Eagles Playoffs: Philadelphia’s most likely route to Super Bowl LVII

The home-underdog Philadelphia Eagles conquer the 49ers and advance to Super Bowl LVII in Glendale.

Cue the music from those Rocky films. Dust off those boxing references and dog masks. The always-disrespected Philadelphia Eagles walk into the NFC Championship Game as home underdogs, and they walk out with the George Halas Trophy. That’s how we see this one playing out.

The San Francisco 49ers are a worthy opponent in every sense of the phrase, but we have believed all season that the Eagles, at their best, are better than the Niners at their best. We also believe that, if the Birds don’t turn the ball over four times or outthink themselves en route to being outcoached (their most common sources of failure this season), they can beat anyone.

Kyle Shanahan is a genius. Remember, he made Kirk Cousins and Matt Ryan look better than they are. So far, Cinderella’s stagecoach hasn’t turned into a pumpkin for the most recent NFL Draft’s Mr. Irrelovent, Brock Purdy, but this is the game in which it happens.

We expect a long drive that chews up the clock by the Niners somewhere in this one, but we expect Jonathan Gannon’s defense to be up to task more often than not.

We expect sacks and maybe a turnover as well as a huge game by Haason Reddick, who will probably lose the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year Award to Nick Bosa albeit in some controversy.

This won’t be a blowout, nor will it be easy. We expect to be stressed, but we’ll say it again. The Eagles, at their best, are better than the Niners when they’re playing at their best. Remember that.

Philadelphia earns the narrow victory and catapults itself to the Super Bowl. The opponent is unknown, but this is the NFC’s best team. They just have to prove that.