An inside look at Sunday’s NFC championship game between the Eagles and 49ers in Philadelphia:
Marquee matchup
QB Jalen Hurts of the Eagles versus 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans
Hurts is a candidate for MVP after averaging 297.4 passing and rushing yards per game and 35 touchdowns versus eight turnovers. After directing the NFL’s top-ranked total defense (300.6 yards per game) and scoring defense, Ryans is on the approach of becoming a head coach (presumably for the Texans) (16.3 points per game). 68.7 percent of the Eagles’ red-zone visits resulted in a touchdown (ranked No. 3). The 49ers committed 30 turnovers (tied for second) and tied for the most interceptions in the league with 20.
Hurts, who missed two late-season games with a shoulder issue, demonstrated last week against the Giants that he is fit enough to scramble. How will Ryans keep Hurts in the pocket, where Nick Bosa can bother him with 18.5 sacks?
DeMeco Ryans approves of AP Dunleavy’s decision
Given the 49ers’ league-leading 16 appearances in the NFC Championship since 1980 and the Eagles’ six appearances in the NFC Championship in the past 21 seasons, it’s odd that these clubs have never met in the NFC Championship before. When two teams are formed on both sides of the line of scrimmage, it’s like looking in a mirror, but Hurts is the superior quarterback, and A.J. Brown, Devonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, and Miles Sanders are the superior group of playmakers.
Eagles 26, 49ers 21
Four falls
After scoring 32 rushing touchdowns during the regular season and three against the Giants last week, the Eagles need two more to tie the 1962 Packers’ NFL single-season record of 37 (playoffs included). Seven sacks separate the Eagles from matching the 1984 Bears’ single-season record of 85 (playoffs included) sacks. If the Eagles equal their playoff opener total of five sacks, they will tie the 1985 Bears for second place (80) and become the first team to record at least five sacks in nine consecutive games throughout a single season.
Christian McCaffrey may become the sixth running back in NFL history to record at least 50 rushing yards and a score in each of his first four career postseason games. Marcus Allen and Terrell Davis tie the record with seven consecutive 100-yard games, followed by Curtis Martin with five, Arian Foster with four, and Devonta Freeman with four. McCaffrey was listed on the injury report earlier this week, but he has stated that there is no possibility he would miss the game, while backup Elijah Mitchell did not practice.
These teams have only met three times in the past eight seasons, but their young quarterbacks have already faced off once. Purdy led unranked Iowa State to score 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to narrow a three-score lead against No. 9 Oklahoma led by Hurts to 42-41, but his 2-point conversion throw was intercepted with 24 seconds remaining. On November 9, 2019, Purdy accounted for 337 yards from scrimmage and six touchdowns, while Hurts totaled 341 yards and five touchdowns, respectively, with an interception.
Travis Kelce of the Chiefs is the consensus best tight end in the NFL, but George Kittle and Dallas Goedert of the 49ers and Eagles are not far behind. According to Next Gen Stats, Kittle (198) and Goedert (189) had more receiving yards than projected in 2022 than Kelce (184). Goedert and Kittle had built a connection and spoke at the beginning of the week, but Goedert has a long way to go to catch up to Kittle’s career résumé, given that he was Zach Ertz’s backup for more than three years.
Goedert stated, “Since I was a rookie, I thought I should be mentioned in the same breath as [elite] players, but that’s just how confident I am in myself.”
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