Players to watch
Eagles: QB Jalen Hurts left no doubt that he was back to good health and good form in Philadelphia’s dominating win over the Giants on Jan. 21 in which Hurts threw for 154 yards and two touchdowns and rushed nine times for 34 yards and a score. Hurts had returned from a two-game absence because of a shoulder injury in the regular-season finale on Jan. 8 and helped the Eagles clinch the NFC’s No. 1 seed with a less-than-stellar 22-16 win over the Giants. But he looked last week more like the player who threw for 22 touchdowns, rushed for 13 and combined for 4,461 yards through the air and on the ground while giving defenses fits with his dual-threat ability. 49ers: QB Brock Purdy has emerged as one of the NFL’s unlikeliest success stories. The rookie seventh-round pick was given the moniker “Mr. Irrelevant” after being the last player picked in the draft. But he has been anything but for the 49ers, stepping in for injured starter Jimmy Garoppolo (broken foot) and winning seven straight starts, including playoff victories over Seattle and Dallas. He has thrown for 546 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions in the postseason. But Purdy is facing a tall order playing in the NFC title game in Philadelphia. For one thing, it’s just the third road game of his career, and surely will be the most intense atmosphere he’s faced. Secondly, he will have to overcome the history of rookie quarterbacks in this situation. All four previous rookie quarterbacks to reach the conference title game, Shaun King (1999), Ben Roethlisberger (2004), Joe Flacco (2008) and Mark Sanchez (2009), lost.