49ers' Charvarius Ward relishing NFC Championship rematch with Eagles
Lost in the fallout from Brock Purdy's injury in the 49ers' NFC Championship Game loss to the Eagles were some standout performances from a defense that was fighting against a stacked deck. Among those impressive displays was an excellent showing from cornerback Charvarius Ward. Ward, the 49ers' big-ticket signing in free agency last offseason, proved […]
Lost in the fallout from Brock Purdy's injury in the 49ers' NFC Championship Game loss to the Eagles were some standout performances from a defense that was fighting against a stacked deck.
Among those impressive displays was an excellent showing from cornerback Charvarius Ward.
Ward, the 49ers' big-ticket signing in free agency last offseason, proved an extremely astute acquisition, firmly establishing himself as a true No. 1 corner for San Francisco.
It may have gone largely unnoticed amid the chaos of the 49ers literally running out of healthy quarterbacks, but Ward's efforts against the Eagles served as a tremendous illustration of his ability to hold up in coverage against the best receivers in the game.
Per Pro Football Focus, Ward was targeted six times by the Eagles, but gave up only two receptions for 16 yards. Even more impressive, the average depth of those targets was 25 yards.
Ward was challenged downfield by A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and won the battles, excelling at staying in phase and tracking the ball to consistently win the fight at the catch point.
It was all in vain, of course, as the Eagles were able to control the game easily in the second half with no legitimate offensive threat from the quarterback-less Niners.
San Francisco will get a chance to avenge that loss in Week 13 of the 2023 season, though, when the Niners will again travel to Lincoln Financial Field.
And Ward is eager for the chance to impress again in a hopefully competitive game.
Ward told Fangirl Sports Network (h/t 49ers Webzone):
"Yeah, I'm excited. It's going to be lit because it's at their place. [There's] kind of been a lot of back and forth in between. Well, I don't know if it's been a lot, but I did see a little back and forth in between from us and them. But may the best man win. May the best man win come that day, and I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be fun. Competition always brings out the best in a man, so we going to see who the better team is that day."
The former Chiefs corner is confident that the frustration of how last season ended will drive the Niners to be even better in 2023.
"That loss from this past season to the Eagles, I feel like it's going to motivate us to come out strong, come out hard. I'm not trying to make a prediction, but maybe we get the number one overall seed and get home-field advantage, and we don't have to be playing in another team's stadium, which impacts the crowd noise. It can impact the offense calling plays, and guys might miss a block, some unlucky stuff that happened to us. So we'll come out strong this year, and I think we're going to do our thing."
Ward set an extremely high standard in his first year with San Francisco, and he'll need to maintain it to give the best chance of 49ers being in a position to knock off the Eagles in the fight for NFC supremacy.
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