Who wins the NFC Championship?

[fightinfunbags]

Yes, it is. Not having hurts has been huge in the decline of the Eagles in recent weeks and this injury is a concern to me. I don't fully buy that he will be 100% healthy. Just a gut feeling. However,his presence alone makes the Eagles a better team. Lane Johnson's injury is a bit of a concern too.

Both guys will be playing in the playoffs. I have less concern about those players. Hurts has been through an abundance of caution. I saw his work after the injury took place early in the 2nd half in Chicago. I have more concern over Maddox and Gardner Johnson coming back in the secondary.

 

[Manster7588]

The way teams are playing down the stretch, it's the 9ers, PERIOD.

 

[PnkPanther]

Ok, we've mostly determined Philly/SF are the top 2

who are 3rd and 4th?

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Ok, we've mostly determined Philly/SF are the top 2

who are 3rd and 4th?

I think Dallas is definitely in the mix but my dark horse will be the Bucs. Just can't count them out, despite all that's happened. I would give the Packers a punchers chance but if they face the Niners, that's a blowout, imo.

 

[PnkPanther]

I think Dallas is definitely in the mix but my dark horse will be the Bucs. Just can't count them out, despite all that's happened. I would give the Packers a punchers chance but if they face the Niners, that's a blowout, imo.

my third tier is Dallas, GB, and MN

they have all big warts, but could get hot for various reasons

I have a hard time seeing GB winning 3 on road vs combination of SF, Philly, Dallas, MN though

I have a hard time seeing MN defense being able to pull it together and injuries to OL are mounting (amongst other flaws)

and Dallas, I mostly dont trust Dak/Mike McCarthy

 

[PDay8810]

Ok, we've mostly determined Philly/SF are the top 2

who are 3rd and 4th?

we should be able to know this in about 4 weeks....I can wait

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

my third tier is Dallas, GB, and MN

they have all big warts, but could get hot for various reasons

I have a hard time seeing GB winning 3 on road vs combination of SF, Philly, Dallas, MN though

I have a hard time seeing MN defense being able to pull it together and injuries to OL are mounting (amongst other flaws)

and Dallas, I mostly dont trust Dak/Mike McCarthy

I tend to agree on Dallas. They have a really good roster though and a stout defense at times. The defense gets back to being dominant, they are a force to be reckoned with. But the D has been kinda average of late. Minny's defense, to me is a problem for them and as you say, OL issues with injuries and such. Take away Jefferson and they become very average on offense. Cousins and Dak, imo, need to start proving the doubters wrong. Both can put up huge numbers but can't seem to win tough games at the worst times.
GB has been hot down the stretch but Jones is banged up a little and AR really hasn't been lighting teams up. If Rodgers was playing great, I'd give them more of a shot but the Niners has always been a match-up nightmare for the Pack. Even when JimmyG plays like crap. So even if Brock Purdy falters, the Niners would still be huge favorites. Just too many weapons and too dominant on defense, imo.

 

[HaroldSeattle]

Ok, we've mostly determined Philly/SF are the top 2

How you figure? Looks like 49ers are favored, then Cowboys, and then Eagles. Only thing determined is nobody likes the Vikings or Giants.

 

[PDay8810]

How you figure? Looks like 49ers are favored, then Cowboys, and then Eagles. Only thing determined is nobody likes the Vikings or Giants.

he'd like Dallas more if not for McCarthy is my understanding

 

[Clayton]

The way teams are playing down the stretch, it's the 9ers, PERIOD.

They almost lost to the Raiders with a backup QB. If the Chiefs struggle next week against the Raiders then maybe Ill hop on the Niners bandwagon a bit but Im not too convinced right now

 

[PnkPanther]

he'd like Dallas more if not for McCarthy is my understanding

He's not a horrible coach, he just has bonehead moments and was blessed having a HOF QB most of his coaching career.

I watched him bungle a lot of games in GB

 

[PnkPanther]

They almost lost to the Raiders with a backup QB.

I mean we can nitpick every team in NFC

Philly had to rally vs colts
GB was losing to the bears and needed to rally
Dallas blew large lead to GB

 

[SeattleCoug]

Id easily bet on the Niners at this point

 

[Clayton]

I mean we can nitpick every team in NFC

Philly had to rally vs colts
GB was losing to the bears and needed to rally
Dallas blew large lead to GB

We can but he was suggesting it wasnt a close race. Niners schedule dodged Philly and Dallas and they haven't played Cinci or Buffalo. They got blown out by KC, blew out Tampa Bay, and won against the Chargers when they were without both of their top WRs IIRC. Niners are more of an enigma than Philly and Dallas imo.

 

[fightinfunbags]

We can but he was suggesting it wasnt a close race. Niners schedule dodged Philly and Dallas and they haven't played Cinci or Buffalo. They got blown out by KC, blew out Tampa Bay, and won against the Chargers when they were without both of their top WRs IIRC. Niners are more of an enigma than Philly and Dallas imo.

You know how this goes though. The Niners are the favorite flavor for the talking heads right now.

 

[PDay8810]

He's not a horrible coach, he just has bonehead moments and was blessed having a HOF QB most of his coaching career.

I watched him bungle a lot of games in GB

it's cool
I read the posts and I thought you posted this yesterday.

Way more people than not agree with you, and yet, Rodgers still only has one as well.

 

[ducky]

Whole nother level of intensity and speed in the playoffs. Purdy will look like Jalen Hurts last year.

Then if they ever manage to get up 17 points Shanahan will go conservative and blow the game.

Jalen Hurts has the exact same number of pass attempts in the playoffs as Brock Purdy has.

I havent done the research but I would think there has never been a playoff bracket where the top 4 teams QB's have such little playoff experience. Kind of what makes this year such guess work still.

Which is better: no playoff experience (Hurts, Purdy) over bad experiences (Dak and Cousins)???

And part of the reason I think the 49ers should be favored is that they are the team that is going to ask their QB to do the least in the playoffs.

Purdy might not throw the ball more than 15 yards down the field and his team can advance to the SB. You cant say that about the other QB's. Hard to imagine any of those other QB's not having big games and their teams advancing.

 

[fightinfunbags]

Jalen Hurts has the exact same number of pass attempts in the playoffs as Brock Purdy has.

I havent done the research but I would think there has never been a playoff bracket where the top 4 teams QB's have such little playoff experience. Kind of what makes this year such guess work still.

Which is better: no playoff experience (Hurts, Purdy) over bad experiences (Dak and Cousins)???

And part of the reason I think the 49ers should be favored is that they are the team that is going to ask their QB to do the least in the playoffs.

Purdy might not throw the ball more than 15 yards down the field and his team can advance to the SB. You cant say that about the other QB's. Hard to imagine any of those other QB's not having big games and their teams advancing.

Hurts is 0-1 in the playoffs losing to Tampa last season.

 

[Iggloo]

The big injuries for Philly have been QB Jalen Hurts, RT Lane Johnson and FS/Nickel CB Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.

Hurts of course has been the biggest. The RPOs have not worked nearly as well without his running threat.

Chauncey Gardner-Johnson has been probably the second biggest issue, because safety has been a weak point for the Eagles, and because his injury gave Philly one less slot corner also, and they are getting abused in the slot right now. Because Philly's defensive coordinator plays very vanilla schemes, it was very easy for offenses to pick on the slot guy and both the Cowboys and Saints did it all game. Dallas wisely had Ceedee Lamb in the slot the entire Philly-Dallas game, and he went off against Josiah Scott.

The Eagles have a decent backup to Lane Johnson actually, but you are talking about a guy that has gone multiple seasons without giving up a sack in the NFL. That's not something you replace.

 

[ducky]

Hurts is 0-1 in the playoffs losing to Tampa last season.

Hmmm. I looked up at reference before posting and must not have hit the tabs correctly as I didnt see a split for any playoff games.

....so I guess it is 3 QB's with bad playoff experiences with Hurts performance possibly being the worst. But hey....he always has that 4th quarter last year after Tampa let off the gas.