The San Francisco 49ers will undoubtedly rise to the top of most—if not all—power rankings this week after their 42-19 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. It will be hard to find anyone who doesn't view the Bay Area squad as the Super Bowl favorite after 13 weeks of NFL play.
San Francisco is proving to be a balanced team, equally impressive on offense and defense. Even 49ers defenders are in awe of the firepower on the offensive side of the football.
"I think the offense showed what we capable of when we're fully healthy," cornerback Charvarius Ward said in the locker room after the game. "[QB] Brock [Purdy] was out there ballin'."
Ward pointed out that Purdy has a lot of weapons at his disposal, making it tough on opposing defenses. It includes players like wide receivers Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and Jauan Jennings, each of whom found their way into the Lincoln Financial Field end zones on Sunday. There's also tight end George Kittle, who finished with four catches for 68 yards.
"Those boys, they dogs. They really dogs," Ward shared. "So I feel like it's hard for any defense to match up with this offense. We got too many weapons, I think. A lot of weapons."
One weapon that Ward failed to mention was do-everything running back Christian McCaffrey, who became the first 49ers player to surpass 1,000 rushing yards in a single season since Frank Gore did so in 2014.
When asked about the win in the much anticipated NFC Championship Game rematch, McCaffrey said, "It feels great. Anytime you win, especially against a good team like that, on the road, it feels great. I think we know what we can do, and it's just about getting better every week."
Ward isn't the only 49ers defender feeling extremely confident in the offense.
"I've never had this much confidence in the offense," admitted defensive end Nick Bosa. "To stick with the run, even when they have a bear in there, or a couple of bears, ginormous dudes, that make it really tough. But Christian just makes something out of nothing, I think, every time he gets the ball.
"But, yeah, we know they're going to break through at some point. And the first quarter was tough. They (the Eagles) brought it. But once you start wearing them down, I think both offense and defense, it was about wearing them down throughout the game."
Defensive tackle Arik Armstead echoed Bosa's comments, expressing confidence in the team's offense.
"Our goal is to get the ball back in their hands and put pressure on the defense so our offense could wear them down, too," Armstead added. "And once they start extending drives and we're able to get a first down, it kind of opened up the floodgates. So that's always our focus and our goal, is to get the ball back in their hands, and we have an amazing offense. Really exciting to see them and the explosives that they're creating.
"It's been a little different in the past, and so seeing that, big plays, getting the ball down the field, getting the ball into our playmakers' hands, and then making huge explosive plays is a lot of fun for us to see on defense."
Tackle Trent Williams never doubted that the 49ers could turn in a dominant performance against the Eagles, especially with a healthy Purdy lined up under center. That wasn't the case for most of last season's NFC Championship Game.
Williams said, "I had full confidence that we would have this type of game from the jump. We got a quarterback, so it made it a lot easier this time."