It’s Championship game weekend in the NFL, which means the line-up for Super Bowl LVIII will be locked in on Sunday night.
First up in the AFC Championship game is the Baltimore Ravens against the Kansas City Chiefs, with the winners of that one booking a date against either the San Francisco 49ers or the Detroit Lions in Las Vegas next month.
Here’s a look at what to expect from the NFC Championship game.
Can Brock Purdy settle the narrative?
Depending on who’ve spoken to at various points this season, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is either the second coming of Joe Montana or unworthy of keeping Sam Darnold out of the starting QB position in San Francisco.
Obviously, the correct answer falls somewhere between these two camps, but few players have generated as much discourse as the former Mr Irrelevant. But for the second year in a row, the sophomore passer finds himself starting an NFC Championship game.
He’ll be hoping it goes better than last year, when the Eagles knocked him and every other 49ers QB out of the game, and he will also want to improve on last weekend’s showing when he struggled for the first 55 minutes of the win over the Packers. But he was near-perfect in a clutch game-winning drive and Niners fans will be hoping that game was a chance for them to show they have the ability to grind out a tough win.
Should Purdy put in another efficient display and make his first Super Bowl, those naysayers will have to start to pipe down.
Strength vs weakness
If you’re looking for areas where this one could be won and lost, then the match-up between the 49ers passing attack and the Lions pass weakness could be crucial.
The Niners have the most efficient passing offense in the league, while the Lions rank 30th in EPA allowed per dropback. Even if Deebo Samuel misses out with injury, the hosts still have plenty of ways to hurt their opponents, with Brandon Aiyuk, Christian McCaffery and George Kittle all capable of winning games on their own.
Chink in the 49ers armour?
As Dan Campbell cooks up his gameplan for Sunday’s clash, he will likely see two ways to victory. The first is another uncertain performance by Brock Purdy, but failing that, he will try and run the ball on the 49ers defense. The contrasting styles of the hard-running David Montgomery and the fleet-footed Jahmyr Gibbs can cause issues against a 49ers side that struggled to contain Aaron Jones last weekend and looks like the one match-up that heavily favours the Lions on Sunday.
Battle of the tight ends
One common theme among the final four left in the NFL playoffs is the quality each team can call on in the tight end position.
George Kittle has perhaps been the best tight end in the NFL this season, hauling in 65 passes for 1.020 yards, figures which would be even better if the Niners didn’t have so many mouths to feed on offense. Should Deebo Samuel miss out through injury or play a reduced role, Kittle could be in for a big day.
The Lions, meanwhile, will be hoping that Sam LaPorta is back to full fitness, after the second-round draft pick enjoyed perhaps the best rookie tight end season in NFL history.
If the 49ers line can get at Jared Goff, then LaPorta will be a vital release value for the former Rams QB.
The Lions aren’t just a Cinderella story
The Lions have been in this position - one win away from the big game - just once in the Super Bowl era, when they were swept aside by Washington in 1992. Plenty has been made of the emotional journey that the Lions fans are on this year, with the scenes in the last wins at Ford Field enough to make the most grizzled defensive line veteran weep.
But don’t believe this is merely a ‘pleased to be here’ team. The Lions are a team very much in the image of Dan Campbell, a touch, single-minded and gritty side that has got used to proving the doubters wrong.
They’ve won six of their nine games on the road this year, so don’t expect them to be overawed by the occasion at Levi’s Stadium.
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