Fearsome foes? | Sports Daily Newsletter

This year’s playoffs — in both conferences — feature rematches galore, and that could extend to the divisional round, when the Eagles make their debut. (This bye is nice, isn’t it?)

That’s good for the Birds, David Murphy writes. He examines the “fear factor” of seven potential divisional and championship game scenarios and ranks them from scariest to least scary. Could Tom Brady’s Bucs end the playoff push early? Will a dream season end with a loss to the 49ers in the championship game? Or ... will it be a familiar foe grounding the Birds?

Read Murphy’s breakdown of the potential matchups here.

— Maria McIlwain, Inquirer Sports Staff, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

❓ Who would you most like to see the Eagles face in the divisional round and why? Email us back for a chance to be featured in the newsletter.

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie followed Saturday’s game against the Jaguars, as did a number of Eagles players. The Doug Pederson-coached team ended up clinching the No. 4 seed in the AFC, and that brought smiles to many in the Eagles organization. Count columnist Marcus Hayes among those rejoicing in Pederson’s success.

The Eagles could soon find themselves with coaching moves to make as the team has received interview requests from the Texans, Panthers, and Colts for offensive coordinator Shane Steichen, with the Texans also interviewing defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon.

As the team looks to its divisional-round playoff game, it looks like defensive end Josh Sweat is trending in the right direction after he was hospitalized because of a scary-looking neck injury during the Saints game. Sweat missed last year’s playoff game after another scary thing happened with some internal bleeding.

The 76ers have had players shuttle in and out of the lineup this season, with stars missing big periods of time. One example of that came Tuesday when Joel Embiid returned from left foot soreness after missing three games.

One constant, though, has been their struggles with transition defense, which is something that has stuck in the craw of De’Anthony Melton, an all-world defender who has anchored the Sixers’ attack this season. Melton says they must focus on “those things we can grow in, just giving us more motivation to what we can be defensively and keep climbing that ladder.”

Embiid didn’t miss a beat in his return, dropping 36 points as the Sixers rolled past the Detroit Pistons.

Next: The Sixers host the Oklahoma City Thunder at 7 p.m. Thursday (NBCSP).

Kevin Long was disappointed to see Trea Turner traded to the Dodgers in 2021 after the duo had spent almost four years together with the Nationals. “You come across great players and then they’re gone,” Long said, “and you don’t know if you’ll get a chance to get back with those players.” Same went for Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, former pupils of Long’s with the Nationals who also moved on.

But Long, going into his second season as Phillies hitting coach, has gotten that second chance with Harper, Schwarber, and now Turner, who signed an 11-year, $300 million contract with the Phillies in December. “I’m back with three of my guys: Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and Trea,” Long said. “It’s a blessing. It really is,” That familiarity has helped Long in his work with Schwarber and Harper, and he believes the same will happen with Turner.

After the Flyers got blown out, 6-2, by the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday night, Monday’s game, on the road against the young and surging Buffalo Sabres less than 24 hours later, might as well have been chalked up as a loss ahead of time.

Instead, the Flyers responded from the opening whistle, building a 3-0 first-period lead and then riding rookie goaltender Samuel Ersson (28 saves) to the team’s first shutout of the season. The victory moved the Flyers within two wins of .500, and, as Olivia Reiner writes, once again shows the contrast between this year’s team and the 2022 Flyers.

Next: The Flyers host the Washington Capitals at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday (NBCSP).

Everyone understood that the new Apple television rights to Major League Soccer would bring changes in how fans could experience the games, and, so far, it appears that the on-air talent is undergoing a major shift. As Apple announced the first talent contracts, certain longtime names, including the Union’s announcer, JP Dellacamera, were absent.

Jonathan Tannenwald has all the details, with some surprisingly familiar faces.

Change also is coming to the USMNT, but, again, what’s been finalized is another broadcasting agreement, as the team now has a new voice.

Who scored the game’s first touchdown as the Eagles beat the Atlanta Falcons, 27-10, for the NFC championship on Jan. 23, 2005?

Answer: D: Dorsey Levens. Sheldon W. was first with the correct response.

We asked you: Jonathan Gannon or Shane Steichen — who is more likely to be hired away from the Eagles and why? Among your responses:

I think we have a much better chance of losing our OC. More or less, he has come out ready to attack opponent weaknesses every game. Our only losses were 2 that were clearly lack of player execution (and not by Hurts) and the other two were poor play by the backup. People will argue postgame about too little or too much running no matter what, but he always had them ready.

Not so for our defense as we were not always taking advantage of matchups and that playing OFF by 15 yards was painful. Look at what Mr. Roseman put together. Just like winning a game with Buddy Ryan had more to do with excellent players than actual solid planning, I feel the same way with Jonathan Gannon. And no, he was not terrible but not great either. They may not be breaking the door down after tape study. — George M.

Good riddance to both. — Paul O.

It doesn’t matter whether it will be the OC or DC who is the first to get a head coaching job. Inevitably either or both will be hired simply off the success the Eagles had this season, sporting a 14-3 record. Eventually, both will be hired and fired as head coaches. That fate will occur to Siriani as well. NFL head coaches are basically hired to be fired. How many head coaches remain with the same team for 10+ years? I can think of only a five currently: Andy Reid, Mike Tomlin, Bill Bellichick, John Harbaugh and Pete Carroll. All the others get let go sooner rather than later. No better example than Doug Pederson, who won a Super Bowl and got fired less than 3 years later. — Michael S.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from David Murphy, Marcus Hayes, EJ Smith, Gina Mizell, Alex Coffey, Olivia Reiner, Jonathan Tannenwald, and Jeff Neiburg.