GIANTS @ EAGLES
I wonder if even the biggest Giants’ fans thought they would be here at the beginning of the season. The Giants will face the NFC’s number one seed Philadelphia after coach Brian Daboll had his young team prepared for last week’s win against the Vikings. Quarterback Daniel Jones looks experienced beyond his years, the running and passing games are fluid, and the defense bends but doesn’t break. Bring on the Eagles who sat last week out and are led by MVP candidate Jalen Hurts at quarterback. Philly ended the regular season clicking on all cylinders and last week’s bye was crucial to heal up some key injuries. The Giants have lost three straight to the Eagles, with both matchups this season ending in Eagles’ wins. The first one a 48-22 beatdown in Metlife Stadium and the other a 22-16 win that saw the Giants third string players play a spirited second half.
The Eagles opened up as around touchdown favorites and the line has not moved. Philadelphia failed to cover the spread in any of their last four games, meanwhile the Giants have covered in five straight games! Although, the last time the Giants did not cover the spread was against…the Eagles. Should the G-Men pull off the upset win they would see themselves in the NFC Championship Game for the first time since the 2011-12 season when they won the big game. More recently, the Eagles played in the NFC Championship in 2017-18, blowing out the Vikings on their way to a big game title.
COWBOYS @ 49ERS
The Cowboys won their first playoff game in four years, going to Tampa and beating Tom Brady’s Bucs. The Niners won at home easily against the Seahawks and the rookie quarterback Brock Purdy looked poised in the pocket, which has many wondering if or when he will start to look like what we all expected from the 7th Round pick. San Francisco opens up as around field goal favorites at home. The key for Dallas will be if they are able to stop all of the explosive weapons like Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, or George Kittle. Luckily, this Cowboys defense has been solid all year long and are only allowing 14 points per game, one of the best in the NFL. Winning the game outright isn’t out of the picture for the Cowboys who have seen two of their last three wins come on the road. But a victory this Sunday would see them one win away from being in the big game, a position they haven’t been in since 1995.
The 49ers come in as the hottest team in the NFL, winners of 11 straight games since starting the season 3-4. And they are a team with experience that will know how to handle the pressures of big playoff games. Most of the roster was part of the team that lost in the big game in 2019-20, and also lost in the NFC Championship last season. Can the Niners return and avenge last year’s loss?
