Did 49ers expose Jalen Hurts, Eagles? San Francisco flipped script with defensive game plan and here's what it revealed about Philly

PHILADELPHIA — The San Francisco 49ers' pass rush had been on a roll.

Since Chase Young joined an already-deep group at the trade deadline, they’d sacked Trevor Lawrence five times, then Baker Mayfield four and finally Geno Smith six times in a span of three weeks.

So Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, it seemed, would need to worry about their takedowns this week. That’s exactly what the 49ers wanted Hurts to think.

Instead, San Francisco marched into Philadelphia with a game plan that intentionally did not promote sacks and pass rushing. It was a game plan that sought to contain Hurts in the pocket, to especially limit his ability to escape up the B-gap, and ultimately — by neutralizing Hurts’ run threat — to make the entire Eagles offense one-dimensional if properly executed.

“Our whole mentality was, we’re not trying to set the record on sacks, we’re trying to close the pocket, we’re trying to get his eyes on us,” 49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa said. “It was definitely an assignment-focused game. We had to make Jalen focus on the rush more than looking downfield and we knew that was the key to the game.”

It might also be the Eagles’ coming opponents' key to thwarting the franchise with the league’s best record if Philadelphia doesn’t regroup quickly. Because in a 42-19 dismantling, San Francisco exposed an offensive Achilles heel that few had grasped.

“That was as grimy as it gets,” 49ers linebacker Fred Warner said. “I know it’s like we won 42-19, but in the beginning of the game, those crucial moments when we had to stand tall in the red zone … the game plan that we had, especially down there in the red zone, was on point.

“It was just about executing, making sure Jalen doesn’t beat us with his legs down there because they love to run him in those crucial moments.”

49ers held Eagles to lowest rushing output in Jalen Hurts era

The Eagles entered the game 10-1 in large part because of their dominant run game. Only seven teams had averaged more than their 133.3 rushing yards per game. Only three teams had scored more rushing touchdowns through 12 weeks than the Eagles’ 17.

But the 49ers arrived with the second-best run D, limiting prior opponents to 82 yards per game. Defensive tackle Arik Armstead had even stingier goals.

“Keep a team under 70 yards rushing, and I would say we’re gonna win the game,” Armstead said. “So that has to be the point of focus for us. Make a team one-dimensional, and that’s what opens up everything.

“When we play great football and great dominant defense, it starts in the run game.”

So while the Eagles gashed the 49ers for 124 yards in the first quarter alone, only 19 of those came by ground. And that was Philadelphia’s most productive quarter rushing.

The 49ers held the Eagles to 46 total rushing yards, not only the Eagles’ lowest output this season but their lowest in nearly five years (the Cowboys held Philadelphia to 34 rushing yards on Dec. 9, 2018). The Eagles' run game had not been contained so effectively in the Hurts era.

The Eagles’ 2.6 yards per carry fell short of their previous season low, 2.7 yards mustered in an overtime win against the Washington Commanders; and their 18 rushing attempts undershot their previous low of 22 against the Jets.

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni acknowledged Monday the importance of re-establishing the ground threat.

“We’ve got to be better as coaches devoting ourselves to the run game to take pressure off everybody,” Sirianni said. “We know to get to where we want to go — and really, all we think about is this next game — we have to be better in the run game and get more runs called to take some pressure off everybody.

“So yeah, we’ve got to do better.”

Response to 49ers blueprint could determine rest of Eagles’ season

Sirianni’s awareness and accountability of the run game's disappearance is an important step. But it also oversimplifies what led to the reduction of run plays.

The 49ers’ ability to contain Hurts hampered Philadelphia’s ability to lean on its typically dominant run-pass option plays. If Hurts can’t escape consistently, the Eagles lose their ability to slow defenses as they wonder who will escape by ground. Most defensive fronts across the league can’t bring the manpower to execute a game plan like that against Philadelphia’s stout line and dual-threat quarterback. The Eagles also likely won’t risk waiting so long to rely on the run again after this reminder that establishing it early has value far beyond the raw production.

The disparity between the Eagles’ 124 yards and six points in the first quarter clearly told that story. The Eagles’ run game is integral to their red-zone attack, and their red-zone attack integral to sustaining their dominance.

“I mean, if they go down and score both of those times and it's 14-0, super tough,” 49ers tight end George Kittle said. “The fact that they held them to six points and allowed us one touchdown, we're in the lead and our defense gets them again, another touchdown, another touchdown? That’s very tough for a defense to respond to.”

Next up, the Eagles travel to Dallas for a “Sunday Night Football” matchup against the Cowboys, who rank third overall in defense and fourth in scoring defense, but are less dominant against the rush, allowing a 12th-ranked 106 yards per game.

The Eagles outlasted the Cowboys 28-23 in November with 109 yards on the ground to supplement just 183 passing. Philadelphia converted on all three of its red-zone attempts that game.

Will Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence and Co. successfully contain Hurts? Dallas defensive coordinator Dan Quinn would be wise to preach gap discipline over sacks to his unit.

The Eagles, meanwhile, will arrive motivated to erase the taste of their latest loss.

“How do you get over it? You have no choice,” Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown said. “Mope around, be sad or mad at yourself about it, but we’ve got a big opponent coming up next weekend in Dallas on the road.

“You’ve gotta put your big-boy pants on.”