The Philadelphia Eagles have enjoyed a strong start over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game and hold a 7-0 lead.
With their very first drive of the game, the Eagles marched all the way to the end zone on the back of stunning grabs by wide receivers AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith.
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The latter’s was perhaps one of the catches of the season — but it shouldn’t have even counted.
Under pressure from the 49ers’ defensive linemen and on a 4th down play, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts stepped back and fired a laser down the field.
Smith, who had found some space between himself and his marker, pushed off his right leg and stretched out his right arm to haul in the ball for a jaw-dropping one-handed grab just behind the 49ers’ five-yard line.
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However, replays later showed that when going to the ground, Smith briefly lost control of the ball before regaining it back into his grasp.
Had the 49ers sent the camera angle from where the ball came loose, a challenge from coach Kyle Shanahan would have seen the ruling of a catch overturned.
Hurts was unable to find a man on the next play, but the Eagles didn’t take long to score a touchdown as Miles Sanders ran it in for an easy play.
The 49ers’ first offensive possession ended in disaster when rookie QB Brock Purdy, who has yet to lose an NFL game he has played in, fumbled the ball and was happily gobbled up by the Eagles’ defense.
To make matters worse for the visitors, Purdy exited the game in the first quarter with an elbow injury as Josh Johnson, the fourth QB the 49ers have used this season, was thrust into the game.
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