A lack of luck | Sports Daily Newsletter

A crisp, rainy Tuesday in Philadelphia almost felt emotionally fitting for this city’s sports fans.

The Eagles are on a two-game skid after a horrendous loss to the Bears on Black Friday, the Sixers still have much room for improvement, and the Flyers — a team that started to show some fire and promise — lost their top goal scorer in Tyson Foerster to an upper body injury.

The forward, who notched 10 goals in 21 games this season, is expected to miss two to three months. While the team didn’t specify the extent of his injury, Foerster appeared to be holding his right shoulder before exiting in a 5-1 loss against the Penguins on Monday night, which snapped a three-game winning streak.

Foerster has been a key role player and was off to a hot start, with six goals coming in the last seven games. His absence will certainly be felt. “He’s such a big part of the team, the locker room, everything,” Travis Konecny said.

So where do the Flyers go from here? Well, speculation could be made that Alex Bump will get called up to make his NHL debut or maybe Nikita Grebenkin will have a chance to play in the top nine. Only time will tell if they can fill the void without Foerster on the ice.

— Isabella DiAmore, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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After the Eagles had a Black Friday meltdown against the Bears, they now have a mini-bye week to prepare for a Monday night showdown on the road with the 8-4 Los Angeles Chargers, who are coming off a 31-14 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Eagles offense, with all of its talent, had been floundering for weeks and is still searching for an identity entering Week 14. Nick Sirianni said in the aftermath of the loss to Dallas that the team always wants to play “tough, detailed, together.” The Eagles certainly haven’t been living up to that mantra as they embark upon the final five games of the regular season. For now, let’s focus on what we know — and don’t — about the Eagles vs. Chargers.

And mark your calendars, the Eagles’ NFC championship game rematch against the Washington Commanders in Week 16 has an official kickoff time for Dec. 20 at 5 p.m. (Fox29).

Justin Crawford and Andrew Painter are poised to figure prominently in the Phillies’ plans — perhaps as soon as opening day — after spending all of 2025 in the minors. Fellow top prospect Aidan Miller may not be far behind.

And their looming major-league debuts are as essential to an aging Phillies roster as any offseason move that the team will make, including the potential re-signings of Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto.

Minor league director Luke Murton recently joined Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast, to discuss the state of the farm system, with a focus on Crawford, Painter, and Miller.

It took 2½ minutes for Acaden Lewis to end a Villanova-Temple game Monday night at the Finneran Pavilion that mostly had been a sloppy fight for the first 25 minutes. The freshman was in foul trouble for the bulk of the first half but played a factor in a short sequence that changed the game as Villanova beat Temple, 74-56, on Monday night.

The Wildcats, in the third year of the current Big 5 Classic format, finally will play for a championship in a City Series the program had long dominated.

The biggest risk to the Eagles right now is overcorrection. While many would say the Birds’ collapse gives flashbacks to 2023, it’s the actual history of the 2023 Chiefs. Kansas City scored 125 fewer points that year than it did in 2022. But the Chiefs won the Super Bowl despite entering the playoffs having lost four of their last eight to finish 11-6.

I’m not going to sit here and argue that people are overreacting to the mess that they’ve seen from Jalen Hurts, Kevin Patullo and Co. But I do think it can be detrimental if we fail to consider the Eagles’ struggles within the appropriate context, writes columnist David Murphy.

Nick Sirianni has the best career winning percentage among Eagles coaches all-time at .700. Who is second at .594?

B) Greasy Neale — Lauren G. was first with the correct answer.

We asked: What’s the best-case scenario for the Eagles to reach the Super Bowl again? Among your responses:

We’re gonna need a bigger playbook. — D.W. S.

The Eagles at 8-4 need to win these last 5 games. Three games are on the road with this Monday game looking better against the 8-4 Charges if Herbert is out. If they would lose either game to the Redskins or to LV they don’t belong in the SB. As long as Josh Allen is healthy taking that game in Buffalo will be tough. Hope for the best, but remembering that we lost our last two games and were blown away by the Bears does certainly not make we fans over optimistic. If the coaching and play calling and desire to win don’t quickly improve you can forget about any trips to Santa Clara in February. — Everett S.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Jeff Neiburg, Olivia Reiner, Jackie Spiegel, Devin Jackson, Jonathan Tannenwald, David Murphy, Scott Lauber, Keith Pompey, Joseph Santoliquito, and Ryan Mack.

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.

As always, thanks for reading. Hoping for some sunshine on this Wednesday. Stay warm this week, and Kerith will catch you back up tomorrow. — Bella