Johnson to battle to remain a starter

Rohan Chakravarthi and Marco Martinez preview the 49ers vs Eagles game with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line on the latest episode of "The Rohan Chakravarthi Show". The audio for the show is embedded above, while the video is available below. You can listen to the Rohan Chakravarthi Show from our

The San Francisco 49ers invested a lot to acquire quarterback Trey Lance. The team is unlikely to admit any wrongdoing there. Not yet, at least. That's not to say that Lance can't develop into a competent starter for the Bay Area squad. The team obviously believes that to be possible, having decided he was the Week 1 starter early last offseason. Circumstances have changed, though. Brock Purdy has taken the NFL by storm, surprising even those who drafted him with the No. 262 overall pick. Lance went down in Week 2, elevating Jimmy Garoppolo into the starting role. That lasted until Week 13 when Garoppolo went down with a broken foot. Enter Brock Purdy and the birth of a continuously accelerating hype train. Some expected the rookie

The San Francisco 49ers know Sunday might be the toughest test of the season. The team will face the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game at Lincoln Financial Field. A win means returning to the Super Bowl for the second time in four years. "I expect it to be a battle all the way through," linebacker Fred Warner told reporters on Wednesday. "Both the Cowboys and Eagles are physical and talented teams who are really fast and have a lot of talent. Just like it was a battle this past week (against Dallas), I'm expecting that, if not more, this week, them being in their home stadium, home crowd behind them. They're going to be juiced up, ready to go." The 49ers finished the season with the top-ranked defense. The Eagles defense wasn't far behind. San

Do you smell that? It's playoff football. It's a time to celebrate. For a few more precious hours, every team in the tournament still has life, still has reason to hope. There are no more guaranteed games, but there's football to be played, and right now is the time to exult in it. No matter who you root for, you can imagine your team finding a way to win, a way to keep playing football, and filling your February with excitement and joy. Right now, there's nothing standing between your team and glory except the vagaries of chance and a well-fought effort this weekend, and hopefully the next. And for those of you who aren't rooting for a team that's made it this far, never fear. 7 of the 14 playoff entrants this year didn't make it into the dance last year. The