Facts on the 49ers you should know, from a Purdy good rookie to Charvarius Ward’s backstory
The Eagles' opponent in the NFC championship game has won 12 straight. QB Brock Purdy has benefited from home cooking in his run.
The Eagles have never faced a rookie quarterback in the postseason. Well, not as a starter anyway.
Too many had tagged San Francisco’s Brock Purdy with the dismissive nickname “Mr. Irrelevant” because he was the last player chosen in the 2022 draft. Hopefully, he has retired that unfortunate moniker.
The Eagles did see a rookie in the 1949 championship game when Norm Van Brocklin split time with Bob Waterfield for the Rams. The appropriately-named Waterfield (at least for that day) started, though neither did much. The Eagles won, 14-0, in a quagmire at the L.A. Coliseum.
Van Brocklin, it should be noted, was a wily veteran 11 years later when he led the Eagles to the 1960 NFL championship over the Packers. Enough about yesterday, we’re on to Sunday.
Here are 25 things to know about the 49ers, the last team to stand in the way of the Eagles and a trip to the Super Bowl for the second time in five years.
This will be the 49ers’ first game in the Eastern time zone in three months. They won handily at Carolina in Week 5 (in the game that got Matt Rhule fired). They lost the following week in Atlanta in Week 6.
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Is this an omen? San Francisco has won 12 in a row. The 49ers’ last loss was to Kansas City on Oct. 23, which also was the day Bryce Harper hit that dramatic eighth-inning home run off San Diego’s Robert Suarez to put the Phillies in the World Series. Not sure which is harder to explain, the Niners’ impressive winning streak or why Padres manager Bob Melvin allowed the right-handed Suarez to pitch to Harper.
Purdy, the rookie quarterback, has started the last seven games for the 49ers, and played extensively when Jimmy Garoppolo broke his foot in the first quarter of Week 13.
Six of the eight games in which Purdy has been the primary quarterback were played at home. His two wins were at Seattle and at Las Vegas. No rookie QB has ever taken his team to a Super Bowl.
“Sometimes,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said after Sunday’s win over Dallas, “it’s fun to go on the road.”
The Eagles are on a 7-0-1 streak against rookie quarterbacks since losing to Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston in 2015. The rookie QBs they’ve beaten in that span (in reverse chronological order) are Kenny Pickett (Pittsburgh), Jake Fromm (N.Y. Giants), Ben DiNucci (Dallas), Luke Falk (N.Y. Jets), Mitchell Trubisky (Chicago), C.J. Beathard (San Francisco), and Dak Prescott (Dallas). Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow managed a tie in 2020.
The 49ers defense had three players named first-team All-Pro this year, one at each level of the formation: edge rusher Nick Bosa, linebacker Fred Warner, and safety Talanoa Hufanga.
San Francisco’s other first-team All-Pro was left tackle Trent Williams. Tight end George Kittle was named to the second team, as was special teams ace George Odum.
The Eagles defense hasn’t given up a touchdown to an opposing tight end since Week 9, though they really haven’t seen any of the league’s top tight ends this season. Dalton Schultz (three catches, 43 yards) of the Cowboys and T.J. Hockenson (four catches, 38 yards, when he was still with Detroit) are the most notable they’ve faced.
Williams, who was with Washington from 2010-19, will be playing his 10th game at Lincoln Financial Field. Last summer, he was the first lineman to receive a 99 rating in the Madden video game since Seattle’s Walter Jones in 2007. Big stuff.
Arik Armstead has six sacks in eight playoff games, excellent for a defensive tackle. He would have had seven sacks, but he pulled up on Prescott in the final minute on Sunday because he didn’t want to get a penalty. “Gosh, darn roughing the passer calls,” he tweeted. “I’m sick. Shoulda just hit him.”
Armstead has been San Francisco’s nominee for the prestigious Walter Payton Award each of the last three years. Among his philanthropic endeavors is the Armstead Academic Project that serves and mentors kids.
Oddly, considering their opponent, this will be the 49th playoff game in Eagles’ history. They are 24-24 overall, 16-8 at home, 7-4 at Lincoln Financial Field.
Former colleague Bob Vetrone Jr. pointed out that San Francisco is the only NFC franchise before this weekend that had never played a playoff game in Philadelphia.
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Niners defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans finished his playing career with the Eagles (2012-15). One of his assistants is Cory Undlin, who was the Eagles’ defensive backs coach when they won the Super Bowl five years ago.
San Francisco’s defense ranked first in fewest points allowed per game (16.3), first in fewest yards allowed (300.6) and second in turnovers forced (30). Two years ago, before Ryans arrived, the Niners were 17th, fifth, and 21st in those categories, respectively.
Defensive end Nick Bosa led the league with 18½ sacks, but he has been held sackless in three of his last four games. Bosa lines up on the right side, which means he’ll see plenty of Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata.
San Francisco running back Christian McCaffrey, plucked from the sinking Carolina Panthers for four draft picks (no first-rounders), has scored a touchdown in eight consecutive games.
Nickel back Jimmie Ward, a first-round pick out of Northern Illinois in 2014, has been with the 49ers the longest.
The 49ers have 36 playoff wins in their franchise history, one behind New England for the all-time record. Green Bay, Pittsburgh, and Dallas also have 36 wins, but will not be adding to it this season.
Cornerback Charvarius Ward (no relation to Jimmie) had a cyst removed from his hip as a child, which forced him to use a wheelchair and then crutches while he was in second and third grade.
Ward seems like an interesting guy. In addition to overcoming what initially was thought to be a cancerous cyst, he …
Was so proficient in academics that he skipped his 10th-grade year.
Didn’t join the team at McComb (Miss.) High until he was a senior.
Played two years at a JUCO, then went to Middle Tennessee State.
Wasn’t invited to the scouting combine.
Broke into the league with Dallas as an undrafted free agent.
Cried when the Cowboys traded him to Kansas City at the end of training camp in 2018.
Was a starter and won a Super Bowl with the Chiefs (against San Francisco, by the way) following the 2019 season.
Signed a three-year, $42 million contract with the 49ers, with $26.7 million guaranteed, in March.
Robbie Gould, 40, has never missed a kick in 15 career playoff games. He’s 29-for-29 on field goals; 38-for-38 on extra points.
When Philadelphia native Mike McGlinchey was 8 years old, directors of a local youth organization wanted to put him in a league with eighth and ninth graders who were closer to his size. The 6-foot-8, 310-pound tackle will be playing his third game at the Linc. He won here with Notre Dame in 2015 and with the Niners last season.
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Hufanga, the strong safety who’s also a cousin of Eagles defensive lineman Marlon Tuipulotu, won All-Pro honors in just his second season. He is mentored intensely by fellow Polynesian Troy Polamalu, who also went to Southern California. “Training with him is very different,” Hufanga said of Polamalu, a 2020 Hall of Fame inductee. “A lot of it has to do with your mind. He’s a different cat, for sure. He not only understands the game, but what life is all about.”