The 49ers are in for a playoff treat, thanks in large part to a pretty neat trick pulled off by Jennings.
Brock Purdy threw a go-ahead 4-yard touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey late in the fourth quarter, San Francisco used a trick play on a TD toss from Jennings to McCaffrey, and the 49ers eliminated the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles with a 23-19 wild-card victory Sunday.
“We went to the Super Bowl,” Jennings said. “So, we’ve got to top that.”
Maybe if the Eagles watched that 49ers' Super Bowl loss to Kansas City after the 2023 season, they wouldn't have been so caught by surprise by the play. A former high school quarterback, Jennings threw a TD pass on a similar play in the Super Bowl and this one to McCaffrey put him on a list with Purdy, Joe Montana and Steve Young as 49ers QBs who have thrown for multiple career touchdowns in the postseason.
How's that for heady company?
The play was called “Skyy Bang reverse pass” — in honor of wide receiver Skyy Moore — and the double reverse was suggested by offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak.
“It was a hell of suggestion,” coach Kyle Shanahan said.
The not-so Philly special was quite a way to put a dagger in the Super Bowl champs' season.
The 49ers head to top-seeded Seattle next weekend for an NFC divisional playoff game. The NFC West rivals split the season series. BetMGM put the Seahawks as early 6 1/2-point favorites.
Purdy threw for 262 yards and got the road win in Philadelphia he failed to get three seasons ago when he was injured in a dismal outing in Philadelphia in a loss in the NFC title game.
Purdy had two passes intercepted in this one by All-Pro cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, but the Eagles scored just three points off the turnovers.
The 49ers could head to Seattle without star tight end George Kittle, who was carted off the field with a right Achilles tendon injury late in the first half.
The Eagles — who won a Super Bowl on a trick play — were foiled by one when Jennings was pitched the ball and rolled right and hit McCaffrey for an over-the-shoulder catch and a 29-yard touchdown. The score on the first play of the fourth quarter gave the 49ers a 17-16 lead.
“I looked up, the ball’s in the air and Christian tracked it," Purdy said. ”It was wobbling in the wind. The fact that Christian caught it over his shoulder, dude, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.'"
Jennings had 66 yards receiving and 48 rushing in addition to his TD pass.
“JJ thinks he can make every play known to man,” Shanahan said.
The Eagles would only get Jake Elliott's 33-yard field goal in the quarter for a brief 19-17 lead.
Philadelphia was again doomed by a lethargic offensive effort under embattled offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo that cost it a shot at a repeat championship. Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts threw for only 168 yards and a touchdown and the Eagles failed to build off a 13-10 halftime lead by totaling only 36 total yards in the third quarter on 16 plays.
Hurts was incomplete on a last-gasp fourth-and-11 attempt with 43 seconds left that ended their final drive.
“I just didn’t make the play,' Hurts said. ”I own it. I own it all.”
The game never reached its offensive slugfest potential after the teams traded touchdowns on their opening drives.
Purdy, rendered ineffective by a torn ligament in his right elbow on the opening drive against the Eagles in a disastrous NFC title game loss three seasons ago, completed all three passes for 74 yards and capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Demarcus Robinson.
The Eagles tied it on a 1-yard sweep by Dallas Goedert, their red zone go-to ace with 11 TD receptions who became the first tight end to rush for a score in NFL postseason history.
The Eagles turned again to Goedert on fourth down when Hurts hit him for a 9-yard TD that made it 13-7.
Eddy Pineiro kicked a 36-yarder for the 49ers that cut it to 13-10 at halftime.
The 49ers took it from there and hope to pull off their second road win of the season in Seattle.
“It’s just cool for everybody across the board to be able to have this kind of win and celebrate all the stuff that we’ve been through,” Purdy said.
Heat of the moment
Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown had to be separated from coach Nick Sirianni by chief security officer Dom DiSandro during a sideline blowup late in the first half. Brown ripped off his helmet in frustration and yelled more in Sirianni’s direction after the Eagles punted to end a drive.
Injuries
Kittle was pushed out of bounds on a 6-yard reception and grabbed the back of his lower right leg. He was ruled out for the rest of the game.
Eagles running back Saquon Barkley ran for 106 yards, but was slow to get up on a run in the fourth quarter. He used the stationary bike on the sideline to stay loose.
Up next
49ers: The 49ers won 17-13 in Seattle in the season opener only for the Seahawks to return the favor with a 13-3 win in the season finale.
Eagles: Could make yet another change at offensive coordinator as they try not to waste more prime years from Hurts, Barkley and the receivers.
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This story has been corrected to fix the go-ahead touchdown pass to 4 yards, not 6 yards.
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