Right now, everybody in the NFC is playing reverse tag with the Philadelphia Eagles.
As in, everybody else is “it,” and the Eagles are trying to run the heck away.
The Eagles are 10-1 so far this season – the “1” being the Aaron Rodgers-less New York Jets, of all teams, go figure – and have a two-game lead right now on the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East Division, and a 2 1/2-game lead on the San Francisco 49ers before Sunday’s home game against those same 49ers at Lincoln Financial Field.
Kickoff at the Linc is set for 3:25 p.m. Central time.
The 49ers come in at 8-3, and got a favor from the Cowboys on Thursday night, as the Cowboys dealt the Seattle Seahawks a 41-35 loss. That means San Francisco can only increase its own lead in the NFC West with a win at Philly on Sunday.
The Niners really are in a win-win situation here, if they can avoid injuries. Win, and they bring the Eagles closer back to the pack. Win, and they bring the Eagles closer to the rest of the NFC. Win – and San Francisco can get a game closer to possibly getting a shot at home field advantage in the NFC.
Lose, and at least they still have their lead in the NFC West. Six in one, half-a-dozen in the other.
Oddly enough, even though the Eagles have only lost once, San Francisco was a 2 1/2 -point favorite when this story was written.
Count Niners coach Kyle Shanahan as a skeptic on that one.
““It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, but I don’t really know how that stuff works,” Shanahan said. “I don’t really know why. It is random.”
Shanahan’s quarterback, Brock Purdy, has to always hear that he’s “Mr. Irrelevant” because he was the final player picked in the draft a year ago. But Purdy saved the 49ers when Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance – neither of whom are still on the roster – were both injured, and he’s the most accurate passer in the league right now. He also has almost 2,900 passing yards and 19 touchdowns. Maybe that’s what Vegas is seeing.
That, and an Eagles defense that isn’t very good against the pass (ranked 29 th).
The 49ers have been the league’s ultimate streaky team this year. They opened the season on a five-game winning streak. Then it was a three game losing streak. They went into their open date on that losing streak and haven’t lost since: now, they’ve won three straight.
