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The Philadelphia Eagles host the San Francisco 49ers in the wild card round Sunday at 4:30pm ET. The Eagles are looking to become the second team in a row to win back-to-back Super Bowls. That hasn’t happened since the 1970s with the Steelers and Dolphins.
The Eagles and 49ers are the only two teams to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl over the last three seasons. One of those teams has been to five of the last seven Super Bowls.
49ers vs. The Eagles will air on FOX and the streams will continue live DIRECTV (Free Trial).
What: NFL Playoffs, Wild Card Round
WHO: San Francisco 49ers vs. Philadelphia Eagles
When: Sunday, January 11, 2026
Where: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
TV: FOX
Live Streams: DIRECTV (Free Trial), fuboTV (free trial)
Here’s a recent NFL story via the Associated Press:
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Brandon Graham had just defended coach Nick Sirianni’s decision to rest his starters before playing in the seeding game — a loss to Washington that cost the Eagles the No. 2 seed in the NFC — when he was told San Francisco was on board for the playoff opener.
“Oh? We got that,” Graham asked. “You know what? That’s great. We know we’re going to have to see everyone, whoever we see.”
In other words, home or on the road, the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles are ready to play any team at any location.
Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, AJ Brown, Graham and most of the Eagles’ players are loaded with big-game experience — heck, Graham has two Super Bowl rings — and the Eagles are proven warriors in both the regular season and the playoffs.
Still, Sirianni’s decision to play second teams not only didn’t pay off when the Eagles lost to the Commanders and Detroit beat Chicago, but it’s fair to question whether the home bye week was really worth the gamble when the Eagles lost a chance to host at least two playoff games.
“I have to do what I think is best for the football team moving forward, and that’s what I did,” Sirianni said.
It’s down to one guaranteed home game for the Eagles, Sunday against the 49ers. Survive that and the Eagles could face a divisional game in Chicago and an NFC title game in Seattle.
Think home field and seeding don’t matter?
The Eagles won three home playoff games last season to reach the Super Bowl. Only five No. 3 seeds and none from outside the NFC have played in the Super Bowl since Carolina in 2003.
Another fair question is: How much harder would it be to repeat the title if Hurts, Barkley or Cooper DeJean were out to injury against Washington?
Consider this: The Bears were only a one-point favorite as of Monday, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, with a home win against the seventh-seeded Packers. So how much is that home game really worth to the Bears?
The final answer won’t be decided until after the Eagles’ season ends.
And if they win the Super Bowl, well, it’s not going to happen in Philadelphia anyway.
What works
Brown and DeVonta Smith have each topped 1,000 receiving yards.
Smith (team-high 1,008 receiving yards) and Brown (1,003) are the only wide receiver duo in franchise history to each produce more than 1,000 receiving yards in the same season (2022, 2023 and 2025).
What needs help
The Eagles could be in trouble if they need to rely on backups in the postseason.
Aside from running back Tank Bigsby, the rest of the second teams couldn’t live up to that moment and had poor games in the finals. Tanner McKee quieted critics who wanted him to replace Hurts when the Eagles lost three straight and cornerback Kelee Ringo was flagged for pass interference late, helping the Chiefs run the game.
Is Nick Foles still available?
Stock up
The Eagles found a gem when they selected Jalyx Hunt in the third round of the 2024 draft. The edge rusher became the first player to lead the team in both sacks (6 1/2) and interceptions (3). Hunt was the second player in franchise history with 6+ sacks and at least three picks in a season (Seth Joyner 1991 and 1992). Hunt capped a monster sophomore season with an interception and fumble recovery against Washington.
Stocks down
Kevin Patullo. The offensive coordinator spent most of the season fending off criticism of his offense, which led to statistical regression in Hurts and Barkley. Could it be that Hurts, Barkley and Brown all coincidentally had bad seasons? After watching the Eagles’ backs struggle to do anything against Washington’s backs, Patullo once again resorted to making calls that didn’t amount to much, especially in the second half. One of the reasons for playing the starters was to give Patullo at least one more game to find some chemistry, some rhythm with the players expected to lead the Super Bowl run. But all the Eagles found was another reason to put their first-year coordinator’s playbook under the microscope.
Injury
Two-time All-Pro offensive lineman Lane Johnson could return for the first time since suffering a leg injury in Week 11 against Detroit.
“You have to have your players available,” Sirianni said.
Key number
Get the Eagles in the red zone and it’s hard to stop the scoring.
The Eagles finished this season with a league-leading 70.5% red-zone TD efficiency, marking their best red-zone offense since at least 2000 (previously 67.8% in 2022).
Next steps
Each team has something to draw from in recent rivalry games.
Hurts had one of Philadelphia’s four rushing touchdowns and Purdy was sidelined with an elbow injury when the Eagles beat the 49ers in the NFC Championship game three years ago.
Purdy was healthy in the rematch in December 2023, throwing for 314 yards and four touchdowns in the 49ers’ 42–19 win.
Both games were played in Philadelphia.
Can I bet on the game?
Yes, you can bet on the game from your phone in New York State, and we’ve rounded up some of the best introductory offers to help you navigate your first bets from BetMGM, FanDuel, DraftKings, Bet365 and others.
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