NFL playoffs: Revisiting the Eagles' path to the Super Bowl
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Eagles' path to the Super Bowl is set following Wild Card Weekend.
Philadelphia will take on the New York Giants in the divisional round of the playoffs on Saturday night at Lincoln Financial Field.
Last week, we tried to preview the path before the playoffs started. But now with the divisional round matchups set, let's revisit how the Eagles can make it to the Super Bowl.
Divisional round
The Giants are the only thing stopping the Eagles from hosting an NFC Championship game at the Linc.
The Birds swept New York in the regular season, and the teams have met four times in the playoffs.
The Eagles and Giants are even at 2-2 against each other in the playoffs, and Saturday night's game could add to that historic rivalry.
The Giants earned a trip to the divisional round for the first time since 2011 after a 31-24 win over the Minnesota Vikings.
Everyone's attention will be on Jalen Hurts on Saturday night, as he'll play in his second game since returning from a shoulder injury. He said Tuesday that he's "going to go out there and just play my game."
Hurts also wasn't on the injury report Tuesday – a huge sign for his health moving forward. It wouldn't be surprising if Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale sent the house at Hurts and tried to test that injured right shoulder.
The Giants were able to carve up Minnesota's defense last weekend, but they'll have a tougher time against the Eagles' defense, despite the two teams running similar schemes.
The Vikings weren't really able to pressure Giants quarterback Daniel Jones at all, and that should be a different story Saturday night for the Eagles.
Jones has been playing better as of late, but the Eagles' defense should be able to cause havoc in the divisional round and host the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship.
Divisional round predictions:
- Eagles 27, Giants 21
- 49ers 31, Cowboys 20
NFC Championship
As we highlighted last week, an Eagles-Niners NFC Championship remains a possibility.
The Niners are by far the Eagles' biggest test outside the Dallas Cowboys of them making the Super Bowl.
San Fran is loaded with weapons on offense with Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle and their defense has players like Nick Bosa that could cause headaches for Hurts and company.
Lane Johnson's status for this game will be make or break for the Birds. He plans to play on Saturday night, but how much pain will be able to tolerate?
If Johnson is a go, the Eagles are heading to the Super Bowl.
NFC Championship prediction
- Eagles 23, 49ers 20
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl for the Eagles will be a showdown against their former head coach Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs.
I see the Chiefs getting to the Super Bowl for the third time in the past four years because they only have to play one of the Cincinnati Bengals or Buffalo Bills to get there.
The Eagles and Chiefs met last year in a shootout that the Birds lost. The Chiefs lost Tyreek Hill last offseason, but the Chiefs' offense is still dangerous with MVP frontrunner Patrick Mahomes leading the way.
Unfortunately for Eagles fans, they fall to the Chiefs in the big game
Super Bowl prediction:
Chiefs 34, Eagles 31
