"Truth No. 1: In January, more games are lost than won. Truth No. 2: When the margins are tight, trust the sideline with the better head coach and the quarterback. Often, these truths independently operate. But on a windy Sunday night in Philadelphia, they intertwined in the 49ers' 23-19 win over the Eagles. While Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts spent three hours treating the national audience to a masterclass in self-sabotage, Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy simply existed. They handled business. They survived."
"His primary job description appears to be Chief Vibes Officer, and on Sunday, the vibes in Philly were radioactive. In the second quarter, with his team in control of the game, Sirianni sprinted down the sideline not to make a schematic adjustment or point out a coverage flaw but to publicly berate mercurial wide receiver A.J. Brown after a third-down drop."
"They survived. And now, after a victory that felt more like an escape than a conquest, the 49ers are advancing. Sometimes, the smartest strategy in football is to just get out of the way and let the other guys implode. And this game was decided the moment the Eagles chose to fight themselves rather than their banged-up, bruised, but not-yet-beaten opponent."
Two immutable playoff truths shape outcomes: January games are more often lost than won, and in tight margins favoring the sideline with the superior head coach and quarterback matters. On a windy Sunday in Philadelphia, the 49ers benefited from those dynamics in a 23-19 result. Philadelphia undercut itself through public sideline confrontations and drops by A.J. Brown, while the 49ers remained composed under Kyle Shanahan with Brock Purdy managing the offense. Steady execution by San Francisco combined with opponent mistakes to determine the game's outcome and propel the 49ers forward.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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