Are the San Francisco 49ers back? Sure, their 24-23 win over the Philadelphia Eagles is just one game, but it also can be viewed as a turning point in the franchise. Battling back from a 17 point halftime deficit when it looked like the Eagles were well on their way to a rout, to take a victory against a quarterback with 501 yards of total offense and seven trips to the redzone? Call me a homer, but I find that impressive.
Let's take a look at some of the facts, shall we?
- The Niners stopped a five game losing streak to the Eagles, beating them for the first time since 12/21/03, a 31-28 victory in Overtime.
- San Francisco was down 23-3 in the third quarter, but came back to win 24-23. The 20 point deficit was the largest overcome by the Niners since 10/20/96 vs. the Bengals. In that game, Cincinnati led 21-0 in the second quarter as the 49ers rallied to win 28-21.
- Won consecutive road games for the first time since 2006.
- The 49ers have only committed 3 turnovers this year, giving the team a +8 turnover differential on the season.
- Jim Harbaugh now becomes only the third head coach in 49ers history to win his first two road games of the season, joining Geroge Seifert (1989) and Monte Clark (1976).
Frank Gore had a 100 yard game, Alex Smith had a 112 passer rating, the defense had three key turnovers (thanks Ronnie Brown!), and the Niners are in first place in the NFC West.
Not bad huh?
Like I said before, it's just one game. And this is, after all, the National Football League; a place where any team can win any game any week of the year. That being said, this is one of the best wins in recent memory for this franchise, and hopefully a start of something really good for the San Francisco 49ers.