While the AFC Championship game features two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL right now, the NFC Championship Game will showcase two of the youngest. Brock Purdy (23) and Jalen Hurts (24) will make history on Sunday with the youngest combined age for a conference title game in NF L history.
Their youth and relative inexperience make this showdown between the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles somewhat difficult to predict. Purdy's only had seven career starts in the NFL, after all, but he's won them all. Meanwhile, Hurts was an MVP finalist this year but has never gone this far in the postseason before.
This is uncharted territory for both of them, but thankfully they have plenty of help. Purdy is backed by the best defense in the NFL and can lean on super-weapon Christian McCaffrey when he gets in trouble. Hurts also has a stellar defense behind him and is surrounded by playmakers, including stud receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
Both teams appear evenly matched on paper, and the sportsbooks agree. FanDuel Sportsbook's NFL odds have the Eagles as favored by 2.5 points at home, which is slightly less than the usual 3-point edge granted to home teams.
This game could go either way. When that's the case, it's usually wise to look beyond the sportsbooks and consult expert opinions and projection models to get a better sense of who really has the edge in a close matchup like this one.
49ers vs Eagles Projections
ESPN FPI:'Eagles (65.3%)
numberFire:'Eagle s (56.8%)
FiveThirtyEight:'Eagles (59%)
Moneyline Projection:'Eagles (59.7%)
Projected Winner:'Eagles (4)
The 49ers have won 12 in a row, but the projection models expect their winning streak to come to an end this weekend. All four have the Eagles winning fairly convincingly with an aggregate win probability of roughly 60%.
These systems also show that the Philadelphia moneyline is fairly priced at -148 odds. If you believe in the Eagles but don't want to get involved with the spread or other lines, don't be afraid to take them straight up.
If you're more interested in who human experts are picking, see below.
49ers vs Eagles Expert Picks
- Stephania Bell:'TBD
- Matt Bowen:'TBD
- Mike Clay:'Eagles
- Jeremy Fowler:'TBD
- Dan Graziano:'Eagles
- Jason Reid:'TBD
- Seth Wickersham:'49ers
ESPN Total:'Eagles (2), 49ers (1)
- Albert Breer:'49ers
- Mitch Goldich:'Eagles
- Gary Gramling:'Eagles
- Conor Orr:'49ers
- John Pluym: 49ers
Sports Illustrated Total:'49ers (3), Eagles (2)
- Pete Prisco:'Eagles
- Jason La Canfora:'Eagles
- Will Brinson:'TBD
- Jared Dubin:'49ers
- Ryan Wilson:'Eagles
- John Breech:'Eagles
- Dave Richard:'Eagles
- Jamey Eisenberg:'Eagles
CBS Total:'Eagles (6), 49ers (1)
Not surprisingly, the experts are leaning towards the home team as well. While a few picks have yet to come in, two-thirds of our experts here favor the Eagles, which roughly aligns with the projection systems above.
Accordingly, bettors would be advised to wager their money on a Philadelphia victory. The experts and models are still giving San Francisco a fighting chance, though, so it's not hard to imagine an upset if you'd prefer to back the underdogs and chase a bigger payout.