San Francisco 49ers at Philadelphia Eagles

The NFC Wild Card round sends the 49ers into one of the league’s nastiest environments: Lincoln Financial Field, a place where the volume is real, the patience is thin, and every possession feels like it’s played on a shorter clock. Nick Sirianni’s Eagles are at home, Jalen Hurts is built for high-leverage moments, and Philly’s formula is always the same in January: win the line of scrimmage, stay aggressive on fourth down, and let the crowd turn the game into a pressure test.

San Francisco isn’t exactly a team that gets rattled, though. Kyle Shanahan’s group has lived in tight-window football all season in the NFC West, and that weekly grind tends to travel well in the playoffs. Brock Purdy is at his best when the game plan stays on schedule — efficient early downs, layered concepts off play-action, and quick answers when the defense brings heat. The Niners also bring a level of offensive balance that’s hard to “solve” with one adjustment: if you overplay the run, they’ll take the intermediate middle; if you sit back, they’ll stay patient and keep stacking first downs.

For Philadelphia, the path is pretty clear: start fast, make San Francisco chase, and force Purdy into a drop-back-heavy script where the pocket gets muddy and decisions speed up. Hurts’ ability to extend plays and convert third-and-medium is the kind of thing that can break a defense’s spirit, and Philly will absolutely try to stress the edges and put linebackers in conflict. If the Eagles can generate a couple explosives early, the whole stadium becomes part of the pass rush.

But the reason I lean San Francisco is reliability. In a playoff game that should be tight deep into the fourth quarter, I trust the 49ers to have more stable answers when something goes sideways — whether it’s a stalled series, an unexpected turnover, or a sudden swing in field position. Their offensive structure travels, their defensive physicality travels, and they’ve been in enough heavyweight rounds to stay composed if the first punch lands on them.

Expect a grinder with a few momentum flips, and expect it to be decided late.

Pick: 49ers 26, Eagles 24.