Championship Sunday is here, and the day kicks off with the NFC Championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Philadelphia Eagles. Both teams have been on a roll, but only one of them can earn a trip to Super Bowl LVII. The NFC Championship will kick off at 3 p.m. ET and air on Fox. It will also stream on FoxSports.com, the Fox Sports App and NFL+ for mobile users.
The 49ers have won their last 11 games, and a big reason for the team’s success is the defense as the group finished No. 1 in the NFL in points allowed per game (16.3). Defensive end Nick Bosa anchored the defense with 19 tackles for loss and 18.5 sacks in 2022, while Fred Warner led the team with 130 tackles. The defense will be tested on Sunday with Eagles QB Jalen Hurts who has thrown for 22 touchdowns and rushed for 13 touchdowns during the regular season.
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“You’ve got to be on your assignments for a full 60 minutes, which is way easier said than done,” Warner said, per the 49ers’ official website. “There are times in a game where you might be part of a long drive, guys get tired and all of a sudden the first thing that goes is your mind, you forget where you might need to fit in a certain play. But it’s all about being detailed and everybody swarming to the ball, getting to the ball carrier if or when he does pull it.”
The Eagles have the third-best scoring offense in the NFL, averaging 28.1 points per game. Hurts led the team in rushing touchdowns, but Miles Sanders emerged as one of the best running backs in the NFL, rushing for 1,269 yards and 11 touchdowns. The Eagles also have two 1,000-yard wide receivers in A.J. Brown (1,496) and DeVonta Smith (1,196).
“I have a lot of respect for the 49ers, but I think we’re really good too,” Brown told reporters this week. “We’ve grown together all season and we like the way we’re playing. There is always room for improvement. We know that. We know we have to be at the top of our game on Sunday and I think that’s a challenge that everyone accepts and embraces.”
