Eagles host 49ers in wild-card round as they seek a repeat Super Bowl title

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Eagles declared from the first day of training camp and throughout another season that included an NFC East title that the word “repeat” is not part of the locker-room vernacular for the 2024 Super Bowl champions.

“We’re not defending nothing,” offensive lineman Jordan Mailata said.

However the Eagles want to spin it, this much is true: Philadelphia is a contender to repeat.

Yes, the offense has lacked the spark of a season ago, when every snap had the promise of a spectacular play. Yes, there's been some unhappiness about everything from play-calling to a worn-out offensive line to the kicking game. Even the Eagles' playoff seeding — No. 3 in the NFC — was scrutinized after coach Nick Sirianni rested his starters in the season finale, costing them a shot at the No. 2 seed and perhaps more home games.

The Eagles (11-6) believe little of that matters once they open their bid for a third Super Bowl appearance in four seasons on Sunday against San Francisco (12-5).

“We are here in this spot because you want to run it back and you want to play and compete again,” Sirianni said. “That’s part of the reason why you’re here. There’s a reason that the people are in this building, that are in this building. They have that hunger.”

They have that trophy, too.

Jalen Hurts is one of three quarterbacks in this season's playoffs who has won a Super Bowl. Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford are the others.

San Francisco's Brock Purdy lost in his only Super Bowl appearance. His shot at another was derailed three years ago when he injured his elbow in the NFC championship game and was ineffective in a 31-7 loss — at Philadelphia.

“I haven’t reviewed that game for a little bit,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said.

Led by Purdy, the 49ers have one of the NFL's most prolific offenses, but they stalled out with a shot at the top seed at stake in last Saturday’s 13-3 home loss to Seattle. Purdy threw for 127 yards and Christian McCaffrey finished with a season-low 57 yards from scrimmage against a strong Seahawks defense.

The Eagles lost their season finale to Washington with many starters resting. The move backfired in the moment because a win would have given Philadelphia the No. 2 seed, but it could pay off in the postseason if the Eagles have the extra juice needed for another long playoff run.

“Incredibly beneficial for us,” Mailata said. “It's more like delayed gratification. You feel (the rest) more toward the end of the week. At the start of the week, kind of rusty, feel a little slow. As you practice during the week, you get your legs, you get everything firing again.”

Counting last weekend’s finale, the wild-card game marks the first time all season the Eagles will play consecutive home games.

The road to last season's Super Bowl ran through Philadelphia. The Eagles say they're ready to pack their bags for the rest of January — as long as they can beat the 49ers.

McCaffrey made it through the season healthy, playing all 17 games for San Francisco with a league-leading 413 touches from scrimmage, the most by any player since 2014. McCaffrey said he feels “great” and is excited for the playoffs, and Shanahan sees no reason to limit McCaffrey’s workload.

“I look at it as Christian’s made it through that and this is all we have guaranteed right now is Sunday,” Shanahan said. “We have nothing guaranteed after that. So, once you get to this part of the year, no one thinks about anything like that.”

The last time the 49ers went to Philadelphia for a playoff game, Purdy suffered a serious elbow injury on the first drive, backup Josh Johnson got a concussion and San Francisco played most of the second half without a functioning quarterback.

That led to a rule change that allowed teams to have an emergency third QB if he was already on the 53-man roster. Shanahan has no plans to take advantage of that by signing Adrian Martinez from the practice squad as the No. 3 QB behind Purdy and Mac Jones.

“I don’t know anyone else who can ever choose that really, unless you’re playing with someone who’s really injured and you don’t think they’ll make it through the game,” Shanahan said. “But to play with one less player throughout the game because of something that, for me has happened once in 23 years and other people I’ve worked with once in 45 years, just probably wouldn’t be the best odds.”

Some 49ers fans had disappointment on tap when their request to take over a Philadelphia bar was denied by the owners.

Ladder 15 posted screenshots of a request from a group asking if the bar had enough space to hold up to 200 Niners fans for a Friday night out. The bar's management posted its reply that said “we cannot in good conscience host anything that has to do with the 49ers.”

The bar owners added that they hoped fans would “enjoy your time in (the) City of Brotherly Love.”

AP Pro Football Writer Josh Dubow in Santa Clara, California, contributed to this report.

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Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni walks off the field at halftime of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Eagles' Jalen Hurts, left, hands off to Saquon Barkley during the first half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

VATICAN CITY (AP) — In his most substantial critique of U.S., Russian and other military incursions in sovereign countries, Pope Leo XIV on Friday denounced how nations were using force to assert their dominion worldwide, “completely undermining” peace and the post-World War II international legal order.

“War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading,” Leo told ambassadors from around the world who represent their countries’ interests at the Holy See.

Leo didn’t name individual countries that have resorted to force in his lengthy speech, the bulk of which he delivered in English in a break from the Vatican’s traditional diplomatic protocol of Italian and French. But his speech came amid the backdrop of the recent U.S. military operation in Venezuela to remove Nicolás Maduro from power, Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine and other conflicts.

The occasion was the pope’s annual audience with the Vatican diplomatic corps, which traditionally amounts to his yearly foreign policy address.

In his first such encounter, history’s first U.S.-born pope delivered much more than the traditional roundup of global hotspots. In a speech that touched on threats to religious freedom and the Catholic Church’s opposition to abortion and surrogacy, Leo lamented how the United Nations and multilateralism as a whole were increasingly under threat.

“A diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force, by either individuals or groups of allies,” he said. “The principle established after the Second World War, which prohibited nations from using force to violate the borders of others, has been completely undermined.”

“Instead, peace is sought through weapons as a condition for asserting one’s own dominion. This gravely threatens the rule of law, which is the foundation of all peaceful civil coexistence,” he said.

Leo did refer explicitly to tensions in Venezuela, calling for a peaceful political solution that keeps in mind the “common good of the peoples and not the defense of partisan interests.”

The U.S. military seized Maduro, the Venezuelan leader, in a surprise nighttime raid. The Trump administration is now seeking to control Venezuela’s oil resources and its government. The U.S. government has insisted Maduro's capture was legal, saying drug cartels operating from Venezuela amounted to unlawful combatants and that the U.S. is now in an “armed conflict” with them.

Analysts and some world leaders have condemned the Venezuela mission, warning that Maduro’s ouster could pave the way for more military interventions and a further erosion of the global legal order.

On Ukraine, Leo repeated his appeal for an immediate ceasefire and urgently called for the international community “not to waver in its commitment to pursuing just and lasting solutions.”

On Gaza, Leo repeated the Holy See’s call for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and insisted on the Palestinians’ right to live in Gaza and the West Bank “in their own land.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Pope Leo XIV holds his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Leo XIV holds his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Leo XIV holds his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)