Get ready for an epic showdown as the Washington Commanders and Philadelphia Eagles go head-to-head in the NFC Championship on Sunday, Jan. 25.
The NFC Championship Game presents plenty of angles to capitalize on PrizePicks — here are my top three picks for the first leg of Championship Sunday.
What is QuickSlip?
QuickSlip is an Action Network feature that allows users to automatically pre-load their slip at PrizePicks.
Commanders vs. Eagles NFL PrizePicks
We’ve seen the Eagles do plenty of damage on the ground during the postseason, but facing a divisional foe who will be wary of Saquon Barkley has its advantages in the passing game.
The man who is primed to make a big play in this matchup is A.J. Brown.
Brown, who has surpassed this total in eight of 15 games this season, has the best matchup of any wide receiver who will take the field this Sunday. Brown is graded as PFF’s third-best wide receiver in football and a receiver of his caliber is trouble for a Commanders secondary that ranks 20th in yards per pass allowed.
On top of the matchup, Brown’s opportunity to rack up yards is always there. He has accounted for 48% of the team’s Air Yards this season, meaning he is a constant deep threat.
With Washington likely to load the box in an effort to slow down Barkely, look for Jalen Hurts to take shots on the outside to Brown down the field to cash this over.
Above, I talked a lot about how A.J. Brown has a great matchup against the Commanders secondary. Well, the same can’t be said for the Commanders' wide receivers.
All three of the Eagles' starting corners rank in the top 25 of PFF’s coverage grades. With the majority of Jayden Daniels’ passing options locked down, he will have to escape pressure in the pocket.
The Commanders are 22nd in sack rate allowed, meaning there will be pressure, which Daniels has proven he can avoid. This, along with the many designed runs we’ve seen from Daniels, should allow him to exceed this attempt total with ease.
For all the damage Saquon Barkley has done on the ground this season, he has been a consistent but limited participant in the passing attack. Barkley has averaged just 2.7 targets per game, which he has converted into 1.9 receptions per game.
While we saw him catch all four of his targets last week, that type of volume and subsequent yardage output is an outlier. We’ve gone over how the Eagles are going to be able to attack this Commanders' defense from multiple facets, and passes to the running back are not one of them.
Washington has allowed the fewest receiving yards to running backs on a per-game basis this season. Combine that with Barkley's low-volume receiving work, and we get to fade the recency bias here.