Last week, there were some members of the media who talked about the possibility that the San Francisco 49ers and the Philadelphia Eagles might make it through the National Football League’s regular season unscathed – that one or both might go undefeated in their regular schedule.
That lasted exactly six days.
Both the 49ers and Eagles went down on Sunday – the short-handed Niners, without wide receiver Deebo Samuel for all but the first few plays and without running back Christian McCaffery for the entire second half, San Francisco lost at Cleveland, 19-17 (Browns stun 49ers 19-17, hand San Francisco its first loss and QB Brock Purdy his first as starter), after kicker Jake Moody missed a 41-yard field goal with six seconds left. And the Eagles? Playing the New York Jets on the road at MetLife Stadium, the Eagles turned the ball over four times, including an interception by Tony Adams late that led to the go-ahead score, as Philly was tripped up, 20-14 (Hall runs for a TD after Adams’ INT and Jets shock Eagles 20-14 to send Philly to its first loss).
Philadelphia suffered losses, too, including tackle Lane Johnson to an ankle injury and three more defensive backs to an already-crowded injury list.
As far as San Francisco, Samuel and the 49ers got good news after the game. According to a report by Bleacher Report, X-rays on Samuel’s injured shoulder were negative and NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported that the injury isn’t considered to be a serious one (49ers Rumors: Deebo Samuel’s X-Rays Negative After Shoulder Injury vs. Browns).
There was no real update on McCaffrey, who scored the 49ers’ first touchdown early in the game, McCaffrey’s 15th straight game to score a TD for the team, a franchise record.
The 49ers got good news in the Eagles’ loss, as San Francisco didn’t fall a game behind the Eagles for possible home field advantage in the NFC, and also got good news in Seattle’s loss at Cincinnati, meaning that the Niners still have at least a one-game advantage over their nearest competitor in the NFC West.
Next week, Philadelphia (5-1) hosts Miami (5-1) on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” and the 49ers (5-1) play the visitor again, this time at Minnesota (2-4).
Elsewhere around the league on Sunday…
Baltimore beat the Tennessee Titans in London, 24-16; Washington got out of Atlanta by the same score; the Minnesota Vikings got a win without IR-bound receiver Justin Jefferson, 19-13; the Seattle Seahawks came close and had a couple of series inside Cincinnati’s 15-yard line late in the game, but the Bengals’ defense held on to give them a 17-13 win; the Miami Dolphins continue to strangle everyone (except the division rival Buffalo Bills), and did so to Carolina, 42-21; Jacksonville won its AFC South battle Sunday with the Indianapolis Colts, 37-20; the Houston Texans continue to look a lot better than most thought they would, as they dealt New Orleans a 20-13 loss; the New England Patriots’ misery continues, as they dropped to 1-0 after a 21-17 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders; the Los Angeles Rams were all over the Cardinals, 26-9, keeping Arizona with just the one win on the season; and the Buffalo Bills held off a surprisingly-strong effort from the New York Giants, led by back-up quarterback Tyrod Taylor, as Buffalo got a14-9 win at home.
Monday night’s game has Dallas playing the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium.
