Eagles’ Haason Reddick overcomes snubs and knocks out Brock Purdy and the 49ers in the NFC championship

Haason Reddick stood in the middle of the locker room, engulfed by cameras and reporters, center stage after he made the play of the game in the Eagles’ 31-7 pounding of the 49ers and their two quarterbacks in the NFC championship.

The linebacker’s strip sack of starter Brock Purdy not only was the tone-setter for a defensive pass rush that established its dominance early, but also knocked the rookie Cinderella right out of his glass slippers and to the medical tent.

“I just set the tone,” Reddick said, “and let them know what kind of day it was going to be.”

When backup Josh Johnson took over for Purdy on the next series, Reddick sacked him, too. The veteran journeyman quarterback would also be sidelined with a concussion after defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh drove him into the ground.

Purdy, who injured his elbow, was forced back onto the field, but he could barely throw screens without pain, he said afterward, and the 49ers were toothless without a passing attack. The Eagles allowed just 164 total yards as the second half quickly turned into a coronation.

In two playoff games, Jonathan Gannon’s defense surrendered just 14 points total and now the coordinator — despite enduring criticism from various corners, particularly on sport talk radio — is headed to Super Bowl LVII in Arizona to face the Chiefs.

The disrespect card can be overplayed in sports. Gannon, who will likely return next season with 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans expected to be named the Texans’ next head coach, could certainly deal that hand if he wanted.

Reddick took umbrage when he wasn’t among the finalists for the NFL’s defensive player of the year award. “At some point, this [bleep] gotta stop,” he wrote on Twitter after the 49ers’ Nick Bosa, the Chiefs’ Chris Jones, and the Cowboys’ Micah Parsons were named.

He wasn’t available in the locker room last week to further explain his thoughts, but his performance on Sunday — and, really, over the last 17 games — spoke volumes.

“Hey, [shoot], I think my play said it today,” Reddick said when asked about the slight. “And that’s all I need to say on that.”

If the Eagles go on to win the Lombardi Trophy, Reddick’s strip sack will be placed alongside the Chris Long-Patrick Robinson forced interception that the latter returned for a touchdown five years ago, Brian Dawkins’ devastating hit on Alge Crumpler in 2005, and Wilbert Montgomery’s 42-touchdown run in 1981 in the team’s NFC championship annals.

The timing was pivotal. The Eagles jumped out to a 7-0 lead when they scored on their opening drive. But it was a slog and suggested that the offense would be in a dogfight the entire game. The 49ers, on their ensuing possession, advanced to midfield when Purdy dropped to throw on second down.

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Reddick beat tight end Tyler Kroft with an outside speed rush and hit the quarterback’s arm as he threw. The ball popped out and was originally ruled an incomplete pass when linebacker T.J. Edwards failed to catch the deflection.

But replays showed that the ball was out of Purdy’s hand before his arm was moving forward.

“I was telling Coach Nick [Sirianni], man, throw the flag,” Reddick said. “I knew that was a sack-fumble because I got my hand on the ball.”

The Eagles’ offense went three-and-out after the turnover. But it became clear in the meantime that Purdy was hurt and Johnson would have to assume quarterback duties.

“You don’t ever want anybody to get dinged or get hurt, and I hope he’s OK,” Sirianni said, “but it definitely did change the game.”

49ers coach Kyle Shanahan defended the blocking assignment on the pass.

“It’s a tough block, but all play-actions are tight ends versus edge rushers,” he said. “They had us on a number of those today, too. You hope you can step up on it, which you usually do in the pocket. It was going [to be a big play], [49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk] beat him.”

But Reddick beat Kroft first. And a series later, he toasted wide receiver Jauan Jennings and tight end George Kittle on the way to Johnson for his second sack. The 49ers knotted the score, 7-7, midway through the second quarter, but the offense responded with a touchdown, and when Johnson fumbled the snap on San Fran’s next drive, Reddick had the recovery.

The Eagles expanded the lead to 21-7 just before the half and never looked back. They had heard all week about the 49ers’ No. 1-ranked defense, Ryans’ edge over Gannon, and Bosa being the top edge rusher in the league.

“We just kept it quiet and just kept it casual because we heard some things we didn’t like, people trying to be sarcastic and doing little stuff, which is cool because we got much respect for him — [Kittle],” Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham said. “He said something, but he a baller.”

Kittle, when asked last week if the Eagles could match the 49ers’ physicality said, “We’ll see.” If that’s what bothered them, it’s a rather benign diss, but there have been plenty of outsiders who continue to overlook a defense that tallied 70 regular-season sacks and eight so far in the postseason.

But the love for Reddick, who has assumed Graham’s role as the Eagles’ table-setter, should come. For the second straight week, he ended the opposing offense’s first possession with a forced turnover, last week sacking Giants quarterback Daniel Jones on fourth down.

“It’s all about passing the torch, man,” Graham said. “Haason is the guy and I love that. I don’t care who make the play, just make it. Shoot, 13 years in, I know my role. I know what I got to do.

“So I’ll take the scraps while he go out there and eat off the bone.”

It’s been quite a journey for Reddick in his career. Camden-born and Temple-made, he played out of position as an inside linebacker with the Cardinals, registered double-digit sacks with two different teams when eventually moved to the edge, but neither team kept him.

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But the Eagles brought him home and signed him to a three-year, $45 million contract, just one of many bull’s-eye moves general manager Howie Roseman made last offseason.

“I think my journey — going away from home first out to Arizona first … prepared me to be able to handle the distractions, family, all of that stuff coming back home,” Reddick said. “Being a hometown kid, I knew there would be pressure for me to come and be a great player.

“I used that pressure to get me over the hump.”

Reddick didn’t have a sack in the Eagles’ first two games, but once he got going, he never stopped, and notched 16 sacks in the final 15 games and 3 ½ in two postseason games. Reddick wasn’t on stage for the post-game ceremony at Lincoln Financial Field.

Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, Jason Kelce, Fletcher Cox, Lane Johnson, and Graham were the only players invited. But in the Eagles’ locker room, as Reddick answered 20 straight minutes of questions, it was clear who had the game-changing moment that will last longer than any individual award.

Not that he didn’t deserve the recognition.

“Defensive player of the league!” Eagles linebacker Kyzir White said of Reddick. “Can’t nobody block him in this league. Nobody. You got to put some respect on his name. There’s a lot of politics. He’s the best in the game.”

And the best on Sunday when it mattered the most.