Purdy, 49ers eliminate defending Super Bowl champion Eagles with 23-19 win in wild-card game

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jauan Jennings hid his eyes behind sunglasses, but could not hide his emotions with the San Francisco 49ers set to play an NFC postseason rubber match in Seattle.

The 49ers wideout-turned-backup quarterback slammed his fists on the table and essentially told the Seahawks to bring it on. He leaned into the microphone and yelled, “CAN'T WAIT!” before he walked off with a knowing smile that perhaps the best in San Francisco was yet to come.

The 49ers are in for a playoff treat, thanks in large part to a pretty neat trick pulled off by Jennings.

Brock Purdy threw a go-ahead 4-yard touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey late in the fourth quarter, San Francisco used a trick play on a TD toss from Jennings to McCaffrey, and the 49ers eliminated the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles with a 23-19 wild-card victory Sunday.

“We went to the Super Bowl,” Jennings said. “So, we’ve got to top that.”

Maybe if the Eagles watched that 49ers' Super Bowl loss to Kansas City after the 2023 season, they wouldn't have been so caught by surprise by the play. A former high school quarterback, Jennings threw a TD pass on a similar play in the Super Bowl and this one to McCaffrey put him on a list with Purdy, Joe Montana and Steve Young as 49ers QBs who have thrown for multiple career touchdowns in the postseason.

How's that for heady company?

The play was called “Skyy Bang reverse pass” — in honor of wide receiver Skyy Moore — and the double reverse was suggested by offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak.

“It was a hell of suggestion,” coach Kyle Shanahan said.

The not-so Philly special was quite a way to put a dagger in the Super Bowl champs' season.

The 49ers head to top-seeded Seattle next weekend for an NFC divisional playoff game. The NFC West rivals split the season series. BetMGM put the Seahawks as early 6 1/2-point favorites.

Purdy threw for 262 yards and got the road win in Philadelphia he failed to get three seasons ago when he was injured in a dismal outing in Philadelphia in a loss in the NFC title game.

Purdy had two passes intercepted in this one by All-Pro cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, but the Eagles scored just three points off the turnovers.

The 49ers could head to Seattle without star tight end George Kittle, who was carted off the field with a right Achilles tendon injury late in the first half.

The Eagles — who won a Super Bowl on a trick play — were foiled by one when Jennings was pitched the ball and rolled right and hit McCaffrey for an over-the-shoulder catch and a 29-yard touchdown. The score on the first play of the fourth quarter gave the 49ers a 17-16 lead.

“I looked up, the ball’s in the air and Christian tracked it," Purdy said. ”It was wobbling in the wind. The fact that Christian caught it over his shoulder, dude, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.'"

Jennings had 66 yards receiving and 48 rushing in addition to his TD pass.

“JJ thinks he can make every play known to man,” Shanahan said.

The Eagles would only get Jake Elliott's 33-yard field goal in the quarter for a brief 19-17 lead.

Philadelphia was again doomed by a lethargic offensive effort under embattled offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo that cost it a shot at a repeat championship. Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts threw for only 168 yards and a touchdown and the Eagles failed to build off a 13-10 halftime lead by totaling only 36 total yards in the third quarter on 16 plays.

Hurts was incomplete on a last-gasp fourth-and-11 attempt with 43 seconds left that ended their final drive.

“I just didn’t make the play,' Hurts said. ”I own it. I own it all.”

The game never reached its offensive slugfest potential after the teams traded touchdowns on their opening drives.

Purdy, rendered ineffective by a torn ligament in his right elbow on the opening drive against the Eagles in a disastrous NFC title game loss three seasons ago, completed all three passes for 74 yards and capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Demarcus Robinson.

The Eagles tied it on a 1-yard sweep by Dallas Goedert, their red zone go-to ace with 11 TD receptions who became the first tight end to rush for a score in NFL postseason history.

The Eagles turned again to Goedert on fourth down when Hurts hit him for a 9-yard TD that made it 13-7.

Eddy Pineiro kicked a 36-yarder for the 49ers that cut it to 13-10 at halftime.

The 49ers took it from there and hope to pull off their second road win of the season in Seattle.

“It’s just cool for everybody across the board to be able to have this kind of win and celebrate all the stuff that we’ve been through,” Purdy said.

Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown had to be separated from coach Nick Sirianni by chief security officer Dom DiSandro during a sideline blowup late in the first half. Brown ripped off his helmet in frustration and yelled more in Sirianni’s direction after the Eagles punted to end a drive.

Kittle was pushed out of bounds on a 6-yard reception and grabbed the back of his lower right leg. He was ruled out for the rest of the game.

Eagles running back Saquon Barkley ran for 106 yards, but was slow to get up on a run in the fourth quarter. He used the stationary bike on the sideline to stay loose.

49ers: The 49ers won 17-13 in Seattle in the season opener only for the Seahawks to return the favor with a 13-3 win in the season finale.

Eagles: Could make yet another change at offensive coordinator as they try not to waste more prime years from Hurts, Barkley and the receivers.

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This story has been corrected to fix the go-ahead touchdown pass to 4 yards, not 6 yards.

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San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey leaves the field after an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) reacts to a touchdown pass to 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey during the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter (98) tries to stop San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) during the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell (27) intercepts a pass intended for San Francisco 49ers tight end Jake Tonges (88) during the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) reacts to a touchdown pass to 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey during the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown (11) is unable to make the catch as San Francisco 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir (2) defends during the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) reacts to a touchdown pass to 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey during the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s Artemis II astronauts fired their engines and blazed toward the moon Thursday night, breaking free of the chains that have trapped humanity in shallow laps around Earth in the decades since Apollo.

The so-called translunar ignition came 25 hours after liftoff, putting the three Americans and a Canadian on course for a lunar fly-around early next week. Their Orion capsule bolted out of orbit around Earth right on cue and chased after the moon to nearly 250,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) away.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I am so, so excited to be able to tell you that for the first time since 1972 during Apollo 17, human beings have left Earth orbit,” NASA’s Lori Glaze announced at a news conference.

The engine firing was flawless, she noted.

Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen said he and his crewmates were glued to the capsule's windows as they left Earth in the rearview mirror, taking in the “phenomenal” views. Their faces were pressed so tightly against the windows that they had to wipe them clean.

“Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of, and it’s your hopes for the future that carry us now on this journey around the moon,” Hansen said.

NASA had the Artemis II crew stick close to home for a day to test their capsule’s life-support systems before clearing them for lunar departure.

Now committed to the moon, the Artemis II test flight is the opening act for NASA’s grand plans for a moon base and sustained lunar living.

Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Hansen will dash past the moon then hang a U-turn and zip straight home without stopping on land. In the process, they will become the farthest humans have ever traveled from Earth, breaking the Apollo 13 distance record set in 1970. They also may become the fastest during their reentry at flight’s end on April 10.

Glover, Koch and Hansen already have made history as the first Black, the first woman and the first non-U.S. citizen to launch to the moon. Apollo’s 24 lunar travelers were all white men.

To set the mood for the day’s main event, Mission Control woke up the crew with John Legend’s “Green Light” featuring Andre 3000 and a medley of NASA teams cheering them. “We are ready to go,” Glover said.

Mission Control gave the final go-ahead minutes before the critical engine firing, telling the astronauts that they were embarking on “humanity’s lunar homecoming arc” to bring them back to Earth. The capsule is relying on the gravity of Earth and the moon — termed a free-return lunar trajectory — to complete the round-trip figure-eight loop. The engine accelerated their capsule to more than 24,000 mph (38,000 kph) to shove them out of Earth's orbit.

“With this burn to the moon, we do not leave Earth. We choose it,” Koch said.

Flight director Judd Frieling said he and his team were all business while on duty but will likely reflect on the momentousness of it all once they go home. “I suspect everybody understands that this is a once-in-a-lifetime moment," he told reporters.

The next major milestone will be Monday’s lunar flyby.

Orion will zoom 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) beyond the moon before turning back, providing unprecedented and illuminated views of the lunar far side, at least for human eyes. The cosmos will even treat the Artemis II astronauts to a total solar eclipse as the moon temporarily blocks the sun from their perspective.

While awaiting their orbital departure earlier Thursday, the astronauts savored the views of Earth from tens of thousands of miles high. Koch told Mission Control that they can make out the entire coastlines of continents and even the South Pole, her old stomping ground.

NASA is counting on the test flight to kickstart the entire Artemis program and lead to a moon landing by two astronauts in 2028.

The so-called lunar loo may need some design tweaks, however.

Orion's toilet malfunctioned as soon as the Artemis crew reached orbit Wednesday evening. Mission Control guided astronaut Koch through some plumbing tricks and she finally got it going, but not before having to resort to using contingency urine storage bags.

The urine pouches are serving double duty. Mission Control ordered the crew to fill a bunch of the empty bags with water from the capsule’s dispenser on Thursday. A valve issue arose with the dispenser following liftoff, and NASA wanted plenty of drinking water on hand for the crew in case the problem recurred. The astronauts used straws and syringes to fill the pouches with more than 2 gallons (7 liters) worth before pivoting to the moon.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

This image released by NASA on Thursday, April 2, 2026, shows NASA’s Orion spacecraft with Earth in the background. (NASA via AP)

This image taken from video provided by NASA shows the Earth, left, from NASA's Orion spacecraft as it fired its engines heading toward the moon Thursday, April 2, 2026. (NASA via AP)

In this photo provided by NASA, a view of the Earth from NASA's Orion spacecraft as it orbits above the planet during the Artemis II test flight, on Thursday, April 2, 2026. (NASA via AP)

In this photo provided by NASA, an Artemis program patch floating in the International Space Station's cupola, on March 30, 2026. (Jessica Meir/NASA via AP)

Spectators view NASA's Artemis II moon rocket launch from the A. Max Brewer Bridge, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Titusville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Spectators view NASA's Artemis II moon rocket launch from the A. Max Brewer Bridge, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Titusville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

NASA's Artemis II moon rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

NASA's Artemis II moon rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

NASA's Artemis II moon rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)