49ers' dissection of Eagles defense forced Philadelphia to sign Shaq Leonard

The 49ers offense has a way of exposing weaknesses in opposing defenses. After Sunday's smashing of the Eagles, Philadelphia made a move to sign a veteran linebacker.

There has been a lot of discussion about just how thorough a shellacking the San Francisco 49ers' 42-19 victory over the Eagles in Philadelphia was, with a lot of the attention going straight to Philly's defense.

En route to the Super Bowl in 2022, the Eagles boasted one of the NFL's top defensive units, ranking in the top 10 in a variety of categories including points allowed (8th), yards allowed (2nd), turnovers (5th), passing yards allowed (1st), average yards per pass (1st), and touchdowns allowed (10th).

But the 2023 campaign has been a lot different for Philadelphia, as it has fielded a defense that is at or near the bottom in those same categories, even as the defense against the run has improved from last season.

And while the fall from defensive grace hadn't impacted the ability to pull out victories and get off to a 10-1 start before last Sunday's matchup, it appears the 49ers were uniquely capable of taking advantage of the weaknesses in the Eagles' passing defense, which opened up the running lanes as the Niners racked up 456 yards of total offense.

The game plan for head coach Kyle Shanahan and quarterback Brock Purdy was pretty clear, particularly after that putrid first quarter: Get the ball out quickly to avoid the Eagles' still-dangerous pass rush and attack the middle of the field directly targeting the Eagles' weakest link, its linebacker unit.

One look at Purdy's passing chart from Sunday makes that abundantly clear.

To be sure, the Eagles' missing starter Zach Cunningham might have contributed to their performance on Sunday in this area, but a trade earlier in the season for former Tennessee Titans safety Kevin Byard suggests that Philly's brass is well aware of where their main weakness has been this year.

49ers' offense forced a move from the Eagles

So the Eagles' made another move, albeit one they began working on before the game with a free-agent visit from former Indianapolis Colts linebacker Shaquille Leonard in late November.

But you have to think that getting pummeled by San Francisco's offense the way that they did on Sunday, and the anticipation that these two teams could meet again in the playoffs, jolted the Eagles to beat their division rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, to signing Leonard on Monday.

What Leonard, who was waived by the Colts on Nov. 21, can offer the Eagles defensively remains to be seen.

But what is markedly clear is that the 49ers outclassing their defense in the way they did on Sunday proved to the Eagles that it was a move that had to be made.

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