The inconsistent football was always going to cost the Philadelphia Eagles at some point in the season. That cost was a postseason elimination to the duct-taped San Francisco 49ers. Niners’ rookie Marques Sigle put out a phenomenal display, but was probably expecting a fine for an incident involving Jalen Hurts. Let’s just say the NFL front office made a surprising decision.

Midway through the fourth quarter, with 11:15 left and the Eagles trailing by one, Hurts scrambled left, picked up three yards and a first down, and slid. As Hurts went down, Sigle arrived late and made contact that, on replay, looked like it crept into head-to-head territory.

When the NFL released its weekly Gameday Accountability Report on Saturday, Sigle’s name felt like a lock to appear. Instead, it didn’t as the league opted not to fine him.

On the field, officials did flag Sigle for unnecessary roughness, tacking 15 yards onto the end of the run. Philadelphia took advantage of the field position and finished the drive with a 33-yard field goal, briefly jumping ahead 19–17. But that’s where the discipline ended.

That’s notable because late hits on sliding quarterbacks don’t usually come cheap. A first offense can run a player $11,593, and a second offense can climb to $17,389. Sigle avoided all of that.

And when you step back from the call itself, his night was about a lot more than just one penalty. Sigle hadn’t played meaningful snaps for the 49ers since his last start back in Week 7. With Ji’Ayir Brown out, there was some concern about how the rookie would handle being thrown back into the mix against an Eagles offense fighting for its season.

He answered that quite well. Sigle finished with eight tackles and was around the ball all night, one of the few defenders consistently making plays in space. Something that Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh also noticed.

“He did a really nice job. He came in, didn’t skip a beat,” Saleh said. “Marques is going to be a really good football player in this league. After the Rams game, felt like he needed to take a step back and just kind of absorb a little bit more, and now he’s getting his opportunity.”

Marques Sigle definitely has a bright future here in San Francisco. And while he got away with a punishment this week, his teammate certainly didn’t.

49ers fullback slapped with two fines

The NFL handed down a stiff bill to 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk after San Francisco’s playoff win over the Eagles, fining him twice for illegal use of his helmet. By the time it was over, the total came out to a little over $20,000.

Juszczyk, who made it through the regular season without a fine, is now hit with two identical penalties of $10,144 apiece. Both are for unnecessary roughness and illegal use of the helmet.

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The first fine stemmed from a play late in the second quarter, at the 4:10 mark. Juszczyk was leading the way for Christian McCaffrey on a short run to the right. In the process, he made forceful helmet-to-helmet contact with Eagles defensive end Jaelan Phillips. He was penalized $10,144 for this play.

The second fine came early in the third quarter, at 2:05. Juszczyk lowered his helmet and plowed into Philadelphia safety Reed Blankenship, again drawing the league’s attention for unnecessary roughness. This one cost him $10,144 again. Apart from Kyle, no other player on either sideline was fined.