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The NFC’s top two seeds will face off in Sunday’s Conference Title Game to earn a spot in Super Bowl LVII. The Philadelphia Eagles have been the NFC’s best team all season, and the San Francisco 49ers have been the NFL’s hottest team in the past three months, as he pulled off a 12-game winning streak at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday. .
It covers everything you need to know about the NFC Championship showdown.
Viewing method
Sunday, 3:00 p.m. ET
- tv set: Fox
- live stream: Foxsports.com, NFL+
- Mobile App: Fox Sports App, NFL Mobile App
odds
- Eagles -2.5
- O/U 46.5
- Moneyline Eagles (-150), 49ers (+125)
major injury
The Athletic has live coverage of the 49ers vs. the Eagles at the NFC Championship Game.
49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has been sidelined since Week 13 with a foot injury, but while there was hope, Garoppolo hasn’t played in Sunday’s game, so that won’t be the case. Elijah Mitchell (groin) is also out of action for Sunday’s game. Big stars Christian McCaffrey (calf) and Deebo Samuel (ankle) are scheduled to play.
The two big names in the Eagles’ injury reports earlier this week — cornerback Abonte Maddox and offensive tackle Lane Johnson — were both fully involved in Friday’s practice and will not be designated as injured for Sunday’s game. There was not. Maddox, who has been out since Christmas Eve with a toe injury, is set to return. After missing the final two games of the regular season, Johnson returned to the lineup against the Giants last week.
Johnson and Maddox performed well against the Niners.
series
Sunday’s contest will be the 36th matchup between these two franchises, but the second in the postseason. The 49ers won his only playoff game of 1996, beating the Eagles 14–0 in a wild card matchup at Candlestick Park.
San Francisco leads the series with an all-time record 20-14-1 since the teams first met in 1951, while Philadelphia has won seven of its last 10 games.
The two teams did not play each other during the regular season as they last faced off in Week 2 of the 2021 campaign. Garoppolo’s 49ers defeated Jalen Hurts and the Eagles 17-11 in that matchup in Philadelphia.
match
As expected, these two NFC powerhouses are very evenly matched on both sides of the ball. The 49ers and Eagles are the top two defenses in yards per game allowed in the NFL this season, second in takeaways (30) and him third (27) respectively. Uncomfortably, Philadelphia ranked third in the NFL for yards (389.1) and points per game (28.1), while San Francisco ranked fifth (365.6) and sixth (26.5) in their respective categories. rice field.
These teams also have many similarities. A game-changing defense, a top 10 rushing his offense, a young quarterback, a big play pass his catcher, a strong veteran his leadership, and a highly creative (and disciplined) offensively minded coach.
athletic‘s Ted Nguyen discusses the key matchups to watch here. Also, the Eagles and he 49ers beat writers break down what each team needs to win.
Player to watch
The Eagles’ “triple threat” quarterback and MVP candidate Hurts could be Sunday’s biggest X factor. He brushed off his concerns about his lingering shoulder injury against the Giants last weekend, pushing the Eagles to his 28-0 halftime lead. The Hearts finished 16 of 24 for 154 yards and two touchdowns with 34 rushing yards and a score. These aren’t eye-popping stats, but the way he plays should prove he’s not worried about his sprained shoulder heading into his game for the NFC title.
Meanwhile, San Francisco’s “Mr. Brock Purdy” will be just the fifth rookie quarterback in NFL history to start a conference championship game (no rookie QB has ever started a Super Bowl). List is 7-0 as a starter for the 49ers, with a 13-to-4 TD-INT ratio this season, a 67.1 completion percentage, and a 107.3 rating.
With McCaffrey and Samuel of San Francisco and AJ Brown and Devonta Smith of Philadelphia, both Purdy and Hearts have a star-studded cast of playmakers at their disposal. Each defense also has him one of the NFL’s top pass rushers. San Francisco’s Nick Bosa led the league with 18.5 sacks this season, but Herson Reddick’s 16.0 paced the Eagles’ defense, which recorded his NFL-best 70.0 sacks during the regular season. I was.
coach
Eagles coach Nick Siriani earned his first career playoff victory as a head coach in last weekend’s divisional round victory over the Giants. They advanced to the postseason with an 8-1 record, but lost to the 31-15 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild card round. Prior to joining the Eagles, he was the offensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts from 2018-2020.
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan is in his sixth season in San Francisco. During his tenure, he made the Super Bowl during his 2019 season, losing to Kansas City his Chiefs and losing his NFC Championship his game in 2021. Following Sunday’s victory over Dallas, Shanahan has his 6-2 postseason record as head coach.
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(Photo: Bill Streicher/USA Today)
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