OWINGS MILLS, Md. — John Harbaugh is leaving the Baltimore Ravens after 18 seasons as their coach, a person with knowledge of the decision told the Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the Ravens haven’t announced the decision.
The move comes after the Ravens were one of the league’s most disappointing teams this season, going 8-9 and missing the playoffs after entering Week 1 as one of the Super Bowl favorites. Baltimore’s season ended Sunday night when Tyler Loop missed a last-second field goal, allowing Pittsburgh to hold on for a 26-24 victory in the game that decided the AFC North title.
Harbaugh went 193-124 including the postseason. He led the 2012 Ravens to a Super Bowl title and reached the AFC championship game on three other occasions. This season was only the sixth time Baltimore missed the postseason under Harbaugh. That’s the same number of times the Ravens won the AFC North with him at the helm.
Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh talks with an official during a loss to the Steelers on Sunday.
But most of Baltimore’s postseason success came in his first few seasons. The Ravens went to the AFC title game three times in his first five years as coach, culminating in their run to a Super Bowl title as a wild card, when Harbaugh beat his brother Jim’s San Francisco 49ers for the title.
At that point, Harbaugh was 9-4 in the postseason, but after that he was just 4-7. After three straight seasons without a playoff berth, Lamar Jackson arrived in 2018 and led Baltimore to a division title. But Harbaugh’s lone trip to an AFC title game with Jackson was wasted two seasons ago when Baltimore lost at home to Kansas City.
This season was a mess pretty much from the start, when Baltimore looked great for much of its opener at Buffalo before blowing a late lead. Indeed, squandering fourth-quarter advantages become a troubling trend for the Ravens in Harbaugh’s last few seasons, and after a hamstring injury sidelined Jackson, Baltimore stumbled to a 1-5 start in 2025.
Harbaugh and the Ravens worked their way back into contention and eventually reached Sunday’s winner-take-all matchup as a favorite to beat the Steelers. But despite Derrick Henry’s early dominance on the ground and Jackson’s sensational fourth quarter, another season ended in excruciating fashion.
AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi contributed to this report.
The Eagles are likely to get back one of their key defensive players just in time for the playoffs.
Linebacker Nakobe Dean is expected to return to action on Sunday for the Eagles’ wild-card game against the San Francisco 49ers, Vic Fangio said on Tuesday. Dean, 25, has been inactive for the last two weeks while recovering from a hamstring injury sustained in the Week 16 win over the Washington Commanders.
He is set to enter the lineup at a critical time, with the stakes higher entering the postseason and the competition ramping up against a strong 49ers offense.
The group’s top weapons put the greatest stress on opposing inside linebackers. Christian McCaffrey, the two-time first-team All-Pro running back, is the most productive player in Kyle Shanahan’s offense. McCaffrey is second in the NFL with 2,126 scrimmage yards on a career-high 413 touches (1,202 rushing yards on 311 carries and 924 receiving yards on 102 catches).
“He’s a very good runner when they hand it off to him,” Fangio said. “And obviously, he is a very good receiver … he’s got over 100 receptions this year. And he’s always a threat that way. They do like to scheme plays for him in the passing game.”
George Kittle, the two-time first-team All-Pro tight end, missed six games this season due to hamstring and ankle injuries. Still, he’s the third-most targeted player in the 49ers offense behind McCaffrey and wide receiver Jauan Jennings, posting 628 yards and seven touchdowns on 57 receptions.
Dean will be tasked with helping keep Kittle and McCaffrey in check. He ought to be up for the challenge, especially on the ground. Since coming off the physically unable to perform list and returning to Fangio’s defense in Week 7, Dean has mustered stops on 6.5% of his run defense snaps, the third-highest rate on the team among players with at least 100 such snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
“It’s a big game for everybody,” Fangio said. “You play an offense this good and this diverse, all 11 got to be cooking.”
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan and Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio have a great deal of familiarity.
Fangio’s Shana-history
In an alternate universe, Fangio is preparing to face the Eagles as Shanahan’s defensive coordinator.
That hire could have happened in 2017, when Shanahan left the Atlanta Falcons to become the head coach in San Francisco. At the time, Fangio was the Chicago Bears’ defensive coordinator. However, the Bears reportedly blocked the 49ers’ attempt to speak with Fangio, so he stayed in Chicago for two more seasons before he left for the Denver Broncos’ head coaching gig.
Even though they never served on the same staff, Fangio said he maintains a relationship with Shanahan.
“We don’t talk often, put it that way,” Fangio said. “But if there’s a reason to, we do talk or text with each other.”
Vic Fangio last faced Kyle Shanahan in 2018 when he was defensive coordinator with the Bears.
He hasn’t faced Shanahan often either, at least recently. The two coaches have gone head-to-head four times as coordinators or head coaches throughout their careers, twice while Fangio was the 49ers’ defensive coordinator under Jim Harbaugh and Shanahan was the offensive coordinator for Washington in 2011 and 2013. The other two occasions occurred when Fangio was with the Bears and Shanahan was with the 49ers in 2017 and 2018.
Fangio has a 3-1 all-time lead, with his lone loss coming by one point in the 2017 matchup. In those four meetings, Shanahan’s offenses have never scored a meaningful touchdown against Fangio’s defenses.
In 2011, Washington receiver Jabar Gaffney snagged a garbage-time touchdown pass in the 19-11 loss to the 49ers. Kickers on Shanahan’s teams have combined for 11 field goals in those games.
Fangio downplayed his success in their head-to-head matchups, emphasizing that it’s been “almost 10 years” since they last faced each other. He said he holds Shanahan — who has led the 49ers to three NFC West division titles, four NFC championship games, and two Super Bowl showings — in high regard as an offensive play-caller.
“Everything’s packaged well together,” Fangio said. “And he’s a good play-caller during the game. You always know that. Everything they do has a purpose and a reason.”
Lane Johnson has appeared in 10 games this season, his fewest since 2020.
Johnson set to jump back in
The Eagles offensive line could be poised to welcome back Lane Johnson, who has missed the last seven games with a Lisfranc foot injury.
Johnson, the 35-year-old right tackle, is expected to practice on Wednesday for the first time since getting hurt against the Detroit Lions in mid-November, league sources told The Inquirer. In the absence of the two-time first-team All-Pro right tackle, the Eagles have gone 3-4, bringing them to 18-28 in the games Johnson has missed throughout his 13-year career.
Kevin Patullo stressed the impact Johnson would have on the offense if he is available to play against the 49ers.
“Lane’s the best right tackle in the game,” the Eagles offensive coordinator said. “So if we get him back, it’s tremendous. He’ll add so much to everything. Even his leadership, his play-style ability, run-pass, doesn’t matter. It’ll be a tremendous lift for the whole entire offense and I think you’ll feel the energy if he’s out there.”
South Jersey’s Frank Cairone, an 18-year-old pitching prospect with the Milwaukee Brewers, remains hospitalized after a serious car accident Friday night in Gloucester County.
According to the Franklin Township police, the Delsea Regional High graduate and a 20-year-old female passenger were injured following a vehicle crash at 10:15 p.m. Police said the crash happened when an 18-year-old female driver from Millville was traveling east at the intersection of Williamstown and Fries Mill Roads in Franklin and failed to stop at a stop sign. The car struck Cairone’s vehicle, which was traveling south.
Cairone was flown to Atlantic City Medical Center and remained hospitalized as of Tuesday. No information has been given about his condition or when he would be released. The female passenger, who suffered injuries to her lower extremities, was driven to Cooper University Hospital in Camden.
The Brewers have released a statement about pitching prospect Frank Cairone, who ranks 26th on @MLBPipeline’s list of Milwaukee’s top prospects. pic.twitter.com/1VJqTaKXWo
The driver of the other car was also taken to Cooper University Hospital with lower extremity injuries. According to police, she is expected to be charged with reckless driving and disregarding a stop sign. Alcohol and drugs did not play a role in the crash, police said.
Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold said Monday that Cairone was “progressing positively. The reports we’ve gotten are good.”
The 6-foot-3 pitcher was selected 68th overall in the MLB draft in July and was considered one of the top lefties available. He withdrew a commitment to Coastal Carolina to sign with Milwaukee and spent part of the summer and fall at the Brewers’ facility in Arizona in hopes of making his professional debut this year.
With Delsea last season, Cairone was clocked throwing as high as 94 mph and kept an 88- to 90-mph pace in later innings. He struck out 94 batters in 44 innings and helped the Crusaders to an NJSIAA Group 3 quarterfinal appearance.
Tyrese Maxey dropped one spot in the second round of NBA All-Star fan voting returns released Tuesday. The 76ers point guard now ranks third among Eastern Conference players and fifth overall.
Meanwhile, Joel Embiid remains 17th among players in the East.
Maxey had been fourth overall and second in the conference when the first returns dropped on Dec. 29. However, he was supplanted by New York Knicks point guard and former Villanova standout Jalen Brunson.
Los Angeles Lakers point guard Luka Dončić is the league’s top vote-getter with 2,229,811 votes, and Milwaukee Bucks forward and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is second overall. He leads the East with 2,092,284 votes. Brunson has 1,916,497 votes, followed by Maxey at 1,908,978.
Fans account for 50% of the vote to determine the 10 starters for the All-Star Game, which will be played Feb. 15 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. A media panel and NBA players each account for 25% of the vote. This season, All-Stars are being selected regardless of position.
Voting will conclude at 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 14. NBC and Peacock will reveal the All-Star starters on Jan. 19. Coaches will select All-Star reserves at a later date.
Under a new format, two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players (the World team) will compete in a round-robin tournament featuring four 12-minute games.
Tyrese Maxey has the third-most Eastern Conference NBA All-Star votes in the second fan returns released today. The 76ers point guard was second in the first returns. pic.twitter.com/3TUUWxyz40
It’s not surprising that Maxey has a solid chance to be voted an All-Star starter.
An All-Star reserve in 2023, he entered Tuesday third in the league in scoring (31.0 points per game), fourth in steals (1.8), and 12th in assists (7.0). He’s also fourth in made three-pointers (120). And the sixth-year veteran has scored at least 30 points in 17 of his 32 games.
Maxey’s season highlight was a career-high 54 points, to go with nine assists, five rebounds, three steals, and three blocks in a 123-114 overtime victory over the Bucks. He joined Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain (March 18, 1968) as the only two players in franchise history to produce at least 50 points and nine assists in a game.
Detroit Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham (1,752,801) and Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Donovan Mitchell (1,530,237) round out the East’s top five vote-getters.
The West’s top five vote-getters are Dončić, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić (1,998,560), Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry (1,844,903), Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (1,554,468), and San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1,321,985).
Dan Vladař remembers watching the highlights of the Czech Republic’s only Olympic gold medal in men’s ice hockey. It was how he fell in love with the sport.
Growing up in Prague, the goalie was less than a year old when Dominik Hašek and former Flyers like Jaromír Jágr and the late Roman Čechmánek helped their country win at the 1998 Nagano Olympics.
Now the 28-year-old Flyers goalie will get a chance to follow in their footsteps. On Tuesday, Vladař was named to the Czechia, formerly known as the Czech Republic, team for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics.
“I wouldn’t say it was a goal, but it was maybe in the back of my head somewhere,” he said Monday before the announcement. “Obviously, especially coming here as a new guy, I didn’t really have time to think about it that way.
“I was just trying to establish myself on this team and get to know everybody and focus on myself and the team here.”
Vladař joked that if his phone didn’t ring, he’d go somewhere warm during the two-week NHL break. But how could Czechia leave him off the roster after the season he is having?
Through 24 games, Vladař is 15-6-3 with a 2.39 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. His 24 starts are five off his career high, set last season when he backed up Dustin Wolf in Calgary. And his 15 wins are already his all-time best.
“I feel great. Still hungry, as everybody else is in this locker room,” he said about his season with the Flyers. “So, obviously, I’m glad for the opportunity and trying to take advantage of it every day. Body feels great. Head feels really good, too. So everything’s good.”
Flyers goaltender Dan Vladař is tied for eighth in the NHL with a .910 save percentage.
Everything is better than good. Vladař has looked sensational in net with his tracking and ability to read plays. He will put up a bad game here or there, but they have been few and far between as the Flyers have lost only once in regulation following a loss.
He’s also been one of the NHL’s top goalies.
Vladař’s save percentage ranks him tied for eighth in the league among goalies with 20 appearances, and his GAA is the fifth best. He could challenge to be Czechia’s starting goalie, too, as his numbers are better than those of Karel Vejmelka (.896, 2.70), who plays for Utah, and projected starter Lukáš Dostál (.887, 3.18), who might be in the opposite crease when the Flyers host the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday (7 p.m., NBCSP).
“I think he worked on his game this summer because he went with a skating coach, and I think he wanted to work on some stuff like the next play, the rebound,” coach Rick Tocchet said before the season resumed after the holiday break. “And I noticed him this year, he’s in position for the second rebound. … I think Vladdy’s worked on that, and I think he’s really done a great job when it comes to that second save, being in position and not being out of position.”
Vladař joins Rasmus Ristolainen (Finland), Travis Sanheim (Canada), and Rodrigo Ābols, who was one of Latvia’s original six players named. Tocchet will be an assistant on Jon Cooper’s staff for Canada.
The netminder last played for Czechia at the 2025 IIHF men’s World Championship, posting a 3-0-0 record in four games with a 1.09 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage; Vladař relieved Vejmelka in the Czechs’ quarterfinal loss to Sweden.
It was the first time he suited up for his country since 2017 at the World Juniors. In 2014, he was the backup to Vítek Vaněček as the Czechs lost to the United States in the gold-medal game at World Juniors. That same year, he started the gold-medal game against Canada at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, giving up four goals, with one scored by his current teammate Travis Konecny.
Czechia is expected to compete for a medal in Milan, and boasts NHL stars like David Pastrňák (Boston Bruins), Martin Nečas (Colorado Avalanche), and Tomáš Hertl (Vegas Golden Knights). Former Flyers Radko Gudas (Anaheim Ducks) and Lukáš Sedlák (HC Dynamo Pardubice) will also suit up for the Czechs. The tournament begins on Feb. 11 and will run through the gold-medal game on Feb. 22.
Breakaway
After clearing waivers on Tuesday, Egor Zamula agreed to a one-year contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets through the end of the season. The former Flyers defenseman, who was traded to Pittsburgh last week but refused to report to its American Hockey League affiliate, was placed on waivers Monday by the Penguins for the purpose of contract termination. Puckpedia lists the deal at $1 million. Zamula, 25, will reunite with former teammate and fellow Russian Ivan Provorov with the Blue Jackets. Ivan Fedotov is also in the Columbus organization but is currently in the AHL with Cleveland.
By the end of this week — when the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships come to a close in St. Louis — South Jersey figure skater Isabeau Levito will know if she has done enough to score a place on the team going to the Winter Olympics next month in Milan, Italy.
Milan is the hometown of her mother, Chiara Garberi, and where her grandmother and uncle still live. Her aunt and a cousin, who is “a very younger sister, kind of,” live about 40 minutes from Milan.
So while the Olympics are the goal for all of the top competitors, this year’s Games are especially meaningful for Levito, 18. She vacations there often and understands and speaks Italian — although would prefer not to speak it on TV.
“Or at least have a disclaimer,” joked Levito, who said her grammar is not by the book and she doesn’t know all the idioms. “‘She’s not from here. She knows Italian because her mommy is from here.’”
But Italy is the thread that has been running through her entire year.
“That was the focus,” she said.
Both of her programs are set to Italian music. The short, which she will be skating on Wednesday, is to a compilation of sassy songs from Sophia Loren movies. She will perform the free skate, or long program, on Friday, to “Cinema Paradiso” by Ennio Morricone.
Both pieces were suggested for her by her longtime head coach and choreographer, Yulia Kuznetsova.
“Having had me [as a student] since childbirth, she knows me so well,” said Levito, who approves all selections before programs are created.
Those include triple flip-triple toe loop combinations, a triple flip-double axel sequence, a three-jump combination, and her spins and step sequences, all with a lot of personality shining through.
The skater lives and trains in Mount Laurel. Putting together Ikea furniture for the new apartment she shares with her very fluffy cat has been her unofficial cross-training.
“I think I’m jacked from how much drilling I’ve done,” she said. “And I chose to live on the top floor and there’s no elevator, but there’s not too many floors.”
This week’s U.S. Figure Skating Championships will be the final event for skaters to make their case to be among the three women, three men, two pairs, and three ice dance teams who can compete at the Olympics. Levito, world champion Alysa Liu, and two-time U.S. champion Amber Glenn are expected to take the women’s spots.
The Olympic team will be announced live Sunday afternoon on NBC and Peacock.
Levito looks calm when she skates, but nerves remain a real factor.
“I feel like this year, I’ve been very in tune with my body,” she said. I’ll just get intuition of ‘I should not listen to music on the bus [from the hotel to the competition rink] today.’ I kind of trust it. I’ve been very grounded. I’ve been realizing for myself that all the noise, it overwhelms much too much.”
Instead, she tries to maintain the habits she has established at home.
“When I’m at the rink and I’m practicing, I don’t really put in my earbuds and listen to music. I just do my floor warmup in silence, and then I get my skates on quickly.”
Everyone gets nervous before big events, she said, but the bright lights of the competition arena also can give her a migraine and make her vision blurry. It helps to take ibuprofen before getting on the ice.
“It’s OK, I’m weak,” she said, laughing. “I’m not exactly survival of the fittest.
“Between that and everything’s very loud [in the arena], and then everyone watching you, and it’s actually competition, and the judges are right there. It’s overwhelming, overstimulating, there’s a lot going on. So I feel like it’s very important to me that I have my solitude and my silence beforehand, rather than just shoving music into my ears and trying to escape where I actually am.”
In the end, she usually lands near or on top.
This time the stakes are exceptionally high. But even if she doesn’t win, she just needs to show the officials one more time that her next stop should be the Olympics in Milan.
How to watch
Championship women’s short program
8 p.m. Wednesday on USA Network
8:24 p.m. on Peacock
Championship women’s free skate
8 p.m. Friday on NBC10
3:57 p.m. (for the skaters who place lower in the short program) and 8:58 p.m. (for the higher-placed skaters) on Peacock.
Former Phillies star Lenny Dykstra has been charged with misdemeanor possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia following a traffic stop just after midnight on New Year’s Day in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Matthew Blit, lawyer for Dykstra, said in a statement that the 62-year-old Scranton resident was not arrested or taken into custody at the scene, and was accused of being under the influence.
Blit said that “the actual driver,” whom he would not name, was taken into custody for suspicion of driving under the influence.
“Lenny Dykstra was merely a passenger in a vehicle that did not belong to him,” Blit said.
Blit said the charges against Dykstra “will be swiftly absolved.”
Thomas Mincer, another lawyer for Dykstra, said in a statement that “we firmly assert that the alleged narcotics in the vehicle did not belong to Lenny.” Dkystra “was not knowingly in possession of or under the influence of any narcotics,” the lawyer said.
Just after midnight on Jan. 1, Dykstra was a passenger in a 2015 silver GMC Sierra truck in the area of Route 507 and Robinson Road in Greene Township, Pike County, when the vehicle was stopped by the Pennsylvania State Police for a motor vehicle code violation, the state police said in a report.
“During this investigation, the passenger was found to be in possession of narcotics and narcotic related equipment/paraphernalia,” the state police report said. “Charges to be filed.”
The state police report identified Dykstra as the “arrestee,” but the court record showing the charges says Dykstra was issued a summons.
Dykstra has a preliminary hearing in Pike County scheduled for Feb. 3.
Dykstra played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball in center field, spending the first four with the Mets — including as part of the team that won the 1986 World Series — before being traded to the Phillies during the 1989 season. He retired with the Phillies in 1996.
Nicknamed the “Dude” and “Nails,” Dykstra was a celebrated member of the 1993 Phillies team that made it to the World Series, but lost to the Toronto Blue Jays.
After his baseball career, Dykstra ran afoul of the law multiple times. He spent time in prison after pleading guilty in federal court for bankruptcy fraud and pleading no contest to grand theft auto in California.
Penn took a familiar drive to Jadwin Gymnasium on Monday night, looking to open Ivy League play with a win against longtime rival Princeton. After taking a 14-point lead in the first half, the Quakers couldn’t keep pace with the hot-shooting Tigers in the second and fell, 78-76, after missing the final shot in Fran McCaffery’s first Ancient Eight game as head coach.
Princeton (5-11, 1-0 Ivy) has won 14 straight over Penn, which McCaffery and the players know well.
“You can’t worry about what happened six years ago,” McCaffery said. “What happened when Pete Carril was coaching, we all know what it was like. We played a game tonight. We lost to a good team, a really good coach, and, whether we won or lost, we are going to break the film down and try and get better.”
Next up, Penn (7-7, 0-1) will host Brown on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN+).
Last-second chance
Penn made a late comeback and trailed by two after a 13-0 run, which included nine points from the free-throw line.
The final play, intended for Ethan Roberts, went awry, and point guard AJ Levine attempted to make a buzzer-beating three, which clanged off the rim.
“They did a good job switching it,” McCaffery said. “I thought [Roberts] should have kept going. He passed it. That’s hard because now you put your teammate in a position where there’s two seconds to go in the game and he’s at 26 feet.”
Roberts, the team’s leading scorer, missed the previous four games because of an injury he suffered against Villanova in the Big 5 Classic championship on Dec. 5.
The senior forward scored 19 points on 5-for-12 shooting in his return, but McCaffery believes Roberts has yet to return to full speed.
“He takes the pressure off TJ [Power] and Michael [Zanoni],” McCaffery said. “He just has to get back in rhythm. He missed five weeks. He’s trying to remember the plays; he’s trying to remember where he goes.”
Second-half collapse
Roberts and shooting guard Zanoni (13 points) led the charge in the first half, combining for 20 points to help secure a 32-24 lead. To open the second, the Tigers made 16 straight baskets in the first 11-plus minutes.
Penn suddenly found itself down, 63-51, with 8 minutes, 48 seconds to go. The Tigers made 21 of 27 shots (77.8%) from the field, including 5-for-7 from deep, in the second half.
McCaffery was asked whether he had seen a shooting performance like that before. “No,” he said. “Nothing else to say, no. It’s a good question.
“What do you do? Think about it. You can change personnel. You can change defenses. We did that, and really the only thing to work was press, and we waited too long.”
However, Penn did not miss from the free-throw line in the game, going 19-for-19.
Seeking redemption
Princeton had struggled to start the season, and coach Mitch Henderson attributed the Tigers’ strong performance against Penn to the return of Dalen Davis, who suffered a leg injury in November.
The junior shooting guard scored 19 points off the bench in 21 minutes. Sophomore guard Jack Stanton led the Tigers with 23 points.
“It’s not just the scoring,” Henderson said of Davis’ play. “That’s awesome, I did not know we made 16 in a row. That’s amazing, but it’s his defense — his ability to go with balls shows his competitiveness.”
An onlooker could have determined that Tyrese Maxey simply lost his dribble at the end of regulation Monday in a loss to the Denver Nuggets, forcing him into a rushed, fading three-point attempt.
But the 76ers’ star point guard already recognized that he wished he had gotten an earlier screen from teammate VJ Edgecombe. That would have given him more time to determine whether he should pass the ball if he drew multiple defenders or attack the basket with his explosiveness.
“Once I came off the screen, there was like four or five seconds left,” Maxey said postgame. “They were kind of faking the double[-team] at me, and that was a little difficult for me.”
The Sixers never should have been in a last-possession situation against the depleted Nuggets, who played their 125-124 overtime victory at Xfinity Mobile Arena without their top seven players, including MVP front-runner Nikola Jokić. But Maxey had the ball in his hands at the end of regulation and the extra frame and missed two potential game-winning shots.
That developing responsibility comes with the 25-year-old’s continued ascent that includes being named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week, being ranked second in the East in fan voting in the first All-Star returns, and earning legitimate MVP buzz for the surprising 19-15 Sixers.
“I’m just learning what [actions] I want to get into, how I want to play, where I want guys,” said Maxey, who totaled 28 points, six rebounds, six assists, and four steals against Denver. “… I could have done a better job of explaining what I wanted and what I wanted to happen.”
Tyrese Maxey had 28 points, six rebounds, six assists, and four steals against Denver on Monday.
Maxey also misfired at the end of overtime on an attempt he described as a “good look” but that coach Nick Nurse called “OK.” Maxey took the inbounds pass with less than five seconds remaining and turned the right corner around the defender, but tripped over his foot and, while falling, lofted a floater that bounced off the rim.
“Got a little off-balance,” Nurse said, “and probably wasn’t as clean a look as he wanted to get.”
Maxey and the Sixers are no strangers to matchups going down to the wire this season. They entered Tuesday tied for second in the NBA with 23 “clutch” games played, when the scoring margin is five points or fewer with five minutes remaining in regulation. They are 13-10 in such situations and are tied for ninth in the league in winning percentage (.565) and are sixth in net rating (plus-1.4).
Maxey has played in 21 of those games, and ranks 10th in the league in scoring average in those minutes (four points) among players with at least 10 clutch appearances. Maxey is shooting 39.7% from the floor, including 22.7% from three-point range in those minutes, significant dips from his overall shooting numbers (47.5% from the field, 40.5% from long range) while sitting third in the NBA in scoring at 31 points per game.
The defense — and pressure — increases down the stretch of tight games, of course. But this season, reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder is shooting 49.2% from the floor in clutch situations, while averaging 7.4 points. Last season, NBA Clutch Player of the Year Jalen Brunson connected on 51.1% of his attempts and averaged 5.6 points in those minutes for a New York Knicks team that advanced to the Eastern Conference finals. Entering Tuesday, Anthony Edwards, Cade Cunningham, and Devin Booker are shooting 50% or better in at least 12 clutch games played this season.
Tyrese Maxey has become a focal point in big moments as Sixers stars including Joel Embiid have become less available.
They headline the elite guard group that Maxey, in many ways, has already cracked. Yet he spoke last season about experiencing a variety of new defensive coverages while becoming the Sixers’ clear top offensive option, while former MVP Joel Embiid and perennial All-Star Paul George mostly were sidelined with injuries. Consider these clutch demands — which were a rarity during a woeful 24-58 season in 2024-25 — the next layer.
Long before Monday’s waning seconds of regulation and overtime, Nurse said the Sixers lost “strictly a shooting percentage game” by allowing the shorthanded Nuggets to get comfortable from the floor (53.1%) and beyond the arc (18-for-37). Embiid, meanwhile, called the Sixers’ offensive spacing “kind of terrible,” and said the basketball IQ required to counter the smaller Nuggets’ double teams of him was “high school stuff.” Denver gained its final lead in overtime via a goaltending call on Embiid, who acknowledged that he mistimed his jump to challenge a Bruce Brown transition layup.
In November, Maxey fervently clapped when asked about the crunch-time games the Sixers had already compiled. He said then that he was proud of his team’s resilience, and that the experience should hold long-term benefits. On his own, Maxey had already rewatched the Sixers’ first two matchups against the Boston Celtics (a one-point win and one-point defeat, respectively), along with their 136-124 victory against the Orlando Magic on Oct. 27 and their dreadful 113-111 loss at the Chicago Bulls on Nov. 4.
“There were a couple times I just got in the paint, kicked it out, got some open threes,” Maxey said then. “I think that’s the biggest thing. And then, sometimes, I’m going to have to shoot some tough shots — and make some tough shots. I can live on that hill.”
Sixers coach Nick Nurse described Tyrese Maxey’s final look against the Nuggets as “OK.”
Since then, Maxey has connected on timely fourth-quarter shots at Madison Square Garden to keep the Sixers out of clutch territory in Saturday’s victory over the Knicks. And he covered the ground for an highlight-worthy chase-down block on former teammate De’Anthony Melton to preserve a Dec. 4 home victory against the Golden State Warriors. And he dished to Edgecombe for an overtime game-winner at the Memphis Grizzlies last week.
That play featured the screen timing from Edgecombe that Maxey desired Monday, when he got going too late before bobbling the ball. By the time Maxey hit the podium for his postgame news conference, he had vocalized that to his rookie teammate.
That is part of Maxey’s development — and responsibility — as a clutch player. And Embiid, who has plenty of experience in those final-possession scenarios, believes in his star point guard.
“You have the ball, the whole defense is looking at you,” Embiid said. “… You don’t necessarily have to take that last shot. The double comes, you invite it, and then you make the right plays.
“I think [Maxey] has the right mindset to make those plays, and we’re still going to trust him to make those plays.”
Now that the regular season has concluded, the real fun can begin.
The No. 3-seeded Eagles are set to host the San Francisco 49ers at 4:30 p.m. Sunday in the wild-card round. The No. 2 seed was up for grabs with the Chicago Bears’ loss to the Detroit Lions, but the Eagles couldn’t win the regular-season finale against the Washington Commanders with their backups.
That loss, and Nick Sirianni’s decision to rest the starters in Week 18, is in the past now. After finishing the regular season 11-6, the Eagles get to start anew in the postseason.
Here’s what we know (and what we don’t) about the Eagles going into Sunday’s wild-card game:
Can offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo dial up the plays that can take advantage of the 49ers’ shortcomings?
An ideal matchup?
For all of the discussion leading up to the season finale about whether to rest or play the starters with the hopes of facing the No. 7-seeded Green Bay Packers, the Eagles might have drawn an ideal opponent in the wild-card round.
The 49ers have one of the weaker defenses among the NFC’s playoff teams, which could be a gift to a shaky Eagles offense. San Francisco’s defense has suffered significant injury-related attrition this season. Inside linebacker Fred Warner and edge rushers Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams suffered season-ending injuries earlier in the year, which have proved to be significant losses for defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s group.
Their pass rush is practically nonexistent. The 49ers rank second-to-last in the league in quarterback pressure rate (26.7%), according to Next Gen Stats. Bryce Huff — remember him? — is tied for the team lead with four sacks. Bosa, who suffered a torn ACL in Week 3, still ranks third on the team with two sacks.
Their inside linebacker corps is suspect in coverage. In the Week 18 loss to the Seahawks, 49ers inside linebackers conceded 126 of Sam Darnold’s 198 passing yards, according to Pro Football Focus. Darnold picked on Tatum Bethune, who left the game injured and was ruled out for the postseason on Monday, the most (six receptions allowed on seven targets for 78 yards).
The 49ers should provide a welcome first-round matchup for the Eagles offense. After all, if we’ve learned anything this season, it’s that Kevin Patullo’s play-calling has been generally lackluster.
His shortcomings took center stage Sunday in the loss to the Commanders in various situations, especially toward the end of the game when the Eagles abandoned the efficient, Tank Bigsby-led running game and put the contest on Tanner McKee’s arm to no avail. McKee’s inability to make plays out of structure served as a reminder that Jalen Hurts has often put a Band-Aid over otherwise dead plays with his knack for extending them.
Can the Eagles offense, with or without the help of Patullo, take advantage of the 49ers’ weaknesses?
Saquon Barkley has seen an uptick in production over the past month.
On the run
The good news for the Eagles offense doesn’t end there — the 49ers have been porous against the run, too.
The Seahawks, led by the tailback duo of Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet, combined for 180 yards and a touchdown on 39 carries against the 49ers on Saturday, marking San Francisco’s worst performance against the run this season. According to Next Gen Stats, Walker and Charbonnet combined for 141 yards and a touchdown on under-center runs.
Over the last two weeks, opposing teams have been generating plays of at least 20 yards against the 49ers at will. In Week 17, the Bears had seven plays of at least 20 yards, six of which were passing plays. The Seahawks had four, two of which came on the ground. Missed tackles plagued the 49ers — according to Next Gen Stats, Walker and Charbonnet each forced seven missed tackles.
That ought to be Saquon Barkley’s music. The 28-year-old running back has been making the most of an increased workload lately. In December, Barkley averaged 4.88 yards per carry and 100 yards per game, the latter being his best clip on a monthly basis this season. He also had 20.5 carries per game, his greatest share on a monthly basis, too.
Could the Eagles lean into the under-center running game against the 49ers? When they have, Barkley has been successful. He has averaged 4.9 yards per carry (531 yards on 108 attempts) on under-center runs this season, compared to 3.6 yards per carry (489 yards on 134 carries) on shotgun runs and 3.2 yards per carry (120 yards on 38 attempts) on rare runs out of pistol.
After a week off, and with the potential of getting Lane Johnson back into the mix for the first time since November, the entire Eagles rushing unit should have no excuses against a struggling 49ers defense.
The dangerous Christian McCaffrey will be a challenge for Vic Fangio and the Eagles defense.
McCaffrey mania
Brock Purdy has fared well since his Week 11 return from injury, racking up 1,581 passing yards (No. 12 in the NFL among quarterbacks with at least 100 attempts) and 16 touchdowns (No. 3) while completing 70.6% of his attempts (No. 2) in that span.
But he isn’t the star of the 49ers offense. Christian McCaffrey is the 49ers’ greatest weapon, both in the running game and in the passing game. He has shouldered a staggering workload this season, with a league-high (and a single-season career-high) 413 touches through 17 starts.
He’s made the most of those touches. McCaffrey has 2,126 all-purpose yards, which ranks fourth in the NFL. That total is the second-greatest of his career, only behind his output in 2019 (2,392) as a member of the Carolina Panthers.
Even at age 29 and coming off a lost 2024 season due to injury, McCaffrey remains one of the most elusive players in the league. Going into Week 18, McCaffrey had forced a league-high 112 missed tackles across his touches, according to Next Gen Stats.
Still, he didn’t generate a single missed tackle against the Seahawks, who boast one of the best run defenses in the league. His fourth-quarter red-zone drop, which led to a Seahawks interception, also helped quash the 49ers’ attempt at a comeback on Saturday.
Keeping McCaffrey at bay will be the key to an Eagles victory. He has 10 games with at least 115 yards from scrimmage, the most of any player this season. The 49ers are 9-1 in those games. Reinforcements are on the way for the Eagles, with Nakobe Dean — one of their best defenders against the run — likely to return from a two-week injury layoff.
Skyy Moore (9) has helped the 49ers win the field-position game throughout the 2025 season.
Special-teams stars
The 49ers’ best phase is arguably their special-teams unit.
Yes, the unit that muffed a punt and missed an extra point in the 49ers’ Super Bowl LVIII loss to the Kansas City Chiefs two seasons ago is now one of the strongest in the NFL.
Kicker Eddy Piñeiro is at the center of that turnaround. Piñeiro, whom the 49ers signed after Jake Moody struggled in the season opener, has been practically flawless on field goals this year. He has made 28 of 29 attempts (96.6% made, tied for the league lead among kickers with at least 20 attempts). His lone miss came on a 64-yard attempt three weeks ago.
The Niners have thrived in the return game, too. Skyy Moore ranks 10th in the NFL in yards per kick return (27.5; the league average is 25.9) and No. 9 in yards per punt return (11.6; the average is 10.2). The 49ers are tied for second in the NFL in average starting field position (their own 32.5).
The Eagles can’t afford to make mistakes on special teams because the 49ers have been so sound. Jake Elliott has been the most inconsistent piece of the group, as he has made just 74.1% of his field-goal attempts, which is the second-worst rate among kickers with at least 20 attempts this season.
