SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — When star tight end George Kittle went down with a torn Achilles tendon in the second quarter, it looked as if the injury issues that have plagued the San Francisco 49ers all season might have finally broken the team.
Instead, Brock Purdy connected with Jauan Jennings on a 45-yard pass on the next play to set up a field goal that helped the short-handed 49ers pull out a 23-19 victory over the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles in the wild-card round.
Now San Francisco (13-5) heads to Seattle (14-3) for a divisional round game Saturday without Kittle and fellow former All-Pros Nick Bosa and Fred Warner.
“I think that made us stronger for stuff like this,” Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams said about all the injuries this season. “Kittle going down in the first half. I think if we didn’t have experience with that, it would have been easy for everybody to fold and nobody would have blamed us. They would say, ‘Hey, they don’t have this player, don’t that player, they probably should lose.’”
Instead, they gutted out a win thanks to some unlikely contributors including late-season additions at linebacker Eric Kendricks and Garret Wallow and little-used receiver Demarcus Robinson, a game-winning drive by Purdy after throwing two interceptions and a timely trick play.
The 49ers were trailing 16-10 at the start of the fourth quarter when coach Kyle Shanahan called the play that led to Jennings throwing a 29-yard touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey for a 17-16 lead.
The Eagles then went back ahead on a late field goal before Purdy went 5 for 7 for 42 yards, with a 5-yard scramble for a first down and a 4-yard TD pass to McCaffrey with 2:54 to play to make it 23-19.
The defense then held, keeping the Niners' hopes alive of playing the Super Bowl on their home field next month.
“It shows how they’ve been all year,” Shanahan said. "They’ve been resilient all year, we’ve overcome a lot. They believe in each other a ton. And we knew we couldn’t come in here and just win by certain guys making plays. We knew we had to come here and win as a complete team, and I really believe we played as a complete team and that’s why we got it done.”
What’s working
Purdy to Robinson connection. San Francisco's training camp star made his biggest impact of the season as he became Purdy's top downfield option with Ricky Pearsall still sidelined by a knee injury. Robinson had a 61-yard catch on the opening drive that set up his 2-yard TD reception and finished with six catches for 111 yards after gaining just 276 yards all season. This was Robinson's third 100-yard receiving game in 10 seasons in the NFL.
What needs help
Running game. The 49ers were held to 75 yards on 25 carries as they struggled to open up any holes for McCaffrey even with the return of Williams. This was the fewest yards rushing for San Francisco in a playoff win since they had 46 against Washington in the 1990 divisional round.
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Stock up
Kendricks. The Niners signed Kendricks to the practice squad in late November and he played 46 defensive snaps as a reserve in the final three games. But the 33-year-old was forced into a starting role against the Eagles after Tatum Bethune got hurt and delivered in a big way. He had 10 tackles, including two for losses, and broke up a fourth down pass in the final minute to seal the win.
Stock down
Health report. The Kittle injury is the latest for a team that missed Bosa, Warner, Purdy, Pearsall, first-round defensive end Mykel Williams and several other key players for significant time this season.
Injuries
S Ji'Ayir Brown (hamstring) left the game with a hamstring injury and might miss this week's game. ... Pearsall (knee) missed his second straight game and wasn't able to work out before the game. His status this week remains in question. ... LBs Dee Winters (ankle) and Luke Gifford (quadriceps have a chance to return this week. ... Shanahan said it was unlikely that the Niners would open up Warner's practice window this week, but there's still a chance he could return if the team makes to the NFC title game or Super Bowl.
Key stat
2. Former high school quarterback Jennings threw his second career TD pass in the NFL when he connected with McCaffrey on a go-ahead 29-yard strike in the fourth quarter. Jennings has thrown both of his TDs McCaffrey — also doing it in Super Bowl 58 — to match the total that Hall of Famers Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison had together in 15 playoff games.
Next steps
The 49ers will face the Seahawks for the third time in the postseason. They lost the NFC title game at Seattle in the 2013 season and won a wild-card game at home three years ago.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
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