Three games remain. Four teams with two in each conference. The remaining two in the NFC are the north winning Detroit Lions and the west division and conference leading San Francisco 49ers. Both teams have potent offenses, underrated quarterbacks, hard-hitting defenses, and intelligent coaches. Time to determine who will advance to the Super Bowl.
#3 Detroit Lions v. #1 San Francisco 49ers
Unlike the AFC matchup, both teams are dealing with injuries to important players. Detroit’s tight-end Sam LaPorta, center Frank Ragnow and middle linebacker Alex Anzalone are playing with some form of muscle injury or bone fracture. San Francisco’s most important player Deebo Samuel doesn’t have a hairline fracture in his shoulder, but he’s struggling with full movement.
Injuries aside, the winner of this conference championship must be more physical and own the time of possession each half. Detroit has to rely on their runningback tandem of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs to keep San Francisco’s front seven off-balance. Quarterback Jared Goff is winless in his last five games against the 49ers, but the Lions receiving core and offensive line are better than when these teams faced off week one in 2021.
San Francisco’s offense doesn’t have to rely as much on Samuel against the Aaron Glenn-led Lions defense. The 49ers offensive line is equipped to neutralize Detroit’s pass-rush. The Lions linebackers and whole secondary struggled to tackle receivers A.J. Brown and Mike Evans the last two games. Brandon Aiyuk, Christian McCaffrey, Jauan Jennings and George Kittle will be hard to tackle one-on-one. It’ll be a long day for Detroit’s defense.
Prediction: 49ers win the NFC championship 38-24 and advance to Super Bowl LVIII
NFC divisional round playoff picks record: 2-0
2024 NFC playoff picks record: 4-1
JD's Sportscorner 
I will cheer for the Lions, but I sadly fear you may be right on this.
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Great commentary as always and trust your prediction is right.
Thanks for sharing and support.
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