{"id":1548196,"date":"2023-01-29T20:00:51","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T01:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1548196"},"modified":"2023-01-29T20:00:52","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T01:00:52","slug":"eagles-tainted-nfc-championship-victory-doesnt-matter-super-bowlnbspnbsp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/eagles-tainted-nfc-championship-victory-doesnt-matter-super-bowlnbspnbsp\/","title":{"rendered":"Eagles Tainted NFC Championship Victory Doesn't Matter in the Super Bowl "},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In sports, you can only play the opponent in front of you. That means that even if the other team's fourth-string quarterback gets knocked out of commission in the game of the year, a win is still a win. Sure, the NFC Championship Game matchup of the two best teams in the conference didn't live up to the hype due to injuries. And the\u00a0Philadelphia Eagles'<\/a>\u00a0victory over the San Francisco 49ers is tainted because of that. For the Eagles players heading to the\u00a0Super Bowl<\/a>\u00a0and their fans getting ready to watch their team possibly hoist a second Lombardi Trophy\u00a0in five years<\/a>, none of that matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Eagles beat the 49ers easily in the NFC Championship Game<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Philadelphia
(L-R) DeVonta Smith, Jalen Hurts, and A.J. Brown | Kevin Sabitus\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The 49ers came into the NFC Championship Game against the Eagles with their third-string quarterback, Brock Purdy \u2014 the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft \u2014 as the starter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That's just football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Purdy was excellent taking over for Jimmy Garoppolo this season (who took over for Trey Lance this season), going 7-0 in his first seven starts, including two playoff wins. Football is a “next man up” sport, and nowhere is that truer than in the NFL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time the Eagles and 49ers got to the NFC Championship Game, the Niners were at full strength, despite having “Mr. Irrelavant<\/a>” as their QB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, when you get down to your third-string QB as your playoff starter, you better pray that he doesn't go down. And, unfortunately for 49ers fans, that's exactly what happened when Purdy went out with an elbow injury. Josh Johnson, who's played for\u00a014 different NFL teams<\/a>\u00a0and signed with the 49ers on December 4 (for the fourth time in his career), took over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it got worse from there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson went out with a concussion in the second quarter with the 49ers down 21-7. With Purdy back in and (mostly) unable to throw, the game was over at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The heavyweight title fight in the NFC Championship game that should have been Ali-Frazier turned into Tyson-McNeeley. That made for a tainted Eagles victory. However, this easy Eagles win does nothing to change the fact that the Eagles should be the favorite in the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philadelphia should be the favorite over the AFC champion <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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NFC CHAMPS \ud83c\udfc6@Verizon<\/a> | #FlyEaglesFly<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/MeiWBPDJMl<\/a><\/p>— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) January 29, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>