With their season on the line, the San Francisco 49ers dug deep into their playbook Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. 

The result was a trick-play touchdown and a 23-19 wild-card win to keep their season afloat. The sensational play caught the Eagles off guard as Christian McCaffrey ran wide open into the end zone for a pass from Jauan Jennings. 

The play might have looked familiar to astute 49ers fans. That’s because it was — the 49ers had run it before. It’s just been while.

The game-changing play

San Francisco’s offense had gone stagnant since a 76-yard opening-drive touchdown drive. So with the chance to take a lead while facing a 16-10 deficit, Shanahan dialed up the trick play to start the fourth quarter.

Brock Purdy took a snap from under center and handed to to Skyy Moore, who started the play in motion. Moore then pitched the ball to Jennings for an end-around, but Jennings wasn’t running the ball. Instead, he set his feet as he approached the right sideline and delivered a bomb to a wide-open McCaffrey near the end zone.

McCaffrey made a late adjustment and ran under the ball for a 29-yard touchdown and 17-16 lead that shifted the fortunes of the game in favor of the 49ers and sparked their four-point win.

We’ve seen this before

If that looks familiar, there’s a reason.

The 49ers previously ran the play in a regular season game way back in 2019 against the New Orleans Saints. The players were different. But the head coach — Shanahan — was the same. 

In that instance, Jimmy Garoppolo took the snap and handed off to Deebo Samuel, who pitched the ball to Emmanuel Sanders for the end around. Sanders then found a wide Raheem Mostert streaking down the right sideline for a 35-yard touchdown. 

Like in Sunday’s game, that play helped the 49ers rally in a 48-46 win over the Saints.

Shanahan: ‘Klay suggested it. It was a hell of a suggestion’

Current 49ers offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak wasn’t on that 2019 coaching staff. He was a high school coach in Texas. But he was aware of the play. And, per Shanahan, he suggested running it against the Eagles. 

“It’s called Skyy bang reverse pass,” Shanahan said in his postgame news conference. “Last time we called it, it was called Deebo bang reverse pass. We ran it in New Orleans when Emmanuel threw to Raheem in kind of the same area of the field. “

“We were trying to set it up a little bit. We got a jet sweep to Skyy earlier in the game. It had to be on the right hash for the play because Jauan’s not left-handed. So we were just hoping to get it around there. 

“Klay suggested it. It was a hell of a suggestion.”

About that pass

Calling the play required confidence from Shanahan in Jennings’ ability to make the pass. And there’s a reason why Shanahan trusted Jennings. 

Jennings is San Francisco’s No. 1 wide receiver and has played the position since he joined the 49ers as a seventh-round selection in the 2020 NFL Draft. But coming out of high school, he was one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the country.  

In fact, 247 sports ranked Jennings as the No. 5 dual-threat quarterbacks in his class — ahead of Sam Darnold, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson.

That’s impressive company with three multi-time Pro Bowl quarterbacks. Jennings converted to wide receiver at Tennessee and has played the position ever since. But he’s not letting his arm go completely unused. 

He made completed his pass on Sunday with All-Pro pass defensive tackle Jalen Carter barreling down on him. Carter hit him late and got called for roughing the passer.

“Jauan threw a perfect ball,” Shanahan said. “It made me a little scared. I think he should have just thrown a bad ball and put it on him. I thought it was a hell of a catch by Christian.

“I didn’t see it, but knowing that he got roughed up and stuff, It just shows what a G Jauan is. High school quarterback.”

Jennings to McCaffrey, by the numbers

Coming into Sunday’s game, Jennings was 1 for 1 in his playoff career. His previous pass was on a trick-play screen play to McCaffrey in Super Bowl LVIII against the Kansas City Chiefs. Like on Sunday, McCaffrey took it for a touchdown.

And now, Jennings is 2 for 2 in his playoff career as a passer for 64 yards with two touchdowns. And, per NFL Network, he’s now the only player in NFL history to record a perfect 158.3 passer rating multiple times in the playoffs for the same team. 

Fellow Tennessee Volunteer Peyton Manning only did it once as a member of the Indianapolis Colts.

That’s not the only notable number attached to Jennings pass to McCaffrey. 

Per Next Gen Stats, the touchdown pass was the first of the playoffs to travel more than 20 yards. And it’s the deepest pass play of McCaffrey’s lustrous career as a pass catcher. He’d previously never caught a pass that traveled 26 yards in the air relative to the line of scrimmage. 

Not bad for a pass play involving a wide receiver and a running back — especially considering that it advanced the 49ers in the playoffs to a divisional round matchup next week against the NFC West rival Seahawks.