Forgotten Cowboys starter played massive role in 49ers sending Eagles to Cancún

While the Packers' historic meltdown on Saturday gifted the Dallas Cowboys massive leverage in the NFL Draft, it didn't taste nearly as sweet as the Eagles' embarrassing home defeat against a depleted 49ers squad.

San Francisco took down Philadelphia in a 23-19 dogfight at Lincoln Financial Field in one of the greatest coaching displays of Kyle Shanahan's career. The 49ers ranked 25th in EPA per pass in the regular season, and yet Jalen Hurts could manage just 168 passing yards on a grotesque 4.8 yards per attempt.

It'd be one thing if the 49ers had their Avengers defense from a few years ago. They were playing guys you've never heard of, and the Eagles had no answers. However, one player will ring a bell for Cowboys fans, and he was arguably the best player on the field for Robert Saleh's defense.

Veteran linebacker Eric Kendricks finished off the win by breaking up Hurts' pass for Dallas Goedert on 4th-and-11 with 43 seconds left. Goedert was surrounded by red jerseys, but it was Kendricks who made the read and laid out to make a play on the ball.

Former Cowboys LB Eric Kendricks was huge in 49ers' upset win over the Eagles

Once a Cowboy, always a Cowboy.

Cowboys fans will obviously be pulling for the Seahawks to knock off the 49ers in the Divisional Round, but that doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy this San Francisco win. Kendricks made his presence felt, and frankly, no rivalry is strong enough to outweigh the joy of an Eagles loss.

What makes Kendricks’ heroics so impressive is that he didn’t even have a job a month ago.

The 49ers signed him to the practice squad on Nov. 26, and he wasn’t elevated to the active roster until last week, just days before kickoff. Forced into a starting role due to multiple injuries at the position, Kendricks looked like a player who spent the entire offseason acclimating to Robert Saleh’s scheme, not one who had to learn the defense on the fly.

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Kendricks tied for the team high with 73 snaps and led all 49ers defenders with eight tackles and five defensive stops, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). He didn’t miss a single tackle, and his 68.3 grade ranked fourth-highest on the defense.

It's an all-time clutch performance given the context of when he joined the team. The Niners might get all-world linebacker Fred Warner back this week, but that should not come at Kendricks' expense.

It’s hard to stomach that Kendricks was available to sign in late November while the Cowboys endured arguably the worst linebacker play of any team in the NFL. Even though Dallas blew it by not re-signing him, the next best thing is exactly what happened on Sunday afternoon.

The Eagles are headed to Cancun, and Kendricks is a huge reason why.