NFC Championship Preview: San Francisco 49ers @ Philadelphia Eagle
For the second straight year, the San Francisco 49ers will be in the NFC title game and once again will be the road team.
Last year they fell short 20-17 to their NFC West rivals the Rams but with Brock Purdy at QB, Christian McCaffrey as their star running back and the offense possessing so many weapons, as well as a stellar defence to match, the question on everyone’s mind is can they make it to the Super Bowl?
In weeks 1-13 prior to Brock Purdy becoming the starter, San Francisco averaged 23.5 points per game. Since then, including playoff stats prior to the win over Dallas, the Niners offense has scored 34.8 points since week 14.
Their total yardage has also increased from 358 yards per game to 404 yards and rushing yards from 124 to 175 so it’s clear to see that this offense is ticking along nicely.
One argument against Purdy has been that there isn’t enough tape on him so defences can’t make the adjustments required however this is the usual theory with young quarterbacks but don’t let that take away anything from Purdy’s play at the QB position and decision making.
As I mentioned last week, his rapport with the likes of George Kittle has been key for this Niners offense. It was one big play by Kittle during Sunday’s game which turned the tide and proved to be the spark that was enough to get 49ers over the line.
Kittle hauled in a spectacular juggling catch with that drive being their line touchdown ending one on the day when Christian McCaffrey rushed in for the 2 yard go ahead score before the Niners defence helped seal the 19-12 victory over the Cowboys.
Personally, I think the Dallas defence did a phenomenal job throughout the majority of this game and on McCaffrey in particular by limiting him to 35 rushing yards on 10 carries as well as just 22 receiving yards from 6 catches.
This will be encouraging for Philadelphia as their defence is elite and healthy plus they are coming off of their own huge performance by destroying the Giants 38-7. Giants QB Daniel Jones was sacked 5 times and Philly did what I expected which was to keep Jones in the pocket as much as they could and overwhelm the Giants QB.
Numbers wise, Jones’ rushing total was down from 78 rushing yards and 301 passing yards in New York’s Super Wild Card Weekend win versus Minnesota to just 24 yards rushing and 135 passing yard in this defeat.
The Eagles defence also managed to pressure Jones at a rate of 64% on his drop backs which puts into perspective how dominant this Eagles D-line can be. Combining that d-line with Philadelphia secondary shows how scary this entire defensive unit is.
For me, Philadelphia has the best d-line and secondary in the NFL. We saw James Bradberry pick off Jones in their win over New York and have seen what Darius Slay did to Justin Jefferson in the regular season.
It’s also worth noting that Philly’s defensive line helped the Eagles become just the fourth team in NFL history to record 70-plus sacks in a season and they set an NFL single-season record with four players recording double-digit sacks.
We’ve seen how close NFC title games can be and we know that in Championship games in particulier a couple of plays here or there can be the difference. The Eagles won their last NFC title game 38-7 on route to winning their first Lombardi trophy in the 2017 NFL season whereas the 49ers have played in 5 NFC title games since 2011 and lost 3 of those matchups.
I think that in this game Philadelphia can feel confident knowing that their defence should be able to stack up well against Deebo Samuel and the other 49ers offensive weapons mentioned before. Their corners may not have the speed that Deebo and Brandon Aiyuk possess but they have the talent to match.
Of course, the 49ers defence is obviously formidable in its own right with the standout players for me being Nick Bosa as we know he can get pressure up front, linebacker Fred Warner who made a fantastic play on CeeDee Lamb with the scores tied in third quarter on a 3rd down play and two brilliant defensive backs in Talanoa Hufanga and Charvarius Ward.
However, despite how good it is, they will now be playing against Jaylen Hurts and his own weapons including AJ Brown, Devonta Smith, Dallas Goedert and committee of running backs making them one of the best offensive skill groups in the league.
The key for me is that the Eagles offense hasn’t really missed a beat all season and the arguably the biggest reason for this has been because they have the best offensive line in the entire NFL. Jason Kelce, Jordan Maillata and Lane Johnson are formidable and can limit Hurts getting any pressure on his meaning he can do damage throwing and running the ball.
It’s easy to see why the Eagles and 49ers are in the NFC Championship Game as they have the two best rosters in the conference. I think for me, Philadelphia just had a little bit more in the key areas and considering they managed to put up 38 points with Hurts output being just 16/24 passes, 154 yards 2 touchdowns, along with a rushing score and 34 yards it shows that if needed then there is more to come the Eagles.
Whilst I don’t necessarily think it will be a shootout, if it does turns into a high-scoring game then the Eagles are equipped to go toe to toe with the Niners. San Francisco’s quick passing game shouldn’t hit as many explosive plays as people think but they’re definitely capable of giving Eagles head coach Nick Siriani plenty of headaches. Philadelphia has the talent to make plays on both sides of the ball and I think Jaylen Hurts outduels Brock Purdy to take the Eagles to the Super Bowl.
Prediction: San Francisco 49ers 17-20 Philadelphia Eagles
