The 2023 NFC Championship Game between the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles could end up being the best game of this year’s playoffs. The 49ers are the NFL’s hottest team and have the top-ranked defense, while the Eagles have the conference’s top-ranked offense and an MVP candidate at quarterback.
The 49ers and Eagles have a game time of 3 p.m. ET Sunday at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field. Fox will broadcast the NFC Championship Game on TV. Viewers can watch a live stream with FoxSports.com or the Fox Sports app.
An average of nearly 46 million people watched the 49ers hold off the Dallas Cowboys 19-12 in the divisional playoffs. It won’t be surprising if more than 50 million people watch San Francisco take on Philadelphia. When the Los Angeles Rams beat the 49ers 20-17 in last year’s NFC Championship Game, an average of 50.4 million viewers tuned in across all platforms.
Unlike the AFC Championship Game and most of this year’s playoff matchups, Sunday’s contest in Philadelphia isn’t a rematch from the regular season. It’s been 16 months since the 49ers and Eagles faced off, and the two teams have changed in significant ways during that time.
San Francisco is on its third different starting quarterback since the 49ers beat the Eagles 17-11 in Week 2 of the 2021 regular season. With Brock Purdy under center, San Francisco’s offense has been more potent than it was under Jimmy Garoppolo or Trey Lance. The 49ers also traded for Christian McCaffrey in October, giving Purdy arguably the league’s best array of offensive weapons.
Philadelphia’s best playmaker wasn’t on the roster in September 2021. The Eagles traded for A.J. Brown during the 2022 draft, giving Hurts the No. 1 wide receiver that he’d been missing. Hurts went from an average quarterback in 2021 to the potential MVP runner-up in 2022.
Since McCaffrey’s first full week on the 49ers roster, San Francisco has gone 12-0. The 49ers are 7-0 when Purdy is their starting quarterback. Brown is 15-3 in an Eagles uniform and 15-1 when Hurts is Philadelphia’s starting quarterback.
The Eagles are favored by less than a field goal against the 49ers.
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