Philadelphia Eagles host new rivals San Francisco 49ers in NFC Championship rematch
That is the big man battle which they have talked of in the same breath with Rocky and Creed.
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The competition between the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers for dominance during the past a couple of seasons has made them some of the elite squads in the National Football League and a pair of rival clubs that cannot afford to miss each other.
The journey started last season’s NFC championship as Eagles defeated 49ers then lost in another super bowl classic against KC Chiefs.
It felt like a hard done to San Francisco as trash talk continued in week 13 after seven months later, and they will go for a revenge visit Philly this Sunday.
“Exciting” 49ers and “unbeatable” Eagles are now positioned at the first and second spots in the NFC, respectively. As such, the chances of having the most interesting fixture in American football in January, where they will battle it out once more at the
That said, they also have the ability to become NFL dynasties hence, their rivalry could soon be as fierce as that of Philadelphia’s favorite fictional fighting son and popular adversary.
From decimated to a dynasty?
San Francisco should win some more championships following their rebuild of a team in which as per Joe Staley, “a whole bunch of guys were pretty much decimated” and John Lynch took over as general manager while Kyle Shanahan became the head coach in 2017.
Utilizing shrewd draft picks as well as free agents’ signings, they rebuilt the five-time Super Bowl winners back into real prospects who recently reached three of the last for NFC championships and a trip to the Super Bowl XVL.
The 49ers improved their team mid-way through and tradeed Christian McCaffrey last year and then traded and signed Chase Young last month as they sought to reclaim the Lombardi Trophy in the bay after a 26 years drought.
As Staley explained to BBC Sport, “It would seem that this result reflects all such hard works in the front office and coaching staff.’ They got it right, and I am very proud as a former player, and fan of them for that.
Hence, as mentioned before, it does not involve only this season but it is going on to occur in the coming years.
This team is really talented offensively and defensively at those spots that were built into the roster. To try and win the game they would need to be at their peak.
The ‘unstoppable’ play and can the 49ers stop.
On the other hand, a team of similar calibre and strength has also been created on the City of Love—Philadelphia. Other play that the Eagels have put in place includes a kind of formation which has some people thinking that such a play should be banned since it is similar to a rugby scrum.
Tush push is another term used for the quarterback sneak. It is whereby the quarterback tries to run headlong through the line and make that extra one yard needed for a touchdown or first down.
It is also termed as the ‘brotherly shove’, which is a tribute to Philadelphia’s expertise and effectiveness for this push.
Other teams have even attempted copying it because it appears to be an easy approach. However, nobody should be able to manage the Eagles better. Even in October, two New York Giants players were injured in a failed attempt.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, former NFL defensive end Jack Crawford joked: That’s a reason why I was happy not to have played in such a game! Jalen Hurts is too strong – he can squat 600lb; it must be banned right away. Well, now you have people walking at his heels. You can't stop it."
Hurts broke the record of 18 rushing touchdowns for a quarterback; all three including the third in the Super Bowl were achieved with the help of the play.
For a whole week now, San Francisco players have been asked what to do about it. May be answered by linebacker Fred Warner who leaped over the line of scrimmage to stop the tush push attempted by Minnesota Viking’s in their encounter with San Francisco 49ers in October.
The game remains controversial, with the NFL planning to prohibit it during the off-season—but only if the injury statistics dictate the move.
Eagles 'randomly' rated as underdogs
Following this, the game of last season’s NFC became one sided, after two quarterbacks of the 49ers were injured, which resulted in “a lot of Boo-hoos” of the 49ers as stated by Haason, Reddick.
A number of players in San Francisco also assert that they have a stronger team, though Philadelphia boasts the best NFL record, an impressive 10-1, after taking back a win from the New York Jets through defeating not less than four major league competitors – namely, Miami, Dallas
With a regroup, the 49ers have gone on win eight out of their last nine games and are sitting at 8-3.Even coach Shanahan said "it is random" that they are rated as marginal favourites for the trip to Philly, while Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said: I feel that it is fine to be the underdog.
Sirianni added: All I knew about Philippi was Rocky and Apollo Creed; the city takes on the role of an underdog excellently.
In the recent years and especially the last one, the Eagles of course has really done it with all their might and even the members of their team were wearing of the dog-masks during the unexpected but victorious run of their only SB-win (i.e. the Super Bowl)Is it possible that Philadelphia will claim its third Super Bowl within the next few years?
“This will be a hell of a game, and I am sure that the winner will play at the Super Bowl,” commented by NFL’s pundit Phoebe Schecter at BBC Radio 5 Live.
Though both sides have not been in the best of shape, yet somehow they managed to win and I would go for the eagles because they have a variety with which they can attack you.
Crawford added: Their offensive and defensive lines are second to none in the trenches, and that is why I will choose the Eagles they are really good in all position groups.