The second playoff game on Sunday will be between two of the NFC's best when the third-seeded Philadelphia Eagles play host to the sixth-seeded San Francisco 49ers. This matchup will be an important one to watch since the Niners and Eagles have represented the NFC in five of the last eight Super Bowls.

San Francisco is still dealing with its disappointing 13-3 home loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 18. Had the 49ers won that game, they would've locked up the number-one seed in the NFC. But instead of getting home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and an extra week of rest, they now have to go on the road to face Philly tomorrow.

“We expected to do better than we did, but we knew it was a good defense… Had a couple opportunities, I thought, that we missed, and you can't miss those versus a team like that,” said San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan after the loss. “We need to play better than that. I was proud that they kept battling and was able to hold ‘em to 13 points. That's what gave us a chance there at the end. But we need to play better all around.”

Playing road playoff games is always tough, but Philadelphia Eagles fans are notoriously difficult to play in front of. Opposing teams usually have a hard time when playing at Lincoln Financial Field.

“With every place you go, it always starts with crowd noise,” Kyle Shanahan told reporters on January 7th. “It has to do with how loud that crowd is, and they're going to be going. You’ve got to give them a reason to be quiet, and if not, it's an extremely challenging place to play. You're not going to be able to hear, and we’ve got to expect that.”

When it comes to actually planning and preparing for the game, San Francisco knows that the driving force behind the Eagles' offense is quarterback Jalen Hurts, who accounted for almost 69% of Philly's offensive yards during the regular season. Niners defensive coordinator Robert Saleh recently talked about what makes Hurts so special.

“[He’s] a big, physical quarterback. He’s got arm talent to be able to make every single throw,” Saleh told reporters on Thursday. “Elite deep ball thrower. Can get it behind the defense pretty good. I mean, he's good in the pocket. He's very aware, from a pressure standpoint, being able to escape. And then, obviously, the QB runs. They don't do it often, but when they do, it's effective. You can't phase him. [I] got a chance to practice against him way back at the Jets, I mean, the young man's got elite presence, and [he’s] damn good football player.”

Hurts isn’t the only driving force behind the Eagles' offense. Though he’s having a down year statistically, Phily's Saquon Barkley is still one of the best running backs in the NFL and is a threat to go the distance any time he gets his hands on the football, according to Robert Saleh.

“I still think he's elite,” he said. “I know his production isn't what it was a year ago, but he's still a damn good football player. He's still a threat to break it anytime he touches the ball. (Jeff) Stoutland is still one of the best o-line coaches in all of football in creating good angles and creating space for the back. They can still run the ball as good as anybody.”

The Eagles also had an opportunity to put themselves in a better playoff position last weekend. With a Week 18 win and a Chicago Bears loss, Philadelphia would've earned the number-two seed in the NFC. Though the Bears lost, Philly fell to the Washington Commanders in a game where head coach Nick Sirianni rested most of his starters. Now they're the three-seed rather than the two-seed, which Sirianni knew was a possibility.

“You go through your process. You make what you think is the best decision for the football team, and that's what we did,” he told reporters during the Week 18 postgame press conference. “I knew this was an outcome, that these things could happen. Like I said to you guys, one thing I could guarantee was giving them rest. I couldn't guarantee anything else. Us being healthy and going into the playoffs healthy is a big deal for us. And, that's served us well in the past.”

Thankfully for Eagles fans, this group has plenty of playoff experience. Nick Sirianni's squad has reached the postseason every year he has been there and has gone to the Super Bowl twice in the last three years. However, Philly doesn’t flip a switch when the playoffs start. They just have to trust the process and do what they've been doing all season.

“We're going to continue to bust our ass to be the best version of ourselves that we can possibly be. That's what we've been doing from week one of training camp back to OTAs. That's what we'll continue to do,” Sirianni said on Monday. “We're up there working right now to put together the best plans we can. Players will come in with a mindset of getting better - a little bit better - each day, focusing on just this game, not anything else but the San Francisco 49ers.”

“I mean, it's playoffs. It's NFL football, playoff football,” said linebacker Nakobe Dean on Wednesday. “It's time to get to it. Time to turn up a notch. Everything kind of cranks up. I feel like the speed gets a little bit faster. Everybody’s kind of locked in. Teams don't beat themselves in the playoffs, so you've got to beat them.”

To beat the Niners, the Eagles will have to focus their efforts on limiting the effectiveness of running back Christian McCaffrey, who has the second-most scrimmage yards in the NFL this season (2,126).

“He's a fighter, and I got much respect for that because I understand that grind,” explained veteran defensive lineman Brandon Graham. “He's been having a good year, and we’ve got to make sure we get after him because that's going to be the game. That's the top of the list because, I mean, he's got 100 catches in the pass game, and then - on top of that - he's got a good o-line that's blocking for him. Purdy is getting the ball to him as much as he can.”

It's fair to say that the 49ers' defense has not been at its best in recent weeks, allowing 25.5 points per game in its last four matchups. Still, the Eagles are going to take what the defense gives them and will focus on maintaining their offensive identity, as Nick Sirianni explained.

“You have to have an identity of what you want to do. I think it starts with that: is having an identity, but there's a fine line there, too,” he said on January 7th. “Like, hey, I want to run this because this is part of our identity. Well, you might have to do some different things. Maybe we don't run it versus this, or maybe we don't run it versus that, because you're setting yourself up for a bad play, potentially. But I think it always starts with an identity. I think the best teams are always going to have an identity that they rest on, and that's what we've been trying to continue to accomplish throughout this year.”

Prediction for San Francisco 49ers @ Philadelphia Eagles (-5)

Considering how inconsistent the Eagles have been this year offensively, it's surprising that they're favored in this game. In the six contests that Philly has played this season against playoff-qualifying opponents, they are only averaging 17.8 points per game. Keep in mind that that number is skewed by an early-season 33-point outing against the Los Angeles Rams. If we take that game out of the equation, the Eagles averaged 14.8 points per game against playoff teams this year. Conversely, the 49ers averaged 21.3 points per game in seven matchups with playoff teams during the regular season. Granted, San Francisco's defense has been devastated by injuries, but Philly doesn’t have the offensive play-calling capabilities to go toe-to-toe with the Niners for 60 minutes. If this game turns into a slugfest, then the Eagles might have a shot at winning. However, the 49ers will be able to run away with this thing if they can go up by more than a touchdown early because Philly will struggle if it has to play from behind and abandon the rushing attack. San Fran gets the ball first and never looks back as they go wire-to-wire in the win.

Prediction: 49ers 24 - 20 Eagles

How to watch San Francisco 49ers @ Philadelphia Eagles (-5)

49ers @ Eagles starts at 4:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. You can watch it on Fox or stream it via the Fox Sports app or NFL+.

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