Pasting over.
Eagles.
Hitting on a few of the biggest pieces for me. QB matchup largely favors the Eagles. Hurts has proven himself and that his decision making is sound. Factoring in the Niners pass rush, mobility and a great OL helps offset which the Eagles both have. Purdy Purdy Purdy...how will he stack up against the best pass rush in the NFL? There is nothing that tells me to put faith in this and while there were a few drives he looked 'ok' versus the Cowboys, it wasn't like he put on a clinic and holding a Niners ticket that game I was super nervous. Sticking with that data here, Eagles have a big advantage in the QB and ability to get to QB. Beyond the QB on offense, each team does have a strong run game (factoring in Hurts) and realistically the receiving core is on par. I won't say Hurts is a significantly better passer than Purdy, but an edge.
On the defensive side of the ball the Niners have the edge in run defense by a fair margin but the Eagles signing of Joseph and Suh has improved what was once a weakness plus Jordan Davis got healthy. Then McCaffrey had the calf issue which can linger so I'm not sitting here thinking either team gonna run the ball but with Shanahan the logic for me is the Niners have a better chance to have success but not a slam dunk. Kittle should have success but the Niners just have too many options in a game plan to guess at this point.
HC, obvisously edge to Shanahan. As far as strength of schedule and competition. Both teams played trash.
So, why bullish on the Eagles for me? I do think the Niners can be exploited in the passing game. Eagles OL is easily top 3, Hurts can scramble and then you have Brown-Smith-Goedert. We saw a bit of this in the Seattle game with Metcalf but that team has a swiss cheese defense. Flip side, call it eyeball test in combination with data but Purdy worries me. Kid runs in circles, throws it up, and so far has been lucky. This Eagles pass rush and defensive backfield is no fucking joke. A turnover or 2 can turn this game upside down fast.