The San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles will square off in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday. Both teams have been among the league's elite all season, and this should be a fantastic game.

San Francisco began its playoff run by defeating the surprising Seattle Seahawks 41-23 in the Wild Card Round. The 49ers then bested the Dallas Cowboys 19-12 in a Divisional Round matchup of old rivals. They've looked vulnerable at points, but they've won 12 straight and are one win away from another Super Bowl.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia earned a first-round bye by finishing with an NFC-best 14-3 record. The Eagles began their playoffs with a dominant 38-7 win over the NFC East-rival New York Giants in the Divisional Round. Although they far outclassed the Giants in terms of talent, the Eagles' sheer dominance put the rest of the league on notice.

Before the big game, though, let's take a trip down memory lane and examine the history between these NFC powerhouses.

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Playoff History

Repeated playoff matchups can create a great deal of bad blood between teams, even if they don't share a division. After all, some of the NFL's most intense rivalries like 49ers-Cowboys and Patriots-Steelers began this way, and continue their fierceness to this day. With the amount of success these teams have had, especially San Francisco, one might expect a deep playoff rivalry between them.

However, these two teams have only met in the playoffs one time prior to this year. That game came in the 1996 Wild Card Round when the 49ers shut out the Eagles 14-0 at Candlestick Park. This game took place in horrible conditions with heavy rain and winds over 60 miles an hour, but Steve Young still scored two touchdowns to lead San Francisco to the win.

While these teams don't have much playoff history, that doesn't mean they can't make some. Both teams are very young, and both figure to be NFC contenders for years to come. There's a chance this game could be the first of many matchups over the next several years.

All-time record

On the other hand, the Eagles and 49ers share plenty of regular-season history. They have played each other 35 times, with San Francisco leading the series 20-14-1.

The first meeting took place in Philadelphia on Oct. 6, 1951, when the Eagles won 21-14. After that, though, the 49ers dominated the series, winning four out of five and tying the other. From 1953 to 1973, the Eagles only beat the 49ers one single time.

Philadelphia finally broke its losing streak with a 27-17 home win in 1975. After that, though, the teams didn't meet until 1983, when the Eagles won once again, this time on the road. However, the 49ers were perennial Super Bowl contenders with Joe Montana at the helm and won five straight meetings between 1984 and 1992.

Throughout the rest of the decade, the Eagles and 49ers split four games against each other. Entering the 21st Century, San Francisco held a dominant 15-6-1 record against Philadelphia. Once the new century began, though, the tides began to change.

Since 2001, the Eagles are 8-5 against the 49ers head-to-head. They dominated the late 2000s, winning five straight meetings between 2005 and 2010. However, the 49ers did earn a 17-11 win in the previous meeting, which took place last September in Philadelphia.

It goes without saying, but this is the biggest game in the series by a landslide. With the sheer talent on both teams' rosters, this should be a great matchup.