Jason Kelce acknowledges that the 49ers defeated the Eagles, but he quickly retracts his statement.
During his departure interview, the Philadelphia lineman couldn’t stop raving about San Francisco.
49ers tight end George Kittle and Eagles center Jason Kelce converse following the Niners’ December 3, 2023, 42-19 annihilation of Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field.
Getty Images/Tim Nwachukwu
The Philadelphia Eagles were defeated by the San Francisco 49ers.
Or at least that’s how the Internet portrayed events following the 10-1 Eagles’ crushing defeat at the hands of the 49ers in December, which set off a downward spiral that saw Philadelphia drop six of its final seven games, including Monday’s humiliating 32-9 wild-card loss to the Tampa Bay Bucs. And nobody enjoyed the story more than Nines supporters, who took great pleasure in the disintegration of the squad that prevented San Francisco from making it to the Super Bowl the previous year.
However, it was only confirmed by one Eagles player for the first time on Wednesday during Philadelphia’s departure interviews: Jason Kelce.
Reporter: “Is there anything in particular that you guys are keeping an eye on, since this might be the turning point or the shift in the direction of the season?”
Kelce: “The San Francisco game was, without a doubt, the major turning point.”
And it was evident a few seconds later that he instantly regretted saying it.
First, Kelce refuted the idea that the Niners had a set strategy for defeating the Eagles, saying, “Everyone kind of did their own thing as to how they stopped us offensively.” San Francisco played a lot of soft coverage and basically rushed four, not really blitzing. There has undoubtedly been a lot of pressure during the past two weeks. Thus, you know, I believe that the reason we got stuck in all those games wasn’t the same procedure or approach.
Just seconds after describing the San Francisco game as “the big turning moment,” he retreated from any criticism.
He mentioned “the San Francisco game” once again and stated, “I don’t know that there was any one item that really sticks out; I think collectively we never really got it going offensively after that.” It looks like perhaps that game was the one that stood out.
Then, a little later, another reporter followed up on his earlier remarks from San Francisco.
Reporter: “You brought up San Francisco, which is where everything kind of fell apart.”
The reporter was then interrupted by Kelce, who is rumored to be considering retirement, in an attempt to get his previous statement removed from the record.
He responded, “Yeah, I don’t know about that; I’ll walk it back.” I don’t believe that our defeat by the San Francisco Giants was related to our defeat by the New York Giants.
It’s debatable if the 49ers actually shattered the Eagles, but they certainly took a toll on Jason Kelce’s mental state.
