Getty Eagles safety K'Von Wallace was assessed an unnecessary roughness penalty for this low hit on Trey Sermon.
Javon Kinlaw was just being honest when answering questions about beating the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2. The 324-pound defensive tackle thought his San Francisco 49ers had more fight in them, leading the Eagles to fold like a flimsy plastic card table.
“I think they folded before we did,” Kinlaw said, “and I didn’t think we was going to fold at all.”
The Eagles controlled the game early on Sunday, at least in terms of yardage and time of possession. The 49ers didn’t score until there was 12 seconds left in the first half when Jauan Jennings broke free for a 11-yard touchdown.
Kinlaw blocked Jake Elliott’s 47-yard field-goal attempt in the second quarter, then a punishing 49ers’ defense put the clamps on Philly. Nick Bosa and Arik Armstead combined for 10 total pressures and posted 27.3% and 19.2% win rates, respectively (via Pro Football Focus). Bosa finished with two sacks.
“I don’t hear it but I’m sure they on the sideline like ‘we gotta do something about Bosa,'” Kinlaw said. “I’m sure they on the sideline like that but not in the game.”
Javon Kinlaw thinks the Eagles “folded” in today’s game 👀
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Fletcher Cox Wasn’t in Chatty Mood
Eagles All-Pro defensive tackle Fletcher Cox wasn’t in a chatty mood after the loss. He ran off the field after the final whistle sounded, completely uninterested in shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries with the 49ers.
“Normally, win, lose or draw, I normally run off the field,” Cox said. “Sometimes, I will stay and chat around, but there’s nothing to talk about. We just got our teeth kicked in.”
Stats don’t always tell the entire story but Fletcher Cox, the Eagles’ highest paid player, has 1 sack and 1 QB hit through his last 6 games.
To be fair, Cox wanted to check on injured teammate Brandon Graham who exited the game on a cart. The 33-year-old saw his season end after tearing an Achilles tendon.
“BG has been my locker mate since I got here,” Cox said, “and now we still get to laugh and talk about things, it’s just he won’t be on the field on Sunday, it’ll be in the locker room. So, I’m looking forward to that and making sure he stays in a good place.”
Don’t Blame Eagles’ Defense
The Eagles’ defense was taking unnecessary heat on sports talk radio on Sunday night. The 49ers posted 306 total yards of offense, including 189 through the air. Take away Deebo Samuel’s big 40-yard reception (watch Anthony Harris go for the strip instead of making the tackle) and their passing yards shrink to 149. Also, San Francisco averaged just 3.1 yards per running play.
“I thought Jonathan [Gannon] and his staff did a great job of putting us in position against a team that can really run the football,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “Then I thought the players really executed the plan well. I thought we played – without looking at the tape, I thought we played a good game on defense.”
One issue for the Eagles was clock management. Sirianni blew through his timeouts at the five-minute mark in the fourth quarter, a strategy he defended after the game. He was trying to preserve enough time to get the ball back and score on consecutive possessions. The Eagles got one touchdown, but the defense couldn’t hold on a final-drive stop. They lost 17-11.
“It’s just saving enough time to put yourself in a position to have two possessions,” Sirianni said. “I would do that again every day the way we did it. I know obviously we want to get a stop on defense to get the ball back but give them credit.”