The 2025 NFL season began with the main storyline about whether the Philadelphia Eagles would repeat. But with the Eagles struggling to finish games, fans and oddsmakers gave way to new favorites in the NFC, including the Packers, Rams, and Seahawks.
After such a strange regular season, no stat does it better justice than this one: The Eagles were the only repeat division winner in 2025, and they did it in an NFC East where no one had repeated since Philadelphia in 2001-04. Otherwise, we had seven new division winners, a single-season record. What a weird year.
Sam Darnold helped the Seahawks to a 14-3 record and had the game-winning drive of the year against the Rams in overtime in Week 16, then finished off the 49ers last week to earn the No. 1 seed and first-round bye. Seattle (+390 at FanDuel) has the highest odds of any team to win Super Bowl 60 at the moment.
We’ll see the Seahawks in action next week, but this wild card weekend is an interesting slate on the NFC side with two rematches and a very intriguing new matchup between the 49ers and Eagles, who both have arguments they can do the distance to the Super Bowl again. But we’ll see the third game between the Packers and Bears since December, and the Rams will try to avoid an embarrassing loss in Carolina (again) as the biggest road favorite in NFL playoff history.
We have each game previewed below with all the stats, injury notes, matchups, betting advice, and predictions you need for the NFC wild card.
Table of Contents
Los Angeles Rams at Carolina Panthers (+10.5, O/U 46.5)
The No. 5 Los Angeles Rams (12-5) will take on the No. 4 Carolina Panthers (8-9) this Saturday afternoon in Carolina. The Panthers, winners of the NFC South for the first time since 2015, backed into the playoffs with a losing record thanks to the Falcons beating the Saints on Sunday. But despite the 4-game difference in record, we have seen two of the four playoff teams with a losing record in a full season still win a playoff game at home (2010 Saints and 2014 Panthers did it).
Also, the Panthers finished 2025 with a minus-69 scoring differential, which isn’t nice at all. But of the five other playoff teams with a scoring differential of minus-60 or lower, they were 4-1 in their first playoff game, so playing at home or playing a team you’re familiar with that season can be very advantageous, and the 2025 Rams have already lost some games they should have won this year, so don’t skip this one because of the big spread.
The Last Matchup
2025, Week 13: Panthers 31, Rams 28
We don’t have to go back far with these teams. In Week 13, the Panthers were a 10-point home underdog and still pulled off a 31-28 upset win. Here are some key notes from the upset:
- Matthew Stafford had three turnovers, including a pick-six and a huge strip-sack fumble while the Rams were in scoring territory late in a 31-28 game.
- Bryce Young had big help from his running game (35 carries for 141 yards), and he threw for 206 yards on 15-of-20 passing with two of his three touchdown passes coming on fourth downs, including the game-winning touchdown to Tetairoa McMillan (his only catch of the game) with 6:34 left.
- The Rams had 153 rushing yards on 20 carries from the running backs, and Davante Adams caught two touchdowns.
- All eight of the Rams’ drives ended in either a touchdown or turnover except for one three-and-out punt in the third quarter.
- Despite the big sack-fumble late in the game, Stafford’s pressure rate (13.3%) was the lowest in any of his games this season at Carolina (source: NFL Pro).
Even with a +3 turnover differential, big rushing yardage, and playing a Pacific team at home in an early window, the Panthers still barely pulled this one out. But that has been their style of winning in the Young era, and now he gets to play the biggest game of his NFL career.
Injury Watch
After missing the last three games with a hamstring injury, Davante Adams looks like he should be back this Saturday for the Rams to give Stafford his second-biggest weapon. It remains to be seen if RB2 Blake Corum can go after an injury on Sunday against Arizona. The Rams have also had some offensive line injuries down the stretch, but guard Kevin Dotson could return this week too. Safety Quentin Lake is also trying to return after missing the final seven games.
For Carolina, several starters and key contributors missed the Week 13 upset and should be back this week. None are bigger than Pro Bowl corner Jaycee Horn, who missed one game this season and it just so happened to be the Rams game. He’ll be there to help defend Puka Nacua and Adams this week. The Panthers also will have linebackers Chrisitan Rozeboom and Claudin Cherelus back as well as center Cade Mays.
Stats to Know
Here are some relevant and informative statistics for these teams heading into this matchup:
- The Panthers (+10.5) are the biggest home underdog in NFL playoff history if this line holds, beating out the 10-point spreads for the 2020 Commanders against Tampa Bay (Bucs won 31-23 in an empty stadium during COVID) and for the 2010 Seahawks at home against the Saints (won 41-36 thanks to Marshawn Lynch’s “Beastquake” touchdown).
- Home underdogs of 7+ points are 4-0-1 ATS and 3-2 SU in NFL playoff history.
- The 2025 Rams have already lost three games as a favorite of more than a touchdown: Lost 26-23 vs. 49ers (+9), lost 31-28 at Panthers (+10), and lost 27-24 at Falcons (+7.5).
- The only Super Bowl winner in NFL history to lose more than two games in a season as a favorite of 7.5+ points was the 1995 Cowboys, who had four such losses in the regular season.
- Upsets aside, the 2025 Rams are 12-5 ATS, tied with the Jaguars and Seahawks for the best spread record this season.
- The Rams have outperformed the spread by an average of +4.1 points, which ranks fifth this season.
- The 2025 Panthers are 10-7 ATS (+0.2 points on average).
- Under head coach Dave Canales, the Panthers are 9-5 ATS as a home underdog, including a 5-2 ATS record in 2025.
- The over is 10-7 in Rams games and 7-10 in Panthers games.
- The over is 5-1 when the Rams are a road favorite this year.
- The Panthers are 6-0 when they score at least 23 points, and five of those games were at home, including a season-high 31 points against the Rams.
- The Rams are 10-0 when they allow no more than 20 points, and they are 2-5 when they allow at least 26 points.
- The Rams have allowed at least 26 points in four of their last six games.
- The Rams have had some bad special teams performances this year, but they had their third-best game in EPA on special teams at Carolina in Week 13.
- The Panthers are just 4-4 when they allow no more than 20 points.
- Third down blues: Carolina is 25th on offense and 31st on defense in third down conversion rate. The Rams are 17th on offense and 7th on defense.
- The Rams are in the top 7 in red zone touchdown rate on both sides of the ball while the Panthers are 24th on offense and 14th on defense.
- Carolina rookie Tetairoa McMillan (1,014 yards) is the only player on the team to hit 400 receiving yards this year, but he was held to one catch against the Rams – it just happened to be a game-winning touchdown from 43 yards out. But it was the only game this season where he had fewer than 4 targets with just 2.
- The Rams are just 1-5 at game-winning drive opportunities this season while the Panthers are 6-4.
- The Rams are 6-5 in close games and the Panthers are 7-4.
- The Rams have blown three fourth-quarter leads compared to one for Carolina.
- Bryce Young has 14 wins as a starter in the NFL and 12 of them came via game-winning drives.
- Career records at game-winning drive opportunities: Matthew Stafford is 53-69-1 (.435) and Bryce Young is 12-15 (.444). Those percentages rank 6th and 7th among active starters.
The Fatal Flaw
What is the factor most likely to lead to each team’s downfall this postseason and in this matchup in particular?
Rams – Finishing Games
The 2025 Rams don’t have an obvious weakness. They average a league-high 30.5 points per game and were the only team to top 500 points this season. They can pass it and run it well, and they generally take care of the ball. Third down conversion rate should be higher than it is for such a team, but Sean McVay has done a great job of keeping the team out of third downs altogether this year.
The defense has been floundering for the Rams ever since the Carolina game in Week 13 as they were the No. 1 scoring defense going into that one before finishing 10th. But they’re good enough against the run and they have pass rushers like Jared Verse, Kobie Turner, and Byron Young, who combined for 26.5 sacks.
But the Rams have major issues at closing games. They’re the only team this season that can say it had a lead in the fourth quarter/overtime of all 17 games. But they’re just 12-5 because they allowed five game-winning drives, and it’s the little things that keep biting them like the field goal unit or their short-yardage running game not delivering:
- The Rams blew a 19-point second-half lead in Philadelphia and had two blocked field goals in the fourth quarter, including a game-winning kick that was returned for a touchdown.
- Lost 26-23 in overtime to the 49ers after a missed extra point that would have given them a 21-20 lead, then Kyren Williams fumbled at the goal line on the go-ahead touchdown with 1:05 left, then the running game was stuffed on 4th-and-1 in overtime.
- Lost 31-28 in Carolina after giving up that fourth-down touchdown pass to McMillan and Stafford’s fumble after he led a go-ahead touchdown drive set up by a brilliant Nacua catch.
- Blew a 30-14 lead in Seattle with under 10:00 left by allowing a punt return touchdown, the flukiest 2-point conversion of the season went against them, they missed a go-ahead field goal, then Darnold’s 8-point drive in overtime ended it, making Stafford the first quarterback in NFL history to lead a go-ahead touchdown drive in overtime and not get the win.
- The Rams tied the game at 24 in Atlanta after being down 21 points, but gave up another game-winning drive to Kirk Cousins, then couldn’t get the tying drive after some chances with deep balls.
Not saying the Rams should be 17-0, but they certainly had their chances to win every game here. For a team in 2021 that set an NFL record by winning three straight playoff games by 1-3 points to win the Super Bowl, it seems pretty impossible that the Rams can get through this 4-game playoff run without having to win some close ones, and they haven’t shown they can consistently do that this season.
Panthers – Relying on Close Finishes
When you’re 7-4 in close games like the Panthers, that means they’re 1-5 in games that aren’t within a score in the fourth quarter. More likely to get blown out.
Waiting until the fourth quarter to win the game might not be a problem for Carolina against this particular opponent because of how the Rams have allowed five game-winning drives and counting. But the Panthers are often in these situations because they just don’t play a lot of good football.
Their situational stats are not good, their field position is average at best, they are below average in per-play averages at passing and rushing, and that’s why they were outscored by 69 points this season.
For all of Bryce Young’s heroics, he only averaged 188.2 passing yards per game as throwing for 200 was often a struggle outside of that game in Atlanta with a franchise-record 448 yards.
Just two weeks ago, Young finished the Seattle loss at home with 40 net passing yards on 26 pass plays. The Rams don’t play defense as well as Seattle, but Young has to show his Week 13 game wasn’t just a fluke with the fourth-down touchdown passes the difference between a great game and a poor one. As it stands, the Rams are the only defense Young has thrown for 200 yards against at home this year.
Best Bets and Prediction
The Rams should win this game, but that’s something you could have said about every game they’ve played this year. Still, they have five losses and the defense has been underperforming going into the playoffs. A potentially historic point spread for a playoff game is another reason I’d be leaning towards the Carolina Reaper at home to cover here with a nod to the over 46.5 points.
It’s just a big spread for a Rams team that was in a 23-20 barnburner with the Cardinals on Sunday before blowing it open with a couple of touchdowns. The Panthers have the recent experience of beating this team at home, defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero coached under McVay and might have a good read on this team, and the Rams have those flaws with their third-down offense, short-yardage running game, and the kicking unit.
Stafford should throw multiple touchdowns with Adams back, and he’s had 2+ passing touchdowns in 11 straight games and has generally played well in the postseason in his career. But when I think about Young’s biggest games usually coming against the best teams (see Chiefs and Eagles last year), I couldn’t bet against the Panthers with this large of a spread. The Rams might secretly wish Tampa Bay, a team they throttled, got in instead as the Panthers have just enough of the right stuff to make this an all-time upset sweep.
Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears (+1.5, O/U 45.5)
The No. 7 Green Bay Packers (9-7-1) will take on the No. 2 Chicago Bears (11-6) this Saturday night in Chicago. They’ll try to recreate their magical 22-16 overtime finish just three weeks ago when the Bears stunned the Packers with another late comeback. The Packers have not won a game since beating Chicago in Week 14.
But yesterday we looked at our Fraud Alert Rating metric for 2025, and no team ranked higher than Chicago, who is a home underdog in this one despite the Packers entering the playoffs on a 4-game losing streak. Can Jordan Love work his No. 7 seed magic like in 2023, or do the Packers go one-and-done again like last year?
The Last Matchup
2025, Week 16: Bears 22, Packers 16 (OT)
It’s the third meeting since December between these NFC North rivals. Both games really came down to the same thing that many Chicago games come down to this year: Caleb Williams with the ball in his hands late, down one score. He was down 7 points in the final minute of both Green Bay games. The first time, he threw a game-ending interception on fourth down. Last time, he threw a game-tying touchdown pass on fourth down.
Then he threw maybe the pass of the year to D.J. Moore for 46 yards in overtime to win the game.
Lest we forget, Jordan Love left that game with a concussion. Malik Willis played well but the Packers had a fumbled snap in overtime, setting up the Bears’ finish. But by placing this game in the Saturday night slot again, the NFL is obviously hoping for a third-straight close finish between these teams.
Injury Watch
Jordan Love has been cleared from the concussion protocol and will return for his third-straight postseason as the No. 7 seed. He’s used to playing on the road in the playoffs and he’s obviously used to playing Chicago, so no worries there about rust beyond maybe a shaky first quarter start. Something we’ve seen from him even when healthy as he’ll sometimes get a bad pick out of the way on the first drive.
The Packers blew off Week 18 in Minnesota by resting several players, including Josh Jacobs, Romeo Doubs, Rashan Gary, Xavier McKinney, etc. They are expecting to have tackle Zach Tom, wide receiver Chrisitan Watson, and Love all back together for the first time since the Denver game, which started this 4-game losing slide.
The Bears have been playing without top wideout Rome Odunze, but he could be back this Saturday night. They also are hoping corner Kyler Gordon can play in what would just be his fourth appearance this year to help the secondary.
Stats to Know
Here are some useful and informative statistics for these teams heading into this matchup:
- Spread records this year: Chicago (10-7 ATS) fared better than the Packers (7-10 ATS).
- Packers were only 5-8 ATS as a favorite in 2025 (Bears were 5-4 ATS as an underdog).
- In playoff games with a spread of 0-2 points, the home underdog is 13-8 SU (4-1 when it’s a division rematch).
- Under rookie coach Ben Johnson, the Bears are 8th in yards per drive, 10th in points per drive, 3rd in rushing, and 7th on third down.
- The Bears are 2-4 when they’re held under 24 points, and the Packers have held them to 21 and 22 points.
- The Bears are 9-1 when they allow fewer than 27 points.
- The Packers are 8-0-1 when they score at least 27 points and 1-7 when they don’t.
- A common trend in the Jordan Love era, the Packers had their three highest-scoring games (all the ones over 30 points) on the road this year.
- The Packers are 2-4 when allowing fewer than 17 points this year, a major red flag.
- The Packers had a season-high 192 rushing yards at Chicago in the game Love was concussed.
- The Packers are 2-6-1 when they turn the ball over in a game this season.
- Two of Green Bay’s worst games on special teams were against Chicago, including the botched onside kick recovery in Week 16 that cost them the game.
- Turnover dominance: The Bears have the most takeaways (33) and fewest giveaways (11) in the NFL, producing a league-best +22 turnover differential.
- Turnover reliance? The Bears are 9-0 when they produce 2+ takeaways and 2-6 when they don’t.
- The Packers only have 13 giveaways but also just 14 takeaways on defense (ranked 26th).
- The 2025 Packers are 0-3 when they don’t punt in a game while the rest of the NFL is 11-0 in that stat.
- The 2025 Bears are the only team in NFL history to win six games after trailing in the final 2:00.
- The Bears and Buccaneers tied for a league-high 13 close games in the fourth quarter this year.
- The Bears are 6-5 at game-winning drive opportunities and 8-5 in close games with two blown leads.
- The Packers are 4-5-1 at game-winning drive opportunities and 4-5-1 in close games with two blown leads.
The Fatal Flaw
What is the factor most likely to lead to each team’s downfall this postseason and in this matchup in particular?
Packers – Injuries
It’s not an excuse to use injuries for why the Packers are unlikely to reach the Super Bowl this season, which would have perfectly fit the pattern for Love getting there in his age-27 season like Brett Favre (1996) and Aaron Rodgers (2010) did.
It’s just a fact that the Packers aren’t as much of a threat without edge rusher Micah Parsons and tight end Tucker Kraft, both tearing their ACLs this season. Parsons was leading the league in pressures before his season ended in Denver, and the Packers haven’t won a game since. Kraft is one of the best tight ends in the game and gives this offense a different dimension it lacks without him. Chrisitan Watson is also often injured for this team, and he and Kraft are clearly the two best weapons Love has.
First-round rookie Matthew Golden has basically had to redshirt this year as he hasn’t been a big factor with no touchdowns and 410 yards from scrimmage.
But losing Parsons is the big one on defense as Rashan Gary doesn’t have enough around him to make this defense really special in the postseason.
Bears – It’s Da Bears
You can talk about the progress Ben Johnson has made with Caleb Williams, who cut his sacks way down with an improved offensive line, and he’s been pretty clutch. But as Johnson said himself during this season when the Bears were in competition for the No. 1 seed, they’re winning in spite of their quarterback at times.
Williams has only completed 58.1% of his passes despite a solid receiving corps that added great talent in the draft in Colston Loveland and Luther Burden. This is still a Chicago team that is winning on turnovers, sometimes of a fluky nature, timely special teams plays like the onside kick recovery against Green Bay, and a strong running game to assist in these comeback wins.
Basically the same principles that have driven past Chicago seasons to the playoffs like in 2001, 2005, 2006, 2010, and 2018. We’ve seen how that never really translates to postseason success, but we’ll see if the Bears can protect the ball this week, or if they go down in a fiery flame of turnover regression the way Johnson’s Lions turned it over 5 times in the playoffs last year against Washington.
Best Bets and Prediction
The Packers are probably the healthiest they’ve been in a month or longer. In case you’re wondering, Green Bay is just the fourth team to enter the playoffs on a losing streak of at least 4 games. Here’s how those teams have fared:
- 2024 Steelers (4 straight losses): Lost 28-14 in AFC wild card at Baltimore.
- 1999 Lions (4 straight losses): Lost 27-13 in NFC wild card at Washington.
- 1986 Jets (5 straight losses): Won 35-15 in AFC wild card vs. Chiefs before losing 23-20 at Cleveland in AFC divisional.
Not the greatest outcomes with the Jets getting to win at home first, but at least they got the win after their slide. But with the small spread here favoring the Packers on the road, it suggests what we still feel is true: Green Bay is the better team with the more proven pieces at quarterback, coach, and defense.
The Packers were good enough to be leading by 7 points in the final minute of both Chicago games, and it came down to what Williams did on a fourth-down pass. I think the rest will be good for players like Jacobs, Watson, and Tom on the offense. I’m not sure we can trust Williams yet in a big playoff game, so I would lean towards Green Bay advancing in this one, setting up a game at Seattle next week that will be much tougher.
Love and the Packers are the only No. 7 seed to win a game so far in the new playoff format, and they got a real shot to make it so that they’re the second team as well.
San Francisco 49ers at Philadelphia Eagles (-4.5, O/U 44.5)
The No. 6 San Francisco 49ers (12-5) will take on the No. 3 Philadelphia Eagles (11-6) this Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia. We finally have a game with a considerable home favorite, but the Eagles have been a tough team to watch all year with a maddening offense that should be better than it’s been.
However, the defense might even be better than the unit that won the Super Bowl last year, so if this title defense is going to happen, it’s going to be thanks to that unit shutting down the 49ers, who were held to a field goal last week, tied for the worst output of Kyle Shanahan’s coaching career with the team.
But it’s another interesting matchup as there is a path forward for the 49ers, who will hope to get home for Super Bowl 60 at Levi’s Stadium.
The Last Matchup
2023, Week 13: 49ers 42, Eagles 19
It’s been some time as this is actually a notable rematch of the 2022 NFC Championship Game, the one where Brock Purdy injured his elbow on the opening drive and the 49ers had to finish the game without someone capable of throwing a forward pass in a 31-7 rout. That ended Purdy’s dream of becoming the first rookie quarterback to start a Super Bowl.
They met a year later during the Eagles’ epic 2023 collapse. Purdy came back strong with 4 touchdown passes on a big day for Deebo Samuel, who is obviously no longer there. But the Eagles hired Vic Fangio to run the defense in 2024, and he’s had great success in the past against Shanahan, though it’s been even longer since these two have matched up.
Injury Watch
The 49ers have been injured all year, making it impressive they got to 12 wins. They won’t have Nick Bosa or Fred Warner, their two best defenders. But more concerning right now is whether wideout Ricky Pearsall (knee) and left tackle Trent Williams (hamstring) can play. They missed last week’s big game with Seattle and were sorely missed. Keep an eye on their status this week.
The Eagles rested a lot of starters in Week 18’s loss to Washington. That should help them out for this one, and they’ll hope to get some players fresh in the trenches, including stars like Jalen Carter and Lane Johnson. They definitely have the health edge over San Francisco.
Stats to Know
Here are some useful and informative statistics for these teams heading into this matchup:
- The 2025 Eagles are just 25th in yards per drive and 21st in points per drive on offense.
- The Eagles go three-and-out on 29% of their offensive drives, the highest rate in the NFL (San Francisco is 15%, the second-lowest rate).
- The Eagles are 10-7 ATS while the 49ers are close behind at 10-6-1 ATS.
- The 49ers are 4-0 ATS after a loss this season.
- The Eagles are 4-4 ATS as a home favorite with outright losses to playoff teams like the Bears and Broncos.
- The 49ers are 1-2 ATS as a road underdog in 2025.
- The over is 10-6-1 in San Francisco games and 7-10 in Philadelphia games.
- The over is 6-2-1 in San Francisco road games.
- The Eagles are 3-1 when scoring fewer than 17 points this season – no other team has more than two wins.
- The Eagles have only allowed more than 26 points in one game (34 against the Giants in Week 6). That’s also the only game the Eagles have lost by double digits.
- The Eagles are 7-0 when they score more than 21 points.
- The Eagles are 1-6 when they have more than 205 net passing yards on offense.
- The Eagles are 0-4 when they have multiple turnovers in a game, and 5-of-15 giveaways (33.3%) on the season came in the overtime loss to the Chargers where Jalen Hurts became the first quarterback in NFL history to turn the ball over twice on one play (interception and fumbled ball).
- The Eagles are 1-6 when they allow at least 125 rushing yards.
- The Eagles are just 3-3 when they force multiple turnovers on defense (49ers are 6-0 in such games).
- The 49ers are 7-2 with Brock Purdy starting this year, though both losses were to stingy defenses (Jaguars and Seahawks).
- The 49ers are 10-1 when they hold teams under 26 points (2-4 when they don’t).
- The 49ers are 4-4 when they don’t force a takeaway.
- The 49ers convert on third down at a league-best 49.8%.
- The Eagles are only 21st on third down defense, allowing conversion on 40.5% of plays.
- Both offenses rank top 5 at scoring touchdowns in the red zone with the Eagles No. 1 despite the Tush Push being less effective this year.
- Jalen Hurts’ passing success rate (43.2%) is at its lowest since his 2020 rookie year.
- Jalen Hurts is 14-14 (.500) at game-winning drive opportunities in his career; third best among active starters (Bo Nix is 10-5, Patrick Mahomes is 31-27).
- But the Eagles are only 1-5 at game-winning drive opportunities this season compared to 4-2 for the 49ers.
- The Eagles are 7-5 in close games with seven saves on defense and four blown leads.
- The 49ers are 6-2 in close games with five saves on defense and zero blown leads.
- Brock Purdy has four game-winning drives in the regular season and three in his playoff career.
- In his last playoff start (Super Bowl 58 vs. Chiefs), Brock Purdy became the first quarterback in playoff history to lead three go-ahead drives in the fourth quarter and overtime and not win the game.
- The 49ers are 0-50 under Kyle Shanahan when trailing by 8+ points in the fourth quarter, the NFL’s only winless team in that split since 2017.
The Fatal Flaw
What is the factor most likely to lead to each team’s downfall this postseason and in this matchup in particular?
49ers – The Injuries
Another reason we could be sleeping on the Eagles repeating as champs is much like the Packers, the 49ers have a ton of big-name injuries that just don’t make them as formidable of a contender. It’s possible Fred Warner comes back if they advance far enough, but he won’t play this week, and Nick Bosa is gone.
More alarming for this matchup is the status for Trent Williams as they need that Hall of Fame tackle to give them a ground game with McCaffrey against that front. They also need to protect the edges and keep Purdy upright, something they couldn’t do past the first drive in their last playoff game in Philly.
The wide receivers have been injured too. Brandon Aiyuk never ended up playing a snap this year. But Pearsall has been great, and it’d be a big loss if he wasn’t out there against a tough secondary that’s even better than Seattle’s at corner.
The 49ers still have some mega talents like McCaffrey and George Kittle, but they are not as deep as they were in 2023 when they last had a Super Bowl run.
Eagles – That Offense
It sounds crazy that an offense with the reigning Super Bowl MVP, Saquon Barkley, two 1,000-yard receivers, and a tight end who had 11 touchdowns can be a problem, but it has been for the Eagles this year. Blame new offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo all you want as he’s no Kellen Moore. That’s for sure.
But the Eagles have lacked an offensive identity under Patullo. They can look great for a half, then give you nothing the rest of the way as Hurts literally did in his last game against Buffalo where he didn’t complete a pass after halftime. We’ve seen Barkley struggle to come anywhere close to his 2024 success behind an offensive line that’s not as dominant or healthy. There’s always news about A.J. Brown being upset with targets.
It’s been a tough year, yet the Eagles still have a shot to go the distance again because of that defense. Hurts never really had to lead a clutch scoring drive last postseason on the way to the Super Bowl, and it was the defense who shut the door with the Rams 13 yards away from ending their season.
But chances are Hurts will have to do something significant if the Eagles are to repeat. Nothing about this team has been easy this year.
Best Bets and Prediction
It was unbelievable that the NFC East went 21 years before a repeat champion. But after ending that streak, the Eagles have a chance to end another insane streak. The 49ers have gone 22 straight seasons where they either missed the playoffs with a non-winning record (15 times) or they got to the NFC Championship Game or better (7 times).
It’s going to be hard this year as they’ll likely have to go through the Eagles and Seahawks on the road just to get to the NFC title game. But if you think the defense is the main cause for concern with the 49ers, then consider the Eagles usually don’t score that many points, and Purdy has played some of the best football of any quarterback this year. He’s also had some clutch moments in the postseason.
Then if they can get past this game, the Seahawks didn’t exactly light up the scoreboard last week, and you never know how Sam Darnold will handle the biggest game of his career. At least with Purdy and Hurts, we know what they’ve done on the Super Bowl stage against the Chiefs.
I wouldn’t expect a shootout in this one, especially when the Eagles can never seem to play a full 60-minute game. If the spread and total were to be right on the nose, then the 49ers could lose a 24-20 game if you favor the underdog and under.
That’s the direction I’m leaning with a tip of the cap to the 49ers for getting this far when Mac Jones had to start half the season. The Eagles likely win on the strength of their defense, but don’t discount a potential road upset here as the 49ers also know what it takes to win in January. That’s why this should be a good one on Sunday afternoon.
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