There is at least one member of the San Francisco 49ers offense that is not buying the hype around the Philadelphia Eagles defense and thinks they are about to get exposed in the Super Bowl next week.
Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk told TheSFNiners Podcast this week that he is not sure about the Eagles’ defense, and that he believes the Kansas City Chiefs “will expose what we thought we were going to expose before some unfortunate circumstances.”
He goes on to add that the Eagles got “extremely lucky.”
Those unfortunate circumstances, of course, were the 49ers injury issues at quarterback.
With Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo already sidelined due to injury, the 49ers also lost third-string quarterback Brock Purdy to an elbow injury early in the game. That forced the 49ers to turn to fourth-string quarterback Josh Johnson. When Johnson was concussed, Purdy had to re-enter the game even though he was unable to throw the ball down field.
The Eagles would go on to win 31-7 and clinch their spot in the Super Bowl against the Chiefs.
Aiyuk also recently said that the 49ers had the most talented team in the league and that he is not even going to argue with anybody that does not believe that.
He might very well be right about the last point, because the 49ers roster is as good as any other team in the league on both sides of the ball. The only potential weakness that existed as the constant uncertainty at quarterback, and as the injuries continued to mount that became the focal point of how their season ended. So much so that they want the NFL to bring back the emergency quarterback rule that used to exist in the league until about a decade ago.
The unfortunate reality for Aiyuk and the 49ers is, that the quarterback situation did not result in the league’s best defense allowing 31 points to the Eagles. There was also nothing stopping them from dressing another quarterback for the NFC Championship game, they simply decided that 46th gameday roster spot was better used on another position. Even though they had a season-long track record of losing quarterbacks to injury.
The 49ers have a great team and should continue to have a great team next season. And maybe the Chiefs will expose the Eagles defense a week from Sunday. None of that changes the fact the Eagles beat the 49ers in the NFC Championship game and beat them soundly. The 49ers simply need to accept that.
