While many view the Philadelphia Eagles as one of the toughest possible playoff matchups for the San Francisco 49ers, NFL analyst Bucky Brooks sees it differently. In fact, Brooks believes the Eagles may be the best matchup the 49ers could have drawn and explained why during a recent appearance on Bay Area radio station 95.7 The Game.

"This is probably the best matchup the Niners could have, because offensively, the Philadelphia Eagles, for lack of a better word, have been yuck," Brooks said. "They've been terrible on offense. They're bad to watch. They're not exciting. I mean, this offense is—I watched them play against the Bills a couple weeks ago, and I think they had 19 yards in the second half. They cannot move the football."


Brooks said that if the 49ers can jump out to an early lead, Philadelphia may not have the firepower to respond.

"So, if you're the Niners and you think about, 'Man, if we can just somehow run out to a 14-point lead,' do the Eagles have enough to get back in it?" Brooks said. "Whether it's [QB] Jalen Hurts throwing, [WR] A.J. Brown, [WR] DeVonta Smith, whoever they have on the perimeter—[RB] Saquon Barkley hasn't been the same—they are not a group that is together. And that lack of chemistry and cohesion could come back to bite them."

Despite the 49ers having to travel to Philadelphia for the Wild Card matchup, Brooks believes defensive coordinator Robert Saleh could put together an effective game plan against the Eagles' offense, even with several key defenders sidelined due to injuries.

"I think this is the best matchup of all the matchups that they could have faced," Brooks said.

However, Brooks acknowledged that the matchup flips when the 49ers' offense faces the Eagles' defense. He said head coach Kyle Shanahan and quarterback Brock Purdy will face a much tougher challenge on Sunday.


"Now, their defense is lights out," Brooks said. "[DT] Jalen Carter's a monster on the inside. They're really good on the perimeter."

According to Brooks, the 49ers must establish the run game to succeed against Philadelphia's defense and create opportunities for explosive plays.

"They have to be able to run the football so they can get the play-action things that they want to get done," Brooks said. "They have to find a way to get some explosive plays through the air. And the only way they're going to do it is they have to be able to use [RB] Christian McCaffrey as a decoy to set up the shots that they want to take down the field.

"Now, it's a tall task because [defensive coordinator] Vic Fangio's going to put an umbrella on the defense, not allow those things to get over the top. But they have to be able to run it, so they give Brock Purdy a chance to push [the ball down the field]."

Ultimately, Brooks believes McCaffrey must be a focal point of the 49ers' offensive game plan for San Francisco to advance.


"He needs to get 30 touches," Brooks said. "Whatever combination of runs and receptions that is, he needs 30 to set the table for the Niners."



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