The San Francisco 49ers will head to Philadelphia to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles. After narrowly losing the NFC West and a first round bye, the 49ers fell to the no. 6 seed and now have to travel across the country for their matchup with Philadelphia.
San Francisco and Philadelphia met up in the playoffs just three years ago in the NFC Conference Championship in a game that the Niners would not like to reminisce on. Over the past three years, the NFC has been represented by one of these teams in the Super Bowl.
These two teams went in completely opposite directions to end the 2025 campaign. San Francisco ended the season winning 6 of their last 7 games, while the Eagles dropped 4 of their last 7 games.
Both of these teams contradict each other in terms of where they excel. San Francisco ranks in the top 10 for total offense throughout the NFL, while Philadelphia is all the way down in the bottom third of the league.
On the other hand, it has been Philadelphia's defense that has won them a lot of games this season. The 49ers have been very banged up, with All-Pros such as Fred Warner and Nick Bosa ruled out for the season due to injuries, causing them to struggle to get stops.
In the four matchups between defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, Fangio has a 3-1 record and his defenses have allowed just 41 points to Shanahan's offenses. Shanahan will look to rewrite the script this Sunday if the 49ers want any chance at escaping Philadelphia alive.
Like they have all season, San Francisco is going to rely heavily on their future Hall of Fame running back Christian McCaffrey. CMC not only leads his team in rushing yards, but also holds the lead for receiving yards as well.
He nearly accomplished an unheard of feat of having over 1,000 rushing and receiving yards in one season. CMC leads the NFL in total touches with 413 on the season. Coincidentally, Saquon Barkley held that title a year ago for the Eagles during their run to their second Super Bowl title.
The two teams that have headlined the NFC in recent history will collide this Saturday in one of the most hostile environments in sports. Will the Niners pull off the upset, or will the Eagles continue their quest for back to back titles?
No comments:
Post a Comment