The San Francisco 49ers pulled off an impressive 23-19 road upset over the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Wild Card round of the playoffs on Sunday. It was another outstanding job by San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan and his staff in a season that has included overcoming several injuries to key players, with Sunday featuring star tight end George Kittle exiting in the second quarter with a torn Achilles.
On Monday’s edition of The Herd on FS1, Colin Cowherd pointed to the coaching being the difference in the 49ers-Eagles game, and he had a wild quote to demonstrate that.
“One coach was ChatGPT, and the other was crayons,” Cowherd said about the difference between Shanahan and Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni in the San Francisco victory.
“That was a coaching mismatch. One coach was ChatGPT and the other was crayons.”@colincowherd on Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers beating Nick Sirianni’s Eagles pic.twitter.com/yWLNPG3aI1
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) January 12, 2026
“I’m so glad that Philly lost,” Cowherd began. “That their tushes got pushed out of the playoffs. Because the NFL playoffs are about the best coaches and the best quarterbacks. And Philly has neither. They don’t have either. Bottom line is, let’s talk Niners. From the opening drive, to the perfectly timed trick play, to their ingenuity, to their efficiency on third down. Kyle Shanahan is using coupons and buying a month full of groceries for 48 bucks, and I feel like Sirianni hit the lottery and he’s broke two years later.”
“San Francisco is totally resourceful,” Cowherd said. “I mean, think about this. Nick Sirianni gets two picks, a 27-yard punt by the Niners, George Kittle gets hurt, you’re at home. And this year, in the second half, all year, Philadelphia averages nine points in the second half, including the playoffs. 26th in the league. 26th in second-half yards. There’s no creativity. And I think Philadelphia, like a poorly coached team, is getting worse over time.”
“Again, the playoffs to me are about Shanahan and Robert Saleh,” Cowherd added. “I mean, Shanahan’s a wizard. That opening drive, I was like, ‘Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!’ What was that?’ And that trick play wasn’t like a hook-and-lateral in the red zone. That’s a big boy trick play. Reverses, receiver throwing deep. For three and a half hours, you saw coaching. Whenever a coach makes like $15 million a year, people are like, ‘Whoa, coaching’s overrated!’ Uh, Exhibit A of why it’s not. That was a coaching mismatch. One coach was ChatGPT, and the other was crayons. That wasn’t even close.”
Cowherd wasn’t done ripping on Sirianni.
“So, the Eagles are boring, they’re not creative; they’ve got an unbelievable roster, but 40 percent of their drives yesterday were three and out,” Cowherd continued. “Philadelphia led the NFL in percentage of three-and-outs. How? A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, Saquon Barkley. Get outta here! Get that tush push outta here! And by the way, I don’t want to hear about Sirianni, ‘Boy, he’s great in the locker room! He is great! Putting a fence around this team!’ He’s barking at A.J. Brown again on the sidelines! Come on! You’ve got to grow up at some point!”
“To me, the NFL playoffs are about quarterback play, efficiency, ingenuity, overcoming, resourcefulness, and that all came, outside of (Eagles defensive coordinator) Vic Fangio, from one side,” Cowherd said in his closing thoughts.
Shanahan and the 49ers will look to keep it rolling on the road against the NFC’s top-seeded Seattle Seahawks in the Divisional Round. Sirianni and the Eagles, meanwhile, have a long offseason ahead as they try to get back to Super Bowl form.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.