Five Things to Watch For in the NFC Championship Game

The Eagles are headed back to the NFC Championship Game!

As the team makes its first appearance in the game in five years, they face a formidable opponent in the San Francisco 49ers.  As the Eagles focus on these last few days, here are some things to watch for that could impact the game:

1. Fans: Deebo Samuel said during media availability on Thursday that he’s not concerned about the fans at Lincoln Financial Field.  Though he acknowledged it’s going to be loud, he said that “No stadium is as loud as [Levi’s Stadium] at the end of the day.”
   Eagles fans, and really any Philadelphia sports fan, know that he will probably be eating those words later.  Philly fans know how to get a stadium rocking, and nobody has to look farther back than November 2022 during the Phillies’ World Series run.  During that stretch, Phillies shortstop Bryson Stott told PhilliesNation.com’s Destiny Lugardo that his PitchCom device, which allows defensive players to hear the pitch on a device in their hats, was at the max volume of 20, compared to 12 on any road game.  And that was with about 25,000 fewer people than will be at Sunday’s game.
   On any normal game at the Linc, fans make their voices heard.  Nobody really knows what they’re in for during a playoff run.  Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni pointed out that Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon was with the Vikings during the 2017-18 season and commented on the intensity afterwards.
   Sirianni’s message to the fans: “Make the other team say, ‘Whoa’, like Jonathan Gannon did five or six years ago.”
2. Special Teams: Special Teams has been a thorn in the Eagles’ side over the entire season.  So much so that, in an interview with Philadelphia Magazine, Eagles play-by-play announcer Merrill Reese commented that this was the one area that the team must improve upon.  NFL columnist Rick Gosselin ranked the Eagles’ Special Teams 31^st in the league.  Compare that to the Eagles having a top five offense and defense.
   Special teams did improve since the Packers game late in the regular season.  Sirianni told reporters on Thursday that the team found its groove there a little bit after that game.  “We were playing good football on special teams,” he surmised, “and there was a play here and there on each game.”  It was these plays that soured the performance.
   Sirianni praised Special Teams Coordinator Michael Clay for putting the group in a position to make great plays, and various players on that group this year, commending their increased consistency.  Lets hope that continues into Sunday’s game.
3. Penalties: The best disciplined teams win football games.  Sirianni stressed on Thursday to media how much importance he puts on the fundamentals, and Eagles Offensive Coordinator Shane Steichen indicated that the fundamentals are an area that the team has grown during his media availability on Tuesday.  Yet, the Eagles have not been immune from penalties.  During the regular season, the Eagles were penalized 105 times compared to opponents’ combined 95 times.  While the Eagles did win the yardage differential (682 to opponents’ combined 798), that was not the case in the postseason.  On Saturday, the Eagles were flagged five times to the Giants’ one time, for a total of 25 yards.
   A perennial problem for the Eagles is having ineligible men downfield, which is a side effect of their RPO-heavy offense.  This has led to big plays being negated during the season.  The Eagles will need to keep this penalty down lest a big play be called back because of an issue that should be addressed with the fundamentals.
4. The Run Game: Sirianni confirmed on Thursday one thing he’s been doing is working with his coaching staff on where the 49ers could give problems in the run game.  San Francisco ranked second in the league in rushing yards allowed during the regular season at 77.7 yards.  The Eagles have averaged 147.6 rushing yards in the game during the regular season, which is fifth in the league.   The Eagles will need to hold to the run game early and often, and this week’s preparation should be focused on that.
5. Locker Room Leadership: During his press conference on Thursday, and really all week, Sirianni said that his message to his team hasn’t changed, and it’s been to stay consistent.  “When you treat them all the same and you go through the same preparation each game,” he said, “then you don’t ride the roller coaster and the wave of the season.”
   That said, it’s hard not to let the status of being one of the last four teams standing get the better of you.  That’s why making the playoffs last year was crucial, as it gave this group some playoff experience in Sirianni’s first year.  Though Sirianni has not reached out to others who have been there before, the players have some people with that experience in the locker room already.  Guys like Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, Fletcher Cox, Jake Elliott, Brandon Graham, and others who remain from the magical 2017 run to win Super Bowl LII have been there before.  These guys are locker room leaders during a moment like this, and it doesn’t take a football pedigree to know that these players can help you when the lights get brighter and the air gets rarer.

Featured Photo: Jalen Hurts walks off the field during the Divisional Round game versus the New York Giants on January 21, 2023. (Getty Images/Michael Leff)