We have entered the home stretch to find out who will represent the NFC in Super Bowl LVII. On one hand you have the 49ers riding an underdog wave of the next “Rudy” in 3rd string QB Brock Purdy. On the other, the final steps of validation for Jalen Hurts who leads a talented Eagle roster at home in this contest. However here at Taylor Blitz Times the excitement generates from the two best offensive lines and the NFL’s #1 & #2 ranked defenses taking the stage.
Did you know the difference between the NFL’s #1 and #2 ranked defense is less than a yard this season? San Francisco 300.59 ypg to Philadelphia 301.47?? Yet a tell tale sign is how those defenses fared coming down the stretch. In the last 7 games the edge goes to the Eagles (286.2 ypg) to (331 ypg).
The Eagles rushing attack led by Miles Sanders (1269 yds 11TD) and Hurts (760 yds rush/ 13TDs) is the 5th best in the NFL. With design runs whether they come from RPOs, sweeps or scrambles should be able to maintain their 147.5 yards per game average. The graphic below shows the 49ers are 1-3 when allowing just 100 yards.
Christian McCaffrey has to have a career game to keep the 49ers in it. Yes the Niners have other backs and Deebo Samuel but they will need their best play makers to win on bubble screens and jet sweeps. McCaffrey will need to make Eagle defenders miss and silence a raucous Philly crowd.
Otherwise this game lands in the hands of a 3rd string QB whose Cinderella story is coming to an end. Not only will the hostile crowd be at full throat but the Eagles vicious pass rush will be loose. The Eagles have a historic pass rush which has recorded 70 sacks. Just 2 shy of the record set by the 1984 Chicago Bears. We haven’t seen this many since the 1989 Minnesota Vikings (71) and its a sack by committee defense. Hassan Reddick (16 sacks) Brandon Graham, Josh Sweat and Jay Hargrave each finished with 11! Where are you sliding the line to?
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith (6) celebrates his touchdown with wide receiver A.J. Brown (11) and center Jason Kelce (62) during the NFL divisional round playoff football game against the New York Giants, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
The line of scrimmage is where this game will be won or lost and the edge has to go to Philadelphia. Once T Lane Johnson made it back last week and showed he can gut it out the Eagles looked like the team that was 14-1 with Jalen Hurts in the lineup. This game looks to be close for a quarter and a half with the Eagles pulling away 38-16.
As we clearly stated in our 2020 NFL draft preview, Jalen Hurts deserved to be the 2nd quarterback drafted after Joe Burrow. In the next 10 hours we will find out if they can rematch their 2019 college football playoff.
The Eagles are going to be headed to Super Bowl LVII.
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Taylor Blitz Times 
Ouch! What a ‘Jimmy the Greek’ I turned out to be!
“This game looks to be close for a quarter and a half with the Eagles pulling away 38-16.”
Nice! Real nice! That’s why you ARE…the Chancellor!! Excellent prediction! Not just that sentence!
I, personally, would have put McCaffrey in at emergency-QB and went wildcat the rest of the way. What would they have had to lose? Purdy was obviously useless/offense beyond-one-dimensional at that point.
But, anyway, kudos again to your prediction! I simply couldn’t help but to see it Forty Niners/Bengals. I guess it’s why I don’t bet! Perhaps these Eagles will be a leading-sacks team to win-it-all!
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They had run the full gambit at quarterback. Hated to see Brck Purty’s season end like that but facing a monster pass rush like that. Yikes
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2022 Eagles just two sacks shy of the ’84 (not ’85) record-holding Bears? And just one shy of Floyd “Sgt Rock” Peters’ #1 defense of ’89 (also #1 D in ’88 as well)?
Yes, just like da ’86 Bears D statistically (key word – “statistically”) was better than Historic ’85, that 1984 installment did produce more sacks.
But sacks aren’t always “everything”. The Giants, in ’85, also had more sacks than those Super Bowl-Shufflers. But da ’85 Bears WERE the team that DID win-it-all along with having the better overall Historic D. Yes, ’84 Bears did at least make it to the NFCC (and without McMahon), but Sgt Rock’s unit went one-and-done in both ’88 & ’89 – both times at San Fran, and both times by a blowout.
Maybe I am making too much of it. Eagles winning this game as well as winning SBLVII would be no surprise to me if both happen. I just think of those ’94 Steelers under Dom Capers and all those sacks (Greg Lloyd, Kevin Greene) yet still come up short at home to those relative ho-hum Chargers. It just seems that the defenses that recorded the most sacks never necessarily won championships. Usually the more balanced ones instead.
Eagles seem to be “back” to what they at least appeared to be those first 3/4s of the season. Or was it that they played a Giants team that couldn’t help but to be happy not only to make the playoffs but actually WIN a playoff game and were now spent? Maybe a little of both? If Eagles win, which wouldn’t surprise me, I’m not sure that it’ll be by much. This should be a close game if they play on all-cylinders. And I’m not too sure about sticking a “clock-strikes-midnight’ dagger into Brock Purdy just yet. Kyle has experience in NFC Championship Games – and won one in ’19 – so he likely is bringing his very best team to the Linc today.
Purdy may not lose his first game until next autumn. And then you got Joe Burrow…he’s fancying himself a modern-day Montana/Namath-hybrid. Well then he knows full well that he can’t lose yet another SB! Neither of those Legends mentioned ever did lose a SB but last year it was understandable for Burrow in that his O-line was quite lacking; yet Bengals still almost won anyway. So now he’ll have to look to Bart Starr (and VINCE) coming off their 1960 defeat with a “never lose a championship game again” mentality.
Yes, I’m picking the more-balanced Bengals to do-it-again over KC no matter how healthy Patrick is. I don’t disrespect Philly. But Forty Niners, to me, are more likely to win today than they are. Super Bowl LVII will be Burrow-vs-Purdy and something will have to give! Game will go into OT, I think.
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