After defeating the Seattle Seahawks during Super Wild Card Weekend, and beating the Dallas Cowboys in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, the 15-4 San Francisco 49ers will go on the road to Lincoln Financial Field to face the 15-3 Philadelphia Eagles, who beat the New York Giants in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. The San Francisco 49ers are the hottest team in football, as they are currently on a 12 game winning streak, which includes a 7 game winning streak with Brock Purdy as the 49ers starting quarterback. The 49ers offense is very dangerous both passing the ball and running the ball, as they have some of the premier weapons in the NFL. For their passing attack, the 49ers have one of the best wide receiver duos in the NFL, with Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel. The 49ers also have one of the best tight ends in the NFL, George Kittle who excel in getting yards after the catch. Lastly, to round out the 49ers incredible weapons for their passing attack, the 49ers have running back Christian McCaffrey, who is one of if not the NFL’s best receivers out of the backfield. These weapons make rookie quarterback Brock Purdy’s life much easier. Running the ball, the 49ers have one of the best pure rushers in the NFL, Christian McCaffrey, who has an immense impact on both the 49ers passing attack and run game. Deebo Samuel also has an immense impact on both the 49ers passing attack and run game, as Samuel sometimes lines up in the backfield or runs jet sweeps, to try to confuse opposing defenses. Lastly, the 49ers have one of the best run-blocking tight ends in the NFL, George Kittle. To round the 49ers offense, their offensive line is one of the best in the league, as they have Trent Williams who is one of the NFL’s premier offensive lineman. On the other side of the ball, the 49ers have one of the hardest defenses to face in the NFL. Commanding the defense for the 49ers is Fred Warner, who is one of the NFL’s best coverage linebackers and he is a great leader for the 49ers defense. Alongside Fred Warner at linebacker is Dre Greenlaw, who is one of the NFL’s best tacklers. The 49ers have one of the best run defenses in the NFL, as they allow only 79.0 rushing yards per game, which is second in the NFL. The 49ers passing defense is average as they allow 222.3 passing yards per game, which is 19th in the NFL. Even though their passing defense is average, they have one of the best help safeties in the NFL, Talanoa Hufanga. Lastly, the pass rush for the 49ers is very solid as they pressure the quarterback 22.9% of the time, which is 11th in the NFL. Even though their pass rush is solid, the 49ers have the NFL’s sack leader, Nick Bosa who can alter a game's momentum with only one sack. The 49ers defense will have to face a great Philadelphia Eagles offense, who have a great passing attack and run game. The Eagles passing attack has been great this season, as Jalen Hurts took a huge step from last season. The main reason Hurts took a step was because of the offseason acquisition of A.J. Brown, as Brown has made corners look silly all season. Brown makes up one of the NFL’s best wide receiver duos with DeVonta Smith. The Eagles love to take deep shots, as Jalen Hurts has a very good deep ball and both A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith can make very difficult contested catches. The Eagles also have one of the top tight ends in the NFL, Dallas Goedert who is great at both making contested catches, and getting yards after the catch. Even though the Eagles passing attack is great, the focal point of the Eagles offense is their run game. The Eagles run game is so special because teams do not know if Jalen Hurts will run the ball, or if one of their running backs, Miles Sanders or Kenneth Gainwell will run the ball. Another reason the Eagles run game is so spectacular is that their offensive line is the best in the NFL. The Eagles offensive line makes it easier for their rushers as the offensive line creates a lot of gaps for their rushers. On the other side of the ball, the Eagles have one of the hardest defenses to play against in the NFL. The Eagles pass rush is one of the best of all time as they had 70.0 total team sacks, which is 3rd in NFL history. The Eagles have 4 players with over 10 sacks, as Haason Reddick had 16 sacks, and Javon Hargrave, Brandon Graham, and Josh Sweat all had 11 sacks. The Eagles secondary was also incredible all season, as they allowed 175.9 passing yards per game, which was 1st in the NFL. The Eagles run defense was average as they allowed 121.4 rushing yards per game, which was 16th in the NFL. If the Eagles want to win, they need to stop the 49ers rushing attack, and try to get big plays on offense. If the 49ers want to win, they need to rely on their passing game more than their running game and keep an eye on who the rusher is for the Eagles.
Prediction: Eagles win 24-20