Looking like a Super power | Sports Daily Newsletter
The Eagles are 12-1 with a playoff spot secured.
How much better can it get for these Eagles? Their offense looks unstoppable, their defense keeps racking up sacks, and they are starting to pound opponents into submission.
Case in point: a 48-22 beat-down of the New York Giants that wrapped up a playoff berth for the Birds under Nick Sirianni, who should be the runaway NFL coach of the year.
Somehow, an ESPN algorithm last week listed the Cowboys as the team with the best chance in the NFL to win the Super Bowl. This is the same Dallas team that barely beat the lowly Texans on Sunday. Any questions about who’s No. 1 now? Marcus Hayes had fun scoffing at those “power rankings.”
The Eagles handled the Cowboys in October, although Dak Prescott did not play in that game. It should be interesting when they meet again on Christmas Eve ...
— Jim Swan, Inquirer Sports Staff, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.
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For the second straight week, the Eagles’ starters watched the final minutes from the sideline after taking care of business early. They made it look easy again on a day when Miles Sanders surpassed 1,000 rushing yards and scored his 10th touchdown.
“It’s a great accomplishment,” said Sanders, who finished with a career-high 144 rushing yards. “Long time coming, but we ain’t done yet.”
Sanders is in a contract year, and Jeff McLane writes that the former Penn State running back has likely earned himself a decent payday.
It’s safe to say Brandon Graham enjoyed his Sunday afternoon in East Rutherford, N.J. — even in miserable weather. The 13-year veteran had three sacks as the Eagles finished with seven overall.
Of course the Eagles came up big again, Mike Sielski writes, and the little guys played their part: Britain Covey, Boston Scott, and Jake Elliott.
Next: The Eagles visit the Chicago Bears on Sunday at 1 p.m. (Fox29).
De’Anthony Melton, known affectionately as “Mr. Do Something” in Memphis, brought that name with him to Philly. And it has become obvious how he earned it over the course of this 76ers season, especially Friday as he posted a career-high 33 points and hit eight three-pointers against the Lakers.
The Inquirer’s Gina Mizell dove deep into Melton’s basketball development and the many twists and turns that brought him to this seminal moment in his career.
The Sixers’ two superstars were in top form Sunday night against the Charlotte Hornets. Joel Embiid poured in 53 points and James Harden added 19 points, 16 assists, and 9 rebounds in a 131-113 victory.
Next: The Sixers host the Sacramento Kings at 7 p.m. Tuesday (NBCSP).
Highly-touted defenseman Cam York began the season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, but he finally rejoined the Flyers for Friday’s game in Las Vegas, a 2-1 loss in overtime. The AHL seasoning appears to have paid off for York.
“It’s such a great league for a guy like this, playing the toughest position, trying to get to the National Hockey League, the amount of minutes he got there and how they coached them,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “You can see that he’s improved. So I think the minor league system works here.”
For the second time in three nights, the Flyers went to overtime looking to grab two big points on the road. But for the second straight time, they came up empty, losing 5-4 Sunday night to the Arizona Coyotes. The Flyers did salvage a point for the second straight game to start the trip thanks to a late tying goal from Travis Konecny and three points from Morgan Frost.
Next: The Flyers visit the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday at 9 p.m. (NBCSP).
To those who knew him, and even to those who only knew him through his many sports articles, books and broadcast reports or podcasts, the death of sports journalist Grant Wahl still seems unbelievable.
Certain Inquirer staff writers recall times when their paths intersected with the ebullient writer who was passionate about the sport of soccer.
After this tournament ends, Philadelphia is up as a host city of the 2026 World Cup. Meg Swanick caught up with a key organizer to find out more about the plans being made and the lessons learned from Qatar.
Next: Follow all our World Cup coverage.
Worth a look
Big 5 thriller: Kayla Padilla scored 28 points as Penn’s women outlasted Temple, 62-61.
Dragons fall short: Keishana Washington’s 33-point effort was not enough for Drexel in a 60-58 loss to Yale.
Shortage of refs: The numbers of available high school football officials are dwindling, and recruitment has been difficult.
NBA dreams: Cardinal O’Hara star Izaiah Pasha has committed to Iona.
On this date
In 2006, Paul Arizin, a Philadelphia basketball legend who was born and raised in the city and who starred for Villanova and the Philadelphia Warriors, died in his sleep at age 78. The Hall of Fame forward retired rather than move away from Philadelphia when the Warriors decamped in 1963. Arizin retired with the third-highest career point total (16,266) in NBA history. He was added to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006, the same year he died.
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Marcus Hayes, Jeff McLane, EJ Smith, Mike Sielski, Josh Tolentino, Giana Han, Jonathan Tannenwald, DeAntae Prince, Mike Jensen, Andrea Canales, Meg Swanick, Melanie Heller, Cayden Steele, Keith Pompey, and Gina Mizell.