49ers Players Celebrate As Cardinals Upset Eagles To Secure No. 1 NFC Seed For San Francisco

The San Francisco 49ers entered Sunday with an outside chance to clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC. It was an outside chance because the 49ers needed to win (not a big problem as they faced the lowly Washington Commanders) and they needed the Philadelphia Eagles to lose to the Arizona Cardinals as double-digit favorites.

Well, both things happened.

The game was close at halftime, with San Francisco leading just 13-10. But, the 49ers shut out the Commanders over the final 30 minutes and scored two touchdowns to cruise to a 27-10 victory.

That included a ridiculous play by quarterback Brock Purdy, who escaped the pocket, bought time and then fired across the field to hit Brandon Aiyuk, who was able to get open while Purdy was scrambling.

The 49ers' easy victory meant the fourth quarter went by rather quickly. That allowed their players to get into the tunnel and locker room while the Eagles game was still being played.

A group of players including Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle and Fred Warner gathered around a phone to watch the end of the game. When the Cardinals scored the go-ahead touchdown, the trio started celebrating with someone yelling, "Number one seed!" while Samuel screeched, "Let's go!"

My favorite part of the video is the look of disbelief on the face of Fred Warner.

For the Eagles, this is the latest devastating blow to their season. They started 10-1, looking like the easy choice to secure homefield advantage in the NFC for the second-straight season.

However, they've now lost four of their past five games. Not only are they not going to be the No. 1 seed in the NFC, they're probably not even going to win the NFC East.

Thanks to the tiebreakers, if the Cowboys beat the Washington Commanders in Week 18, Dallas wins the NFC East regardless of whether or not the Eagles win.

Talk about a fall from grace, huh?

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to OutKick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.