🦅 One wild opener | Sports Daily Newsletter

There was a lot to process Thursday night as the Super Bowl champions opened their season with a 24-20 victory against the Dallas Cowboys.

Jalen Carter, probably the Eagles’ most important defensive player, got ejected at the game’s outset for spitting on Dak Prescott. They had to halt the game at the Linc for about an hour because of a lightning threat in the third quarter. And Dallas put up a real fight, still with a chance to win until CeeDee Lamb’s dropped deep ball on fourth down just after the two-minute warning.

Carter’s nasty actions figure to loom over this result for a few days, even if Prescott spat first. Carter could face additional punishment from the NFL.

— Jim Swan, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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Jalen Carter should be suspended by the Eagles for his boneheaded move, Marcus Hayes writes. Maybe sitting out the big game next week in Kansas City will curtail his reckless acts and send a message to the team. He needs to meet expectations, not expectorations.

On NBC’s coverage of the game, analyst Tony Dungy said of Carter: “I don’t know how you can do that as a man, first of all, but to let your teammates down, it’s unspeakable.”

The defensive line did not have a stellar night, Jeff McLane writes in his Eagles grades for the game.

Before the game, the Eagles unveiled their Super Bowl LIX championship banner amid fanfare.

During the pregame tailgating, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia actors Rob Mac and Glenn Howerton fired up the fans.

You can find more coverage of last night’s game here.

Ranger Suárez outdueled Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta on Thursday afternoon as the Phillies earned a 2-0 victory to take the series with the Brewers. Suárez allowed six hits in six shutout innings against the team with the best record in baseball. Harrison Bader made a dazzling play to prevent a Brewers home run in the ninth.

Rob Thomson continued to mix and match the Phillies’ outfielders, going with Brandon Marsh, Bader, and Max Kepler in the series finale. Is it a platoon or a rotation, Rob? “I mean, you can call it whatever you want, but at this point in the year, I’m going to put out what I think is the best lineup on any given day to win a ball game,” he says.

Andrew Painter had another rough start for Lehigh Valley as his ERA in triple A rose to 5.62.

Next: The Phillies open a series in Miami at 7:10 tonight (NBCSP). Cristopher Sánchez (11-5, 2.66 ERA) will start against Marlins right-hander Valente Bellozo (1-3, 3.91).

The Sixers’ roster hasn’t changed much from a season ago, but there are questions concerning almost every position, including center and small forward, where the team’s two biggest stars, Joel Embiid and Paul George, are slotted, respectively. Other curiosities center on the team’s pint-sized three-guard lineup, rotation players looking to replace Guerschon Yabusele, and much more. The Inquirer’s Gina Mizell takes a closer look at five major questions facing the franchise in the upcoming season.

Among the developments in Week 1 of college football: Temple’s offense looked unpredictable in a rout of Massachusetts and Penn State’s rushing attack sputtered in an easy win over Nevada.

Looking ahead to this Saturday, Villanova hosts Colgate (6 p.m., FloCollege) to open its season, Temple hosts Howard (2 p.m., ESPN+), and Penn State hosts Florida International (noon, Big Ten Network).

The Nittany Lions will look to be more consistent in their game plan with Florida International heading to Beaver Stadium.

On North Broad, Temple’s punter hails from Melbourne, Australia, and Dante Atton received a rare honor this season. Atton became the first Owls punter to earn a coveted single-digit jersey.

Each Friday, Inquirer photo editors will pick our best shots from the last seven days and share them with you, our readers. This week, photos include wild night for the Eagles and mascots in strange places.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Olivia Reiner, Jeff McLane, Jeff Neiburg, Marcus Hayes, Ariel Simpson, Gabriela Carroll, Gina Mizell, Matt Breen, Gustav Elvin, Devin Jackson, Inquirer Staff Photographers, Ryan Mack, and Greg Finburg.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy NFL kickoff weekend and I’ll see you in Monday’s newsletter. — Jim