Ex-Falcons HC Mike Smith believes one team has the edge in crunch 49ers-Eagles NFC Championship tie (Exclusive)

The NFC Championship games are upon us, with the San Francisco 49ers traveling to take on the Philadelphia Eagles. Philadelphia are the top seed in the NFC, followed by San Francisco. So, the two top teams in the NFC have made it to the final conference game, and neutral fans will not begrudge them in this matchup.

Despite their close record, the former Atlanta Falcons coach believes Philadelphia are slightly better than the 49ers. It is hard to argue with him given their regular-season record. He highlighted why he believes Philadelphia will prevail above San Francisco in this game. Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda's "The BallFather Podcast," he said,

"I think it's going to be the Eagles. I like them because they're the most complete team. They're good on offense, and they're good on defense and we could probably use the term great. They are probably the most complete team in the National Football League and have been all season long. They got a quarterback that can create with his feet and we have found out through the season that he can do it with his arm."

In addition to praising Jalen Hurts in the quarterback position, coach Smith also reserved special praise for their defense. He believes that might be the area where the game is won or lost, especially because Brock Purdy, as good as he has been, is still a rookie quarterback. He could, after all, lead the 49ers to only 19 points in their win against the Dallas Cowboys in the divisional round. Mike Smith said,

"And we've already talked about what they've done on defense. It's going to be tough on the 49ers. If the 49ers can slow down the Eagles, that's going to give them a better chance because if this becomes track meet with a rookie quarterback that doesn't have the experience, it's going to be difficult. So I'm going with the home team, the Eagles. Fly Eagles Fly!"

Can the Eagles' defense throttle the 49ers?

As much as the Philadelphia defense has been praised throughout the season, their form dropped off as they entered the postseason. They allowed 20 points or more to the Bears, Cowboys, and Saints before stemming the tide and allowing only 16 points against the New York Giants in their final regular-season game. In all these games, though, the defense had additional pressure to perform with Jalen Hurts injured on offense.

They replicated that in the NFC Divisional Round, limiting the Giants to only seven points. Keeping their defensive form might be the most important factor in Philadelphia beating San Francisco.