Nick Sirianni Looks Ahead to NFC Championship Game

The Eagles are the party crashers in this year’s version of the NFL’s Final Four.

The other three teams - been here, done that.

The AFC title game is a rematch between the Chiefs and Bengals.

The 49ers were here last year and lost to the Rams, who have been replaced by the Eagles. This is San Francisco’s third trip to the NFC Championship in the last four years. They are 1-1.

That would seem to give Kyle Shanahan some experience at this stage of the season.

“Obviously with him, he's always been a guy that has a great reputation in the NFL, and he is a great offensive coordinator, a great offensive mind,” said head coach Nick Sirianni on Monday. “…I have a lot of respect for him and with him as a football coach.”

The coach also has a lot of respect for the Niners’ assemblage of talent from running back Christian McCaffrey to receivers Deebo Samuel and Brand Aiyuk to tight end George Kittle and offensive linemen Trent Williams and Mike McGlinchey on offense to DE Nick Bosa, DT Arik Armstead, LB Fred Warner, and safety Talanoa Hufanga on defense.

It’s a team that has won 12 straight games.

Their last loss was on Oct. 23, a 44-23 blowout defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Niners also lost to the sad-sack Broncos, 11-10, and believe it or not, 17-0 to the Houston Texans, who beat only two other teams aside from San Francisco.

“A lot of good playmakers on this football team,” said Sirianni. “A lot of good playmakers on this football team offensively and defensively, and it's no surprise that they've won all these games in a row.

They have good coaches, and they have good players. We're going to have to have a plan, and obviously that's what we're working on now to make sure that their good players don't wreck the game.

“That's what you always - you look at, hey, here's their really good players, how do we make sure this guy doesn't wreck the game.”

That said, Sirianni credited his playmakers, too.

The Eagles like the 49ers, have them on both sides of the ball, too.

“We're excited about the match-ups that we're going to - I think you're going to see a lot of really good match-ups in this game of really good-on-good,” said Sirianni. “There's a lot of good-on-good out there that's going to be happening in this game.

“That's what the NFC championship game should be. It's going to be good-on-good, and it's going to be tight.”

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.