The San Francisco 49ers advanced their record to 3-1 for new head coach Jim Harbaugh by knocking off the Philadelphia Eagles, who have now fallen into the basement of the NFC East at 1-3.
Eagles Pro Bowl quarterback Michael Vick was unhampered by his hand injury, but the Eagles defense ultimately couldn’t stop the 49ers in the second half.
The Eagles lost the previous two games with Vick on the sidelines, as he was knocked out of a week 2 loss to Atlanta with a concussion, and out of a week 3 loss to the Giants with a hand injury. In spite of soreness in his hand, Vick strapped on a Kevlar glove and was one of the few high points for the Eagles in the loss.
Vick finished the day throwing for 416 yards with 2 TDs and 1 INT, in addition to leading all Eagles runners with 75 yards rushing on 8 carries. DeSean Jackson had 6 receptions for 171 yards, as the Eagles built up a 23-3 lead early in the third quarter.
But the Eagles managed only 33 yards rushing on 12 carries by their running backs, and they were unable to stop the 49ers late in the game.
In the second half, the 49ers unleashed their offense and scored 21 unanswered points in the final 23 minutes of the game.
Alex Smith finished the game 21 of 33 for 291 yards and 2 TDs with no picks. He also distributed the ball to eight different receivers. “I’m really proud of him,” Harbaugh said. “He’s such a tough guy. He doesn’t really say ‘Boo’ about anything and just takes hits, gets hit, runs. … I thought there was some great, heroic play by our guys up and down the roster.”
“We played better football in the second half,” Smith said. “We were determined to play a little better. When you’re down 20 points, you can’t get it all back at once. I think all we talked about was executing better and we followed that up.”
Frank Gore looked fully healthy despite a nagging ankle injury this week, as he rushed for 127 yards on 15 carries.
“It’s big. It gives us a lot of confidence how we got the win today,” Gore said. “Down three touchdowns we fought back as a team, as one, and kept believing.”
The 49ers dug their way of the their 20 point whole with a 30-yard TD pass from Smith to Josh Morgan with 7:20 left in the 3Q, followed by a 9-yard TD pass from Smith to Vernon Davis 4:22 later.
Finally, the 49ers took the lead with 3:00 left in the 4Q on a 12-yard TD run by Gore. The final TD was set up in part by a 25-yard run by Gore early in the drive, plus a 15-yard facemask penalty on Eagles linebacker Brian Rolle.
The Eagles did get the ball back with 3:00 left in the 4Q, needing only a field goal to retake the lead, but after Vick drove the Eagles into 49ers territory with 2:06 remaining, he completed a pass to Jeremy Maclin who fumbled the ball. The 49ers recovered and were able to run out the clock with a couple of first down runs by Gore.
The 1-3 Eagles “Dream Team” fall into the basement in the NFC East, and have to regroup and head to upstate New York to take on the 3-1 Buffalo Bills next week.
The 3-1 49ers are now in first place in the NFC West despite being ranked 28th in passing offense and 30th in rushing offense going into this week. They host the 2-1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers next weekend.
