San Francisco 49ers vs Philadelphia Eagles 2026 Wildcard Matchup: 2 Historic NFC Teams Outlook
The San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles are renewing their rivalry in the new era that started in the 2022 NFC Championship on Sunday. This matchup features the last three NFC Champions, including the defending Super Bowl Champion Eagles, which is fun all by itself, but this year’s matchup is even more interesting because of how the teams are heading into this postseason, and their 2025 seasons have been wild to say the least. Let’s start with the 49ers
San Francisco 49ers 2025 Season Review
The 2023 NFC Champions had a strong 2025 campaign, even though the team had to deal with multiple injuries to star players, including a season-ending injury to Nick Bosa. Brock Purdy also suffered an injury early in the season, which could have derailed their season to the tenth degree, but the admirable performance of Mac Jones kept them afloat until Purdy came back.
Once Purdy came back, the 49ers went on a strong run to be contenders for the NFC West division and had a chance to win the division and earn the NFC 1-seed this past Saturday against the Seahawks. But the offense that has struggled with some of the top defenses in the league showed that struggle was real on Saturday, only being able to mustard three points.
So the 49ers are entering this game off a low and are looking to bounce back on the road in a hostile environment, along with more injuries to the linebacker unit and that defense so it will be a tough situation for the 49ers here. Which leads into the Eagles’ 2025 Season highlights.
Philadelphia Eagles 2025 Season In Review
The Philadelphia Eagles have had a huge rollercoaster-type season in the team’s Super Bowl Defense. As the reigning champs, the target is on your back all the time, and this Eagles team did show some inconsistencies in this 2025 calendar. First, they flew high by winning the first four games, then lost two in a row, won the next four, lost three in a row, won the next three, and lost the regular season finale with the backups playing. That’s the definition of a complete roller coaster to say the very least.
The main reason for this roller coaster type of season is that the offense is struggling. This was the most shocking part of the season because the offense from the Super Bowl was returning 10 of 11 starters, but the two crucial elements that have doomed this offense into inconsistency were the Offensive Line Health/Play and the new Offensive Coordinator, Kevin Patullo. Patullo had never called any plays in any level of football and was given the keys to a Super Bowl-winning Ferrari, and has put it into the trailer park garage this season.
His situational playcalling, along with the ability to just run an offense to be a great play caller, was horrible all season long, and there was a reason why he was passed up twice for the coordinator position after Shane Steichen left for the Colts job after the 2022 season. The Eagles still have a great opportunity to go back-to-back because of the defense led by Vic Fangio, who has been a lifesaver ever since he was hired before the 2024 season.
This defense has been the thing I look forward to watching this Eagles team all season long, because they look so cohesive and fluid, even with some of the changes midseason and injuries that happen to key players in that role (Andrew Mukuba’s ankle injury).
Both Teams Outlook
Both teams could make a deep run in this postseason because of the history they have had when they have arrived in the playoffs over these last few years, but both can also bottom out in this game this weekend as well. So it will be interesting to see who shows up and balls out at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday afternoon, but I believe the healthier team in Philly will pull through the game at the end of the day.
