Carson Wentz, Eagles Take 1st Place in NFC East with 25-20 Win over 49ers

The Philadelphia Eagles are finally in the win column in 2020.

And, because they are in the NFC East, they are also in first place.

Philadelphia improved to 1-2-1 on the season with a 25-20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday's NFC showdown at Levi's Stadium. Carson Wentz led the way in the win, helping his team move ahead of the 1-3 Dallas Cowboys and Washington Football Team in the division standings.

As for San Francisco, a strong showing from George Kittle was not enough to prevent its two-game winning streak from coming to an end. It had one final chance with quarterback C.J. Beathard working as a replacement for Nick Mullens, but his final pass to the end zone fell incomplete.

The 49ers are now 2-2 and looking up at the 4-0 Seattle Seahawks in a strong NFC West that doesn't have a single team below .500.

Notable Player Stats

• Carson Wentz, QB, PHI: 18-of-28 for 193 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT; 7 carries for 37 yards, 1 TD
• Miles Sanders, RB, PHI: 13 carries for 46 yards; 2 catches for 30 yards
• Nick Mullens, QB, SF: 18-of-26 for 200 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs
• Jerick McKinnon, RB, SF: 14 carries for 54 yards, 1 TD; 7 catches for 43 yards
• George Kittle, TE, SF: 15 catches for 183 yards, 1 TD

Carson Wentz Impresses in Crunch Time with Short-Handed Roster

The spotlight was firmly on Wentz entering play after he drew criticism for throwing three touchdowns and six interceptions in his team's first three games.

He wasn't exactly playing with a full hand, either, as Jason Peters, Isaac Seumalo and Brandon Brooks were all sidelined along the offensive line. Philadelphia was also without wide receivers Alshon Jeffery, DeSean Jackson and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, as well as tight end Dallas Goedert, which figured to be a problem against a formidable defense.

It was out of the gates, as the visitors started with a three-and-out and interception on their first two possessions.

In fact, most of the first half was a struggle offensively, although Wentz provided a bright spot by faking out the entire defense and scampering for an 11-yard touchdown run to put the Eagles on the board.

The run was one example of Wentz using his legs to escape pressure in the pocket, make plays downfield and keep drives alive even though his offense was undermanned. While he wasn't always effective, it was impossible to question his effort level.

He needed to do plenty of that during his most impressive drive of the day in the fourth quarter, which resulted in a perfectly placed deep ball to Travis Fulgham for a touchdown that put the Eagles ahead for good. Wentz also found John Hightower for a key fourth-down conversion and kept a 2nd-and-22 alive long enough to earn a first down via penalty earlier on the drive.

Wentz was playing without many of his best weapons against the defending NFC champions on the road and still came away with enough key plays to get his team a much-needed win.

Nick Mullens Plays Like Backup, Gets Pulled Late

The Eagles were far from the only team dealing with injury issues in this game.

While setbacks to Nick Bosa, Solomon Thomas, Jimmy Garoppolo, Richard Sherman, Kittle, Raheem Mostert, Tevin Coleman, Deebo Samuel, Dee Ford and more were not a problem against the lowly New York Giants the last time out, this is far from the 49ers roster many expected at the start of the year.

San Francisco got Kittle and Samuel back for this one, but it still had backup Mullens under center.

He looked like a backup for most of the first half, never more so than when he threw a terrible interception to Rodney McLeod off his back foot after leading his team into the red zone with a beautiful deep ball to Kittle.

However, he was effective when he kept it simple and got the ball into his playmakers' hands. Brandon Aiyuk took a quick screen pass, exploded past the defense and hurdled over Marcus Epps for an incredible touchdown in the first half, and Kittle found the end zone on the first possession of the second half.

The Eagles simply had no answers for Kittle, who was too physical for the secondary and too athletic for the linebackers as he so often is from the tight end spot.

Still, Mullens stalled in winning time and lost the ball on a strip-sack by Cre'Von LeBlanc in the fourth quarter while nursing a three-point lead and then threw a horrible pick-six to Alex Singleton on his next possession while trailing.

That marked the end of Mullens' day, but it was too little and too late when Beathard led a touchdown drive in the final minutes in place of the starter.

What's Next?

Both teams are in action in Week 5 when the 49ers host the Miami Dolphins and the Eagles visit the Pittsburgh Steelers.