Photo courtesy of the San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers have a formidable obstacle in the way of their second Super Bowl appearance in four years. They'll travel to Philadelphia this weekend to face the top-seeded Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. In addition to battling a difficult opponent, they'll have to find a way to block out the passionate Philly fanbase.
"The environment, it'll be hostile, it'll be loud, as it should be," defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans told reporters before Thursday's practice. "NFC Championship Game. We're in their stadium. We're on their turf. We also understand it's going to be hostile, but you also have to understand you block out all those distractions, and you just go and play the best football you can play for three-and-a-half hours."
One 49ers offensive lineman is very familiar with the Eagles and playing in Philadelphia, having come from the NFC East.
"I've been to Philly almost every year of my career," said tackle
Trent Williams, who was with the Washington Commanders for the first nine NFL years. "There's a little more than just noise that comes to that place. I think if you can operate in Seattle's noise, I think you can operate pretty much anywhere. Philly is just one of those places where those fans, they make a difference. They get under your skin. They yell at you. They don't stop. I think that will be an added factor to it."
Williams added, "When you walk in there, they let you know you're not welcome. We enjoy the home-field advantage when we've got it here, and then it's the name of the game. You go there, you've got to deal with it, and it's why we play the game."
The fans at Lincoln Financial Field are infamous for their passion for the Eagles, and they will make things difficult on the 49ers for those three-and-a-half hours. However, one Niners player didn't sound too concerned about this weekend's road environment.
"
We know it's going to be loud," wide receiver
Deebo Samuel told reporters on Wednesday, "but no stadium is as loud as ours at the end of the day. They're at home, NFC Championship. They're going to be all riled up. We don't really too much feed into all that because we put the pads on and just go to work."
As mentioned by Williams, the 49ers faced a similar task earlier in the season when they traveled to Lumen Field in Seattle for a crucial division-clinching game against the Seahawks. And they did it on a short week, with that matchup being a Thursday night game.
That may have prepared the 49ers' rookie quarterback,
Brock Purdy, for the team's current situation.
"I remember us talking about that, that week, that we needed that," head coach Kyle Shanahan explained while speaking with reporters on Wednesday. "We needed that [experience] in case we ended up in the NFC Championship at Philly, and we got that. And I'm very fortunate that we did, and I feel we're good to go."
Besides preparing for the noise, not much will change in practice regarding preparing for the Eagles.
"[This week is] business as usual," Ryans said. "That's what I love about our guys. Every time we go out to practice, the way our guys work each and every day, it's consistent, and that's what it takes, not making it bigger than what it is.
"We understand the stakes, understand where we are. We're thankful to be playing at this time, but we also understand we have to go out and execute and play really good football. On Sunday, we have to be the best team for that three-and-a-half hours."
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It should be comforting to San Francisco 49ers fans to learn that Falcons fans on social media were unhappy with the news that cornerback Isaiah Oliver wasn't returning to Atlanta. Oliver signed a two-year deal with the Niners and will likely compete for the nickel cornerback spot made vacant by the departure of Jimmie Ward to the Houston Texans.
Oliver has played 77 percent of his 510 defensive snaps in the slot over the last two seasons, per Pro Football Focus.
"I definitely felt much more comfortable in there," Oliver said on Thursday, speaking to 49ers reporters for the first time. "I felt like I was able to kind of play to my strengths a little more. Just being around the ball,
Everything changed in the NFC Championship Game when quarterback Brock Purdy exited early with an injury. He eventually returned because his backup, Josh Johnson, exited with a concussion. Purdy could not throw, though. He suffered a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow, leaving the San Francisco 49ers to become one-dimensional, abandoning the pass and depending solely on the run game.
For fans, it was a difficult game to watch. Everyone anticipated a more evenly matched battle between the two best teams in the NFC. Instead, they got an Eagles powerhouse defense going against a limping 49ers offense.
"We kind of knew it was going to be different when all you can do is run the ball," former Eagles defensive tackle Javon Hargrave said
Adding Javon Hargrave was a huge (and shocking) addition by the San Francisco 49ers. While it seems like a perfect fit and addresses a significant team need, no one saw it coming. The Niners didn't have considerable salary cap space, so signing Hargrave to a four-year, $84 million deal was unexpected.
The former Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle, nicknamed "Grave Digger," joins a defensive line that includes NFL Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa and Arik Armstead, bolstering the middle of that unit.
One of the defender's former teammates is happy for Hargrave and his financial good fortune. However, he also knows the loss could be problematic for the defending NFC champions in the upcoming season.
"I'm happy for my man, Grave Digger," Eagles
The San Francisco 49ers made a call to former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger during the 2022 season after Jimmy Garoppolo went down with a broken foot. Despite rookie Brock Purdy stepping in and leading the team to a December 4 win over the Miami Dolphins, the 49ers understandably opted to look into all their options, including finding out if Roethlisberger might be interested in temporarily pausing his retirement.
"Last year, there were some truths to the Niners thing," Roethlisberger told Mark Madden at 105.9 The X,
