won," Kittle said. "On to the next one."
Same with left tackle Trent Williams.
"Honestly, I have very little recollection of last year, my mind frame going into it," Williams said. "I know how I felt afterwards, but that was one of those games that you bury quick and put in the rear-view. I don't even remember the game plan. I really don't."
It's the best way to proceed for both the 49ers and Eagles. Dealing with grown men in the NFL is different than high school or college pep-talks that still go on to this day.
Leave it to former 49ers quarterback and Hall of Famer Steve Young to put it in perspective during his weekly spot on KNBR to point out that excess emotion against a quality opponent can be detrimental.
"The problem is the mental focus usually goes down when the emotional focus goes up," Young said. "That's the challenge. That's why the great teams can rise emotionally to the level that's OK, but don't overdo it."
In fact, the more over-the-top emotion from an opponent can be beneficial to a team that has taken its game plan and business seriously.
"We'd play a lot of teams that come out of the locker room and you'd see they were screaming at you and you're like, 'This is so awesome because you are so overwrought you're going to be a mess,' " Young said. "People don't play well in big games because they get overly emotional."
Purdy is the perfect quarterback for that vibe, and Christian McCaffrey does not appear to take a Week 4 game against Arizona as any different than Week 13 against the Eagles.
Not only is every game a challenge, but every snap, as stressed by Shanahan.
"Obviously there's history with last year," McCaffrey said. "But last year is last year and this year is this year and this is a really good team on the road. I say the same stuff every week because I believe in the stuff he was saying."
So there you have it. Facing the Eagles is the most important game on the 49ers schedule.
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