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  • Brawl leads to a Big Dom sighting, officiating the Tush Push, and more from the Eagles-Commanders broadcast

    Brawl leads to a Big Dom sighting, officiating the Tush Push, and more from the Eagles-Commanders broadcast

    The Eagles officially clinched the NFC East with a 29-18 win over the Washington Commanders on Saturday in Landover, Md.

    If you want to relive the big win, here were the best and worst moments from the broadcast:

    Tush Push

    Surprisingly, on an early fourth-and-1 near midfield, the Birds didn’t line up for their signature Tush Push play. Instead, Jalen Hurts set up in shotgun, and the Eagles unsuccessfully attempted to draw the Commanders offside.

    Analyst Greg Olsen didn’t hate the decision to fake the fourth-down attempt — but thought the Birds tried it with the wrong formation.

    “If you’re going to do it, make it look like quarterback sneak,” Olsen said. “Get under center. Those defensive linemen are champing at the bit trying to defend the Tush Push. Maybe a little more likely. You line up in the gun, you do some shifts and motions, it doesn’t have the same effect.”

    Grading the Eagles’ win over the Washington Commanders

    Brawl breakdown

    After the Birds’ successful two-point conversion made it 29-10 with 4 minutes, 26 seconds left in the fourth quarter, we got a full-scale brawl worthy of the Broad Street Bullies.

    “This has turned into a full-blown shoving match,” play-by-play broadcaster Joe Davis said. “Tyler Steen is throwing punches.”

    “We’ve got flags, we’ve got hats,” Olsen said.

    “There are no flags left in the belts,” Davis said. “They’re all on the field.”

    It led to three ejections, including Steen, and plenty of screen time for Big Dom. These teams play again in just two weeks.

    Trust the replay

    After Commanders running back Chris Rodriguez appeared to gain a first down on a second-quarter rushing play, replay review overturned it, forcing a fourth-and-1. Dan Quinn elected to challenge the call anyway.

    “They’re going to challenge the challenge!” Davis said. “Replay, take a look at the replay that you just replayed.”

    After a commercial break, the call stood, as expected.

    “Replay room saying, ‘Did we stutter?’” Davis said, after returning from commercial to the call standing on the field.

    The Commanders still converted the fourth down and scored a touchdown on that possession, though.

    Tush Push Part 2

    There’s never been more attention on the Tush Push than this season, after the NFL spent the offseason debating whether to ban the play.

    But as the season began, the conversation shifted toward the Eagles’ offensive line, and whether the Birds were gaining their advantage by jumping early on the play. Since then, it’s been officiated pretty harshly, including two false-start penalties on Saturday.

    “These officials have incredible eyes, because we’re looking, I don’t know the fancy terms of frames per second, but we’re looking at super slow-mo, and he is moving a frame early,” Olsen said after Landon Dickerson’s third-quarter false start. “That’s how they want this enforced. If they’re going to let Philly continue to run this, which I am a huge proponent of the quarterback sneak and the way Philly does it, I think it’s a huge weapon and they should be allowed to do it, but obviously they’re going to officiate it very tightly.”

    Bad coaching, worse kicking, and a two-point controversy mar an Eagles win. Are we that spoiled? | Marcus Hayes

    Has the discourse over the play moved it too far in the opposite direction? Olsen wasn’t sure.

    “That is a fraction, I think we can get carried away trying to overdo it, but his hands do move,” Olsen said. “That official’s got good eyes.”

    Marcus Mariota’s injury

    Josh Johnson, famous to Eagles fans for his appearance in the NFC championship game for the 49ers following the 2022 season, made an appearance of his own after Marcus Mariota suffered an injury.

    Footage later showed that Nolan Smith accidentally stepped on his hand, and Mariota was seen with a bandage on his right hand on the bench later in the game.

    Josh Johnson was pressed into action after Commanders starting quarterback Marcus Mariota went down. Here, he’s being tackled by Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith.

    Road warriors

    After the Birds’ third touchdown, Davis remarked on the game as a reflection of their 2025 season.

    “This game is kind of emblematic of the whole year for Philadelphia — not easy, but they’re in front,” Davis said. “They’ve grown this lead, silenced this crowd.”

    The first part is mostly true, but Joe, I don’t know what stadium you were in, but it sounded pretty darn loud every time the Eagles did anything on the broadcast. The “COOP” after the Cooper DeJean interception spoke for itself.

    The Eagles also hit a great celebration afterward.

    Jordan Davis’ day

    2025 has been Jordan Davis’ breakout year, but Joe Davis said Saturday was “the game of his life,” with six tackles and two tackles for losses.

    “He’s having an unbelievable season,” Olsen said.

    “I don’t know if he’s making that tackle in previous years,” Joe Davis said. “He dropped about 25 pounds this offseason, and he’s been a different guy. He thanks Peloton and Ally Love rides for helping him drop all that weight.”

    If you haven’t read this great Alex Coffey story about Love, you’re missing out.

    Jordan Davis found his voice and helped stabilize the Eagles defensive line

    Not-so offensive

    The last team to win a Super Bowl with as large a disparity between the defense and the offense was the 2015 Denver Broncos, who rode an elite defense to victory.

    But Olsen is not as concerned with the offense as it seems like a lot of the fans are.

    “This offense is better than people give it credit,” Olsen said. “There’s something about this Eagles offense that, I think they’re better than their stats; I think they’re better than their trends. The talent, the fact that they just went on a historic run just a year ago.”

  • Eagles grades: Defense sound, offense fine, special teams shaky vs. Commanders

    Eagles grades: Defense sound, offense fine, special teams shaky vs. Commanders

    LANDOVER, Md. — Instant grades on the Eagles’ performance in their 29-18 win over the Commanders:

    Quarterback: B

    Jalen Hurts got it done with his arm, legs and mind and has looked more like the “triple threat” quarterback he once described himself as. In the passing game, Hurts completed 22 of 30 throws for 185 yards and two touchdowns. As a runner, he gained 40 yards on seven carries. And with his mind, he operated the offense efficiently and avoided turnovers.

    There were some misses, and moments when he held the ball too long. Hurts overthrew a wide-open A.J. Brown on a 15-yard out in the second quarter. And before halftime, he fumbled in the pocket and took a sack. But he more than got the job done against one of the lesser defenses in the NFL.

    Hurts had a beautiful touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert in the third quarter. After the Eagles shot themselves in the foot with multiple penalties after starting at the 1-yard line, the quarterback stepped up on third down and hit his tight end on the move for a 15-yard score. Hurts didn’t have much success on his one designed non-Tush Push run, but he scrambled five times for 40 yards.

    Running back: B+

    Saquon Barkley went over 1,000 yards rushing for the fifth time in his career. It’s been a slog, but he deserves credit for perseverance. Barkley finished with 132 yards on 21 carries. He broke three tackles and carried a defender into the end zone on his 12-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

    Barkley had maybe his best run of the season on a 48-yarder that cemented the outcome. But there were again too many rushes that netted little to no yards for various reasons. His blitz pickup was inconsistent, but he got enough of Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner on a third down that Hurts converted with a scramble.

    Tank Bigsby scored from 22 yards out in the fourth quarter.

    A.J. Brown continued his strong second half of the season against the Commanders.

    Receiver / tight end: B

    Brown was again Hurts’ favorite target and caught 9 of 12 attempts for 95 yards. In the first half, he matched a career high with eight grabs for 86 yards. Brown picked up yards after the catch on his first two receptions on the Eagles’ opening scoring drive. He also made a fingertip grab over the middle in the second quarter that resulted in a 24-yard pickup.

    DeVonta Smith caught 6 of 8 targets for 42 yards and a touchdown. He couldn’t pull in a pass on a fade route in the end zone, but he rebounded later on the same first-quarter drive and scored a 5-yard touchdown on an out route. Smith also dove for a 9-yard grab in the third quarter and drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone in the third quarter.

    Goedert didn’t see a pass come his way until the first drive of the second half. Later, he drew an illegal contact penalty on fourth down that negated a Commanders interception. And Goedert capped the drive with his team-high 10th touchdown catch.

    Offensive line: B

    The Eagles didn’t lean as much into the run game with the Commanders just as susceptible through the air. It was an up-and-down 60 minutes in terms of O-line run blocking. Right guard Tyler Steen had a good block to the second level on a Barkley 9-yard run to the right in the second quarter. He later tossed Washington defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw to the side when Barkley gained 8 yards up the middle.

    Fred Johnson and Tyler Steen were involved in a brawl against the Commanders late in the game but were solid for the bulk of the contest.

    Left guard Landon Dickerson led the way on a Barkley 8-yard rush in the fourth quarter. On Barkley’s first carry, which resulted in no gain, it looked like left tackle Jordan Mailata and Goedert messed up their blocking assignments.

    Right tackle Fred Johnson continued to fill in for the injured Lane Johnson (foot). He failed to sustain a block when Barkley was dropped for no gain in the third quarter and held on third down in the red zone later in the series. Center Cam Jurgens had a nice win at the point of attack on a Barkley 10-yard bolt up the middle.

    The pass protection, as usual, was mostly sound. Dickerson and Barkley were late to pick up the blitzing Wagner, who sacked Hurts in the third quarter. Dickerson and Johnson each had false starts on Tush Push tries near the goal line. It may be RIP time for the play.

    Defensive line: A-

    Commanders running backs averaged just 2.8 yards on their first 20 carries — some late meaningless runs improved their numbers — and the Eagles’ front had a lot to do with that. Jordan Davis was a monster in the middle and led the Eagles with six run stops. He had several run tackles near the line and almost kept running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt from crossing the goal line from the 1-yard line, until reinforcements helped push him across. Defensive tackle Moro Ojomo had a relatively quiet game but got good push up the middle.

    Jordan Davis and the Eagles front seven left very little room for the Commanders running backs.

    Nolan Smith appeared to step on Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota’s right hand, which knocked him out of the game. The Eagles probably would have won anyway, but backup Josh Johnson had no chance vs. the Eagles defense. Jalyx Hunt had a strong second series. He dropped into coverage, defended a swing pass for a minimal gain, and drew a holding penalty while rushing the passer on third down.

    Brandon Graham continued to play inside with Jalen Carter still nursing shoulder injuries. He picked up his third sack in two games — thanks to tight coverage on the back end — on a third-down rush late in the first quarter. Defensive tackle Byron Young picked up a late sack.

    Eagles use big second half to overwhelm Commanders, become first repeat NFC East champs since 2004

    Linebacker: A-

    Nakobe Dean left during the second possession with a hamstring injury and was replaced by Jihaad Campbell. Campbell played solidly in his first extended action in some time. He was targeted on a Deebo Samuel choice route that resulted in a 14-yard catch and run. But he later drew a holding penalty when he blitzed on third down in the third quarter.

    Zack Baun led the Eagles with nine tackles. He gets a share of credit for the run defense.

    Cooper DeJean had one of the big plays for the Eagles defense on Saturday.

    Cornerback: B

    Adoree’ Jackson had a few leaky moments. He got toasted by Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin on the outside for a 40-yard catch. And early in the second half, Treylon Burks caught a 24-yard pass over the middle and in front of Jackson. But once Mariota left, the Commanders had no chance through the air.

    Quinyon Mitchell stayed on the boundary side of the field and didn’t trail McLaurin. Mitchell broke up a pass to Samuel in the third quarter.

    Cooper DeJean was in coverage when Samuel caught a third-down toss over the middle for 20 yards in the third quarter. But DeJean bounced back as he often does with a stellar play, this time an interception of Johnson. It was his second pick of the season.

    While he might have gotten away with pass interference on Mariota’s third-down throw into the end zone on the Commanders’ first drive, DeJean had a breakup on the next series.

    Safety: B

    Reed Blankenship and Marcus Epps weren’t tested much on deep routes in the middle, but they kept everything in front. They both assisted in stopping the run and finished with a combined five stops. Blankenship missed an open-field tackle on a 13-yard run up the middle in the first quarter.

    Concerns about kicker Jake Elliott only intensified on Saturday.

    Special teams: D

    Kicker Jake Elliott had a brutal first half. The stat sheet will say he missed only two field goal attempts, but Elliott hooked three wide left: from 43, 57, and 52 yards when a Commanders offsides penalty gave him a second chance. He did make all three of his extra points, though.

    Elliott has made just 17 of 24 field goal tries this season for a career-low 70.8%.

    Punter Braden Mann averaged a solid 43.5 net yards on two punts. Britain Covey had an 11-yard punt return and fair caught three others. Will Shipley fumbled the opening kickoff when Mike Sainristil stripped the ball. The Eagles defense had his back and forced a field goal, thanks in part to 4-10 Dan Quinn’s inexplicable decision to not go for it from the 4-yard line. Shipley had another goof when he hesitated coming out of the end zone, which resulted in a short return.

    Coaching: B

    Coach Nick Sirianni‘s team won back-to-back NFC East titles — the first time that’s been accomplished in 21 years. Despite a topsy-turvy 3½ months, Sirianni’s Eagles prevailed. They’ve made the playoffs in all five of his seasons at the helm.

    Nick Sirianni guided the Eagles to another playoff appearance.

    The Eagles aren’t close to perfect, as a sloppy first half against an inferior opponent indicated. Sirianni again had some questionable game management moments. On the first possession, he tried to get the Commanders to jump on fourth-and-1 at his own 41. The Eagles took a delay and punted instead. Before the half, Sirianni letting the clock drain down and taking another unnecessary timeout after another fake attempt to draw the defense offside was aggressively passive.

    Offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo had a solid day. He shifted quickly from run-heavy play-calling and used empty backfields to make the Commanders’ pass coverages more predictable. He never got too far away from the ground attack, and in the end, was rewarded when Barkley broke off big gains.

    Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio‘s unit was stellar once again. It held Washington to a field goal after Shipley’s fumble and the first unit allowed only one touchdown. Mariota’s exit made his job that much easier, but the Eagles mostly dominated.

  • A two-point controversy, poor coaching, and worse kicking mar an Eagles win. Are we that spoiled?

    A two-point controversy, poor coaching, and worse kicking mar an Eagles win. Are we that spoiled?

    LANDOVER, Md. — It seems ungrateful to complain about any win, particularly a win that ensures a fifth consecutive trip to the playoffs, and the team in question won the latest Super Bowl.

    It seems doubly thankless to whine about the coach and staff that largely have been responsible for this windfall of January football, delivered with an NFC East title earned Saturday with a 29-18 win over the Commanders.

    So yes, it seems ungrateful, and even thankless, to wish for better.

    But we are Philadelphia, aren’t we?

    “We’ve raised the expectations of what to expect,” Nick Sirianni said.

    He gets it.

    Sirianni shepherded his Eagles into Northwest Stadium to face a 4-10 Commanders team that played without its starting quarterback for the first two-thirds of the game, then played without its backup the rest of the way.

    Sirianni’s offensive line was overwhelmed for the first three quarters. His quarterback, Jalen Hurts, was confused most of the evening, typical of Hurts’ meetings with Commanders coach Dan Quinn, the former defensive coordinator for Dallas.

    Eagles running back Saquon Barkley runs past Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner for a fourth-quarter touchdown.

    Sirianni’s curious decision to try a two-point conversion instead of kicking a PAT with a 27-10 lead with 4 minutes, 46 seconds to play was the cherry on top. Sirianni said it was simple math, but his postgame handshake with Quinn was very brief. So they got the 19-point lead, but at what cost? A scrum broke out as the scoreboard turned to 29-10. The scrum immediately followed the successful conversion, and it led to the ejection of two Commanders and one Eagle, right guard Tyler Steen. All could face suspensions.

    The scrum was precipitated, at least in part, by what some Commanders perceived as Sirianni running up the score against a hapless team using its third-string quarterback. Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner certainly seemed to be expressing those sentiments to Hurts as the fighting subsided.

    Asked afterward what he thought of the two-point try, Wagner replied tersely, “I didn’t understand it.”

    Was it a diss?

    “Was it disrespectful? Maybe,” Wagner said. “We’ve got to stop them. We’ll see them in a couple of weeks.”

    Quinn was less gracious.

    “Hey, man, that’s how they want to get down? All good,” he said. “We play them again in two weeks.”

    So yes, the hosts were not happy with Sirianni, and that animosity will linger when the Commanders visit Philadelphia for the season finale in two weeks.

    The fight (loosely defined; there was no damage done) was the oddest incident of the Saturday, 5 p.m. start, which was itself an oddity. Maybe the unconventionality of the game produced the overarching atmosphere of weirdness.

    There was more strangeness in a first half that ended with the Eagles in a 10-7 hole.

    Jake Elliott missed field goal tries of 43, 57, and 52 yards, all wide left, the last two almost consecutively. (The 57-yarder was wiped by an offsides penalty and didn’t officially count as a miss, but still mattered.)

    Hurts missed A.J. Brown with an easy third-down pass.

    Let’s stop acting like the Eagles haven’t had a great season

    Will Shipley fumbled the opening kickoff, which gifted the Commanders three points. He then brought another out of the end zone; kneeling would have given them the ball at the 35, but it wound up costing the Eagles 16 yards.

    Near the end of the half the Eagles had to call a timeout … coming out of a timeout.

    This is not the stuff of champions.

    Well, maybe NFC East champions, but the NFC East stinks this season, and besides, the NFC East championship is not the goal, is it? Super Bowl LX is the goal, and it seemed unrealistic after Saturday.

    There were just too many glaring mistakes and omissions.

    Cornerback Cooper DeJean celebrates his interception in the third quarter against the Commanders.

    Chief among them: Tight end Dallas Goedert, who had 14 catches for 148 yards two touchdowns the previous two weeks, was not even targeted until the second half.

    When the Eagles finally deigned to include the best postseason pass-catcher in their history, it worked out. He caught passes of 8 yards, then 9 yards, drew a penalty on third-and-8 (unaccepted due to a more penal, simultaneous penalty), and then, on third-and-goal from the 15 thanks to offensive line penalties, caught a 15-yard TD pass that gave the Eagles a 14-10 lead.

    The TD pass gave Goedert 10 this season after catching a total of eight the previous three seasons combined.

    This is the guy who hadn’t been targeted.

    Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota left the game with a hand injury after the first series of the second half, which left the Commanders with Josh Johnson and no backup. They might better have gone with the no backup.

    Johnson threw an interception on his first series, a floater across the field to Cooper DeJean at the Commanders’ 37-yard line. The Birds turned it into a touchdown, but it took them seven plays, the last two of which were Saquon Barkley runs of 8 and 12 yards — tough, punishing, bell-cow runs behind a line that finally asserted itself properly.

    Barkley finished with 132 yards on 21 runs, his second-best game of the season, and left him at 1,072 for the year, the fifth 1,000-yard season of his eight-year career.

    Tank Bigsby added a late TD, which led to the two-point scrum, which minimized the late Commanders’ TD, with 1:10 to play.

    Brandon Graham set the Eagles’ shutout tone

    But how to consider the win?

    Glass half full: A good win — on the road, against a division opponent, with no offensive turnovers, but with a defensive turnover. Also, a win having lost linebacker Nakobe Dean, who left early with a hamstring injury. Also, a win with right tackle Lane Johnson and defensive tackle Jalen Carter likely to return for next Sunday’s game at Buffalo.

    Glass half empty: Another ugly win — against a poor team, a win despite a skittish $5 million kicker who has missed five of his last 11 kicks; a win in which Hurts continued an inconsistent season; a win in which the coaching staff seemed unprepared with a game plan that seemed uninspired.

    A win is a win is a win, but, really, is it too much to expect a greater degree of consistency and professionalism from the reigning Super Bowl champions?

    Is it ungrateful to believe a 10-5 team should look more like a 10-win team than five-loss team?

    Maybe.

    But, hey, we are Philadelphia.

  • Eagles use big second half to overwhelm Commanders, become first repeat NFC East champs since 2004

    Eagles use big second half to overwhelm Commanders, become first repeat NFC East champs since 2004

    LANDOVER, Md. — For the first time in 21 seasons, the NFC East has a back-to-back champion.

    The Eagles clinched the division in a 29-18 victory over the Washington Commanders on Saturday night at Northwest Stadium, officially punching their ticket to the playoffs. Despite falling behind, 10-7, in the first half, the Eagles blew the game open in the second, scoring touchdowns on three of four possessions with the starting offense.

    It wasn’t pretty early on for the Eagles. Jake Elliott missed a pair of long field goals, one from 57 yards and another from 52. But the offense rebounded, in large part thanks to Saquon Barkley’s dominance on the ground. The 28-year-old running back rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.

    Barkley eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards on the season for the fifth time in his career.

    Here’s our instant analysis from the Eagles’ Week 16 win over their division rival:

    Commanders’ defensive struggles

    The Commanders went up, 10-7, in the first half on a 20-yard field goal and running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt’s 1-yard touchdown run. Then, the Washington defense committed an abundance of mistakes that ultimately cost it the game.

    On fourth-and-7 from the Commanders’ 38 halfway through the third quarter, the Eagles opted to go for it, keeping a struggling Elliott off the field. Hurts tossed an interception to Commanders safety Quan Martin on a downfield pass intended for A.J. Brown, but it didn’t stand. Dallas Goedert drew an illegal contact penalty against Commanders safety Will Harris, extending the drive.

    A.J. Brown had a big night with nine catches for 95 yards.

    Six plays later, on third-and-8 from the Commanders’ 20, the Washington defense committed another pair of penalties to keep the Eagles alive. Martin’s holding call was declined, but a pass interference call on Commanders cornerback Noah Igbinoghene was enforced.

    The 26-year-old cornerback attempted to cover DeVonta Smith in the back of the end zone, but the officials had determined he grabbed the Eagles’ standout receiver.

    The Eagles made the Commanders pay for their mistakes. On third-and-goal from the Commanders’ 15 — the Eagles backed up due to a Fred Johnson holding penalty — Hurts completed a touchdown pass to Goedert while on the move.

    Goedert leapt up over Martin to snag Hurts’ pass, making it 14-10 in favor of the Eagles. The 30-year-old tight end has reached a team-high 10 touchdowns this season, which is double his previous career high (five touchdowns in 2019).

    The Commanders had some tackling issues throughout the evening, especially when it came to attempting to bring down Brown (he finished the day with a team-high nine receptions for 95 yards). Barkley benefited from the Commanders’ poor tackling, too, when he added to the Eagles’ scoring total in the fourth quarter.

    Barkley forced five missed tackles on his 12-yard touchdown run up the middle, putting the Eagles up, 21-10. He helped put the dagger into Washington later in the fourth quarter with a 48-yard carry, featuring a spin move in the backfield and another slew of missed Commanders tackles.

    Tank Bigsby built on Barkley’s explosive play, scampering into the end zone on a 22-yard touchdown run. Barkley picked up the ensuing two-point conversion on a carry, making it 29-10, Eagles.

    The under-center runs and the play-action passes married with them that the Eagles incorporated last week against the Las Vegas Raiders weren’t an emphasis on Saturday. Instead, the group utilized more tempo, empty sets, and plays from the shotgun.

    “I think we can go down every game this year and see a difference in approach,” Hurts said of the Eagles’ identity. “I think that’s OK for that to be who we are. We’ve just got to be very smart with what we do and when we do it and sequence it in the right way and then ultimately go out there and execute and make the plays.”

    Eagles defense catches a break

    Early in the third quarter, Marcus Mariota exited the game with a right hand injury, effectively quashing the Commanders’ chances at a victory.

    The Josh Johnson experience was horrific. On third-and-13 late in the third quarter, Cooper DeJean picked off the 39-year-old quarterback on a pass intended for Commanders wide receiver Treylon Burks.

    With Johnson struggling, the Commanders attempted to run the ball to no avail. On the Commanders’ following possession, running back Chris Rodriguez was stuffed by Jordan Davis and Zack Baun on third-and-1 for a loss of 3 yards. Their play forced the Commanders to punt, marking Washington’s first three-and-out of the evening.

    Davis was a force against the run. He finished with six tackles, included two for losses and two for no gain. The other two were on carries of 1 and 3 yards.

    “That dude is a monster,” Baun said of Davis. “A monster of a human being and a monster on the field. Super impressive, because you think he’s just a stout run-stuffer, and then we throw in a stunt and some movement, and then you see how fast he is and he gets a TFL.”

    The Eagles defensive front gave Johnson fits. On third-and-6 halfway through the fourth quarter, Nolan Smith beat Commanders right tackle Josh Conerly Jr. and pressured Johnson, forcing him to throw an incomplete pass intended for running back Jeremy McNichols.

    Rodriguez scored a garbage-time touchdown on a 3-yard carry with Eagles backups in the game on defense to make it 29-18. Johnson finished the game 5 of 9 for 43 yards and the interception (28.7 quarterback rating).

    Jake Elliott’s uneven year continued at Washington on Saturday.

    More issues for Elliott

    After the Eagles went up, 7-3, in the first quarter on a 5-yard Smith touchdown reception, the self-inflicted wounds that had tormented the team for most of the season cropped up once more.

    Elliott had a nightmare outing. Early in the second quarter, the Eagles offense sputtered at the Commanders’ 25-yard line. Late in the drive, Hurts overthrew a wide-open Brown on second-and-11, eventually forcing the Eagles to settle for a 43-yard field goal attempt.

    However, Elliott missed the field goal wide left, which would become a trend for him as the quarter continued. After the two-minute warning, the Commanders up 10-7, the Eagles decided to attempt a 57-yard field goal on fourth-and-4 from the Commanders’ 39 with 18 seconds remaining in the first half.

    Elliott missed that wide left, too. But Commanders safety Tyler Owens was flagged for being offside on the play, giving the Eagles offense a fresh set of downs and 5 yards.

    Hurts’ ensuing pass for Smith sailed incomplete, bringing Elliott on the field for yet another attempt, this time from 52 yards. Again, Elliott missed the kick wide left to end the first half.

    Not including the failed 57-yarder, Elliott has missed five field goal attempts in his last five games. He has also missed an extra point attempt in that span.

    Elliott stabilized in the fourth quarter. After Barkley’s fourth-quarter touchdown run, the Eagles kicker made the extra point. Regardless of the kicker’s recent shortcomings, Nick Sirianni emphasized his faith in Elliott after the game.

    “I have the utmost confidence in Jake,” Sirianni said. “I think like any team, you have ups and downs, and that’s just not offense, defense. That’s special teams. That’s your kicker, too. I have a ton of confidence in him that he’ll rebound from this, ’cause he’s mentally tough and a great kicker. We have the utmost faith in Jake moving forward.”

    Injury report

    Nakobe Dean sustained a hamstring injury halfway through the first quarter when he was attempting to tackle Burks. Jihaad Campbell took his place. Dean was ruled out in the third quarter.

    Tyler Steen was ejected late in the fourth quarter following the Eagles’ two-point conversion for his involvement in a scuffle that broke out between the two teams.

  • Google app hiccup jumps the gun before the Eagles-Commanders game with AI-generated victory post

    Google app hiccup jumps the gun before the Eagles-Commanders game with AI-generated victory post

    Hours before kickoff in Saturday’s Eagles-Commanders matchup, a Google app jumped the gun with an AI-generated post that the Birds had won the game.

    The artificial intelligence hiccup, known as a hallucination, had the Eagles winning 27-17 and clinching the NFC East title. It even included made-up game highlights — Jalen Hurts throwing for over 200 yards and Saquon Barkley scoring a key touchdown. (Here in the real world, Hurts threw for 185 yards in a 29-18 Eagles win; Barkley did in fact run for a TD as the Birds became the champs of the NFC East.)

    The false information was easily identified because the game had not started, but that is not always the case with AI hallucinations in legal cases and financial reporting, said Subodha Kumar, a professor of statistics, operations, and data science at Temple University’s Fox School of Business.

    “Sometimes it is so wrong that you can detect it,” Kumar said in an interview Saturday. “Sometimes you cannot.”

    The fake post was captured by Reddit Philadelphia users. Such erroneous AI-generated posts are user-specific and often deleted. A line at the bottom of the post cautioned: “Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.”

    The post linked to an accurately reported 6abc game preview story noting that the Eagles could become the first NFC East team since 2004 to win back-to-back division titles.

    Kumar said the hallucinations typically link to a news article or published reference to give the false information the appearance of legitimacy.

    Eagles fans commented on the error on Reddit. Some immediately recognized it as an AI mistake; others worried that it could be a jinx for the Eagles.

    “Crossing my fingers but jeepers Google kind of jumped the gun this morning,” one wrote.

    “I saw this and thought — did I miss a game?” another commented.

    Another wrote: “‘Generated with AI, which can make mistakes’ is the understatement of the year.”

    Hallucinations occur when a generative AI model confidently presents false or misleading information as a fact, rather than a prediction, Kumar said.

    They are most common in big sporting events, like the 2024 Super Bowl, when two AI chatbots made up statistics when questioned about the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. (The Chiefs won in overtime.)

    There have also been false AI-generated election results, financial reports, and legal decisions, Kumar said. The biggest impact may be false financial reports, which can affect the stock market, he said.

    “Clearly, this is a big problem,” Kumar said. “We have to be careful using the results for critical decision-making.”

    Kumar said guardrails currently are not properly designed to prevent such errors, but the technology has improved in recent years.

    More companies have added fact-checking technology to alert the algorithm before it generates erroneous content, he said.

    Asked Saturday afternoon to predict the Eagles game, Kumar quipped: “I will leave it to AI.”

  • The Flyers spoil a four-goal second period, lose to the New York Rangers in shootout

    The Flyers spoil a four-goal second period, lose to the New York Rangers in shootout

    NEW YORK — The Flyers seemed to have the game in hand, thanks to a four-goal second period, but then the lights went out on Broadway.

    Heading into the third period with a 4-2 lead, the Flyers allowed the New York Rangers to come back and steal a 5-4 shootout win. It is the first time this season the Flyers led heading into the third period and lost (10-0-1).

    Mika Zibanejad tied the game with 2 minutes, 34 seconds left in regulation, beating his countryman, Sam Ersson, with a one-timer from the left circle. The Rangers had a power play after Rasmus Ristolainen was called for delay of game, when he sent the puck over the glass.

    “I think we just can’t sit back as much as we do,” said forward Owen Tippett. “We put ourselves in great spots, and obviously we play a certain way to get there, and I think we just have to kind of continue playing that way and not worry about sitting back.”

    Flyers Q&A: Brent Flahr dishes on prospects Porter Martone, Jett Luchanko, and more

    Artemi Panarin, who had a pair in regulation, and Vincent Trocheck, who scored the Rangers’ third goal, each beat Ersson in the skills competition. New York netminder Igor Shesterkin stopped Trevor Zegras before Travis Konecny hit the post.

    The Flyers have lost two straight and five of their past six games, with four of the losses coming after regulation.

    “We’re starting to learn how to win,” coach Rick Tocchet said postgame. “This group’s going to have to learn, but they’re working hard. We [were up] 4-2 and had a couple of opportunities to score, and then we leave it for chance, right? A penalty. You can’t take your foot off.”

    The dog is in the fight

    Denver Barkey spent Friday afternoon tossing and turning in bed, trying to get his pregame nap in before Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League’s game against Bridgeport.

    “Couldn’t fall asleep, and I rolled over and checked the time on my phone and saw a few missed calls from [Flyers general manager Danny Brière] and a text saying, call me back ASAP, so kind of clicked in there,” Barkey said of when he found out he was being called up to the Flyers.

    “Yeah, super cool moment.”

    Those lights were bright on Broadway for the forward as he had an “eye-opening experience” making his NHL debut at Madison Square Garden with his parents and brother in attendance despite snow in Toronto delaying their arrival.

    They must have enjoyed it even more when the forward made his presence known from puck drop. Literally, as he got the start with linemates Sean Couturier and Tippett.

    On his first shift, Barkey forced Shesterkin to freeze the puck on a shot by Tippett. On his next shift, he almost scored — twice.

    The Flyers controlled the perimeter and the boards with Barkey, Couturier, and Tippett cycling the puck down low. Couturier got the puck in the left corner and sent it around to Tippett before finding Barkey crashing down. He shot the puck off the pass and then got a rebound chance.

    In the third period, he came close to scoring his first NHL goal as he drove to the net. Couturier sent the pass to the 5-foot-10, 173-pound forward as he tried to finish backdoor.

    “I’ve actually played with him a couple years now in camp, and obviously, super skilled player, and brings a lot of energy,” Tippett said. “Were telling him to kind of play his game and not worry about anything else. And I think he played great.”

    In the second period, Barkey got on the scoresheet with a pair of primary assists.

    His first came on a power play, when he got the puck off the right boards and fed Travis Sanheim in the high slot. The defenseman skated down and fired the wrister from the slot past the stick of Shesterkin. It is Sanheim’s first power-play tally since Jan. 31, 2019, against the Boston Bruins.

    Just 23 seconds later, he got point No. 2. Flyers defenseman Cam York threw a backhander on net that was knocked down by Rangers defenseman Will Borgen in front. Barkey scooped up the loose puck and sent the backhand pass to Tippett, who was at the left point. The forward skated in between the circles and also beat Shesterkin stick side.

    “The way he played tonight, the way he competes, yeah, I’m going to fight for him,” Tocchet said when asked if Barkey has a chance to stick around. ”Listen, he’s a young kid too. You want to make sure that he has enough reps where he’s going to be, but I saw enough tonight, and that’s a short sample side, that he’s a good little player.”

    What We Do

    In the second period, Barkey also drew a penalty that led to yet another power-play goal for the Flyers. The penalty came in the offensive zone, after the forward cleared the puck away from the front of the Flyers’ end.

    On the ensuing power play, the Flyers ran what appeared to be a set play. Noah Cates won the face-off back to Jamie Drysdale at the left point. The defenseman sent it across to his good buddy, Zegras, and the New York native sent a one-timer into the back of the net.

    Zegras has a team-leading 15 goals and 35 points in 34 games. He is riding a seven-game point streak (five goals, four assists).

    It is the first time the Flyers have scored two power-play goals in a game since Dec. 3 against the Sabres, which was also the last time the Flyers got a tally on the man advantage. They went 0-for-16 across the past seven games.

    But what made the day extra special was the Flyers getting their first short-handed goal of the season. Rodrigo Ābols forced defenseman Scott Morrow to make a pass across the ice that was picked off by Sanheim.

    The defenseman skated down and made a nifty move around Morrow on a two-on-one. His pass went off the skate of Ābols as he crashed the net. The goal is Ābols’ second of the season.

    Philly had two chances to win the game in overtime. Panarin slashed York eight seconds into the extra session. They had four shot attempts, with Konecny missing the net twice.

    Then, with 51 seconds left in overtime, Zegras was pulled down by Morrow, but the Flyers couldn’t find the back of the net. Shesterkin stopped a tip-in chance by Konecny from 6 feet out with 33 seconds left, and Zegras had a shot blocked.

    “Yeah, it’s tough. … I think it’s something that we’ve got to get a lot better at, because that’s, two four-on-threes in overtime, like you’ve got to come up with a goal for the team there,” Zegras said. “Just not good enough.”

    Added Tocchet: “We had chances at the end, four-on-three. We have some guys here who’ve got to help us. Got to score there. Too slow with the four-on-three. … We’ve just got to learn how to handle pressure. We knew at the beginning of the year we had to start to do [that], but take the point when we thought we should have had two.”

    Flyers’ Christian Dvorak, Dan Vladař out with injuries, and more roster updates

    ‘Broadway is dark tonight’

    Before the game, Brière announced that goalie Dan Vladař “has got a little, little boo-boo.” The goalie has an upper-body injury is “Nothing too serious,” and “he should be back, we hope, by Monday.”

    With that, Ersson got the start in goal for the second straight game. Although he came up big at times, he still allowed four goals on 27 shots, including two on 10 shots in the final frame.

    Panarin, who was clearly the Rangers’ best player Saturday, beat Ersson twice. His first goal of the game, with 26 seconds left in the first period, put the Flyers in a 1-0 hole. It is the 24th time in 34 games that the Flyers have trailed 1-0.

    Off a face-off in the Flyers’ end, Zibanejad got the puck on the right boards and chipped the pass to Panarin alone in the middle of the ice. He sent the wrister stick-side past Ersson.

    Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson allowed four goals on 26 shots in regulation against the Rangers on Saturday.

    The Russian winger scored again in the second period after Tippett turned the puck over in the neutral zone. Panarin intercepted his backhand pass in the middle of the ice, skated down the right wing, and fired the snapshot off the far post and in.

    Trocheck cut it to 4-3 in the third period after Ersson made a brilliant save on the Pittsburgh native, but couldn’t control the rebound. Trocheck’s second shot appeared to nick the skate of Nikita Grebenkin before getting past Ersson.

    “Comparing this one to recent third periods, I thought this one was a little bit better. I think maybe just a couple mental breakdowns, obviously, that led to the goal that was bouncing around. And then obviously they got one on the power play late to tie it up.” Zegras said.

    ”But, I mean, I thought we were playing better in the third than we normally have. So I guess that’s exciting, but still not good enough.”

    Breakaways

    Forward Garnet Hathaway was a healthy scratch for the first time with the Flyers on Saturday. The winger does not have a point in 33 games this season. “He’s had some tough moments and stuff like that. He’s trying to find his game,” said Tocchet, when asked about Hathaway postgame. “… He’s good when he plays with speed guys. So we’ve also got to help him, too.” … Forward Christian Dvorak (lower-body injury) did not play. Neither Dvorak nor Vladař’s injury is expected to be long-term, per Brière. Goalie Aleksei Kolosov was recalled under emergency conditions and served as the backup. … The Flyers are 12-7-5 when trailing 1-0; their 12 wins lead the NHL. … The two goals assisted on by Barkey, 23 seconds apart, is the sixth time this season the Flyers have scored twice within 25 seconds. It is three more than the next-closest team, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

    Up next

    The Flyers head home for a meeting with coach Rick Tocchet’s old team, the Vancouver Canucks, on Monday (NHLN, NBCSP, 7:30 p.m.).

    They finish up the schedule before the NHL’s holiday break with a quick trip on Tuesday against the Chicago Blackhawks (9 p.m., TNT, truTV, HBO Max).

  • Flyers’ Christian Dvorak, Dan Vladař out with injuries, and more roster updates

    Flyers’ Christian Dvorak, Dan Vladař out with injuries, and more roster updates

    NEW YORK — There’s been some movement with the Flyers’ 23-man roster in recent days, but before a question could even be asked about Egor Zamula clearing waivers, Tyson Foerster undergoing surgery, or Denver Barkey’s first call-up, Flyers general manager Danny Brière started things off with some news.

    Goalie Aleksei Kolosov was with the team for Saturday’s matinee against the New York Rangers as an emergency recall and backed up starter Sam Ersson. Goalie Dan Vladař “has got a little, little boo-boo,” he said, adding his upper-body injury is “Nothing too serious” and “he should be back, we hope by Monday.” But added that they don’t know for sure.

    Flyers forward Denver Barkey called up as NHL rosters head toward holiday freeze

    Vladař last played on Tuesday in Montreal, backstopping the Flyers to a 4-1 win against the Canadiens. The Czech netminder is 12-5-3 this season with the sixth-best goals-against average (2.41) and tied for the ninth-best save percentage (.910) in the NHL among goalies who have played at least 15 games.

    And then there was more. Forward Christian Dvorak, who has been centering one of the Flyers’ top lines and serving as a key penalty killer, is out with a lower-body injury. He did not dress against the Rangers, but “according to our trainers, shouldn’t be long-term.”

    Here are three more questions answered by Brière on Saturday afternoon.

    Why was Denver Barkey recalled and not Alex Bump?

    Called up from Lehigh Valley on Friday, Barkey delivered two assists in his NHL debut Saturday.

    Drafted by the Flyers in the third round of the 2023 NHL draft, the 5-foot-10, 173-pound forward, who is known for his grit, moxie, and determination, turned pro this season and has been impressive in the minors. The 20-year-old has 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in 26 games for the Phantoms, primarily playing on the wing with center Lane Pederson and winger Alex Bump.

    “He came in. He played extremely well. I think the biggest thing from the report is his consistency; he was good night after night and earned the right to get a look,” Brière said.

    Barkey has looked impressive since the Flyers’ rookie camp in early September, but everyone outside the organization expected Bump to be the one getting the call-up. Brière did say, “It could have also been one of those two guys,” meaning Pederson or Bump, as the line has been dominating in the AHL, “but we decided to go with Barkey.”

    A highly touted prospect, Bump was someone many thought would break camp with the Flyers. Instead, after a solid rookie camp, he was sent down after a poor main training camp. After a slow start in Lehigh Valley, he now has 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) in 27 games in Allentown.

    “We’re very happy with Alex,” Brière said. “Unfortunately, he got injured [Friday] night. He’s going to be out for a short period of time, maybe seven to 10 days. He didn’t have a great camp, and he knows that. But since then, he went down there, and he’s been working hard as well. He’s a guy we considered, and he’s not that far off.”

    What’s next for Egor Zamula?

    The Flyers defenseman cleared waivers on Friday afternoon and has been assigned to Lehigh Valley.

    Zamula last played on Dec. 7 and has skated in 13 of the Flyers’ first 33 games this season, registering one assist. Averaging a few ticks above 14 minutes a night, he had a plus-minus of plus-4, only boosted by a plus-5 night when he returned to the lineup on Nov. 22 against the New Jersey Devils.

    Flyers defenseman Egor Zamula cleared waivers on Friday and was assigned to Lehigh Valley.

    “The biggest thing with Egor is that he needs to play,” Brière said. “It doesn’t really help him sitting game after game, and we figured if he clears waivers, it’s going to give him the chance to play some games, maybe find his game again.

    “We expect to have some adversity there on defense at some point, too, where injuries are going to come — what was it two, three weeks ago, we didn’t have Cam York and Rasmus Ristolainen, and now they’re back in the lineup. So things change fast. Hopefully, he can find his game, and we could very well see him back with the big team at some point.”

    A mainstay last season, skating in 63 games, Zamula has dropped down the depth chart this season. He has been passed by Emil Andrae, offseason acquisition Noah Juulsen, and, more recently, Ty Murchison.

    Flyers’ Egor Zamula cleared waivers and will be assigned to Lehigh Valley

    A long-standing criticism, dating back to former coach John Tortorella, has been Zamula’s pace of play. Coach Rick Tocchet also said he wanted to see the 6-foot-3, 200-pound defenseman move the puck more quickly. Although he did not play for the Phantoms on Friday night, and while the AHL has a slightly slower pace of play, the hope is that he can refind his game.

    “It’s up to him,” Brière said. “We hope that he kind of takes charge down there. That’s up to him to decide how he’s going to play, but I think just going on the ice and getting the reps is more important than sitting around and just practicing day after day.”

    Why the change in status for Tyson Foerster?

    Originally, the winger was expected to miss two to three months after suffering an “upper-body” injury on Dec. 1 against Pittsburgh. However, on Wednesday, the Flyers announced that Foerster will miss the next five months after undergoing arm surgery on Monday. It is likely that his season is over.

    “Just more in-depth examinations, and after talking to different people, and just to make sure it was decided that, at the moment, the best thing was to take care of it with surgery,” Brière said.

    The GM added that it is an approximate timeline and “it could be a little less, could be a little bit more.”

    Flyers’ Tyson Foerster likely to miss the rest of the season after arm surgery

    At the time of his injury, Foerster led the Flyers in goals (10), leaving a huge hole in the lineup. Brière is hoping the Flyers can fill the spot from within.

    “It’s a pretty good player that you’re trying to replace, so that’s obviously not easy, but it’s a chance for other guys to step up, get more ice time, and take advantage of it,” he said.

    “So that’s the way we see it. It’s a great opportunity for a lot of guys to see what they can do. [Carl] Grundström’s recall, since then, he’s played extremely well, so that’s good to see, but it’s never easy to replace a guy like Tyson, who’s becoming a huge part of our offense.”

  • Villanova extends winning streak to seven with a win over Seton Hall

    Villanova extends winning streak to seven with a win over Seton Hall

    With a 72-55 win over Seton Hall in its conference home opener, Villanova’s winning streak reached seven on Friday night.

    The Wildcats (9-2, 2-0 Big East) made an early statement at Finneran Pavilion against one of their prime conference rivals. Seton Hall (7-4, 1-1 Big East) was third in the conference preseason poll, while Villanova was ranked fourth.

    Sophomore guard Jasmine Bascoe led the way with 20 points and seven rebounds. Senior guard Ryanne Allen added 19 points.

    Villanova guard Jasmine Bascoe (11) prepares to shoot a three-point basket against Seton Hall on Friday.

    The Pirates were paced by sophomore guard Jada Eads, who scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds.

    It wasn’t one of Villanova’s strongest shooting nights. The Wildcats went 30-for-68 (44.1%) from the field, including 12-of-34 on three-pointers. But they thrived on defense to claim a double-digit victory over their Big East foe.

    Villanova’s success in the turnover battle was key, as they scored 18 points off 15 Seton Hall turnovers. Meanwhile, the Pirates managed four points from Villanova’s 12 turnovers.

    Shaking off the rust

    It took some time for the Wildcats to find their rhythm after a nearly two-week hiatus from competition. Villanova last played on Dec. 7, when it beat St. Joseph’s to claim the Big 5 Classic championship.

    The Wildcats shot just 5-for-18 from the field in the opening 10 minutes.

    However, Villanova leaned on its steady defense, notching six steals in the first quarter and holding Seton Hall to 5-for-14 shooting from the field.

    As Villanova trailed, 11-7, with 49 seconds left in the first quarter, Bascoe stole the ball and drove in a layup. Freshman forward Brooke Bender then sank a three-pointer to give the Wildcats a one-point edge heading into the break.

    Allen heats up

    Allen fueled the scoring in second quarter, making all five of her three-pointers.

    The Wildcats continued to control possession as 12 of their 23 points came off turnovers.

    With 1 minute, 23 seconds remaining in the first half, junior forward Brynn McCurry grabbed a steal and passed it to Bender. She then assisted Allen’s fourth three-pointer to secure a 35-25 halftime lead.

    Using offensive depth

    Villanova pulled away from Seton Hall in the third quarter. A three-pointer from Bender gave the Wildcats a 21-point advantage in the period’s final seconds.

    The Wildcats shot just 3-for-14 on three-pointers in the final 20 minutes, but Bascoe and McCurry were effective in distributing the ball.

    Villanova finished with 20 assists, and McCurry dished out a team-high eight.

    Meanwhile, Villanova limited Seton Hall’s movement, holding the Pirates to just six assists.

    Up next

    Villanova will host St. John’s (11-2, 1-1 Big East) on Monday (noon, ESPN+).

  • Villanova tops Wisconsin in overtime to close out nonconference play on a high note

    Villanova tops Wisconsin in overtime to close out nonconference play on a high note

    MILWAUKEE — Duke Brennan came up to the top of the key and set a screen for Devin Askew, rolled to the paint, and rose for a two-handed dunk to put Villanova up eight in overtime, sending Wisconsin fans to the exits.

    The inside of Fiserv Forum on Friday night felt more like a Wisconsin home game than a neutral-site nonconference matchup. It was a tale of two halves for Villanova, but when the clock hit zero, the Wildcats picked up a resumé-boosting 76-66 overtime win against the pesky Badgers, who had beaten Big East foes Providence and Marquette.

    The win moved Villanova (9-2) into the 29th spot of KenPom’s rankings and sends the Wildcats into the Big East slate on a high note.

    Duke Brennan’s career night displays Villanova’s inside-out game as conference play looms

    “I thought they did a really good job of extending their halfcourt defense on us, which kind of surprised us a little bit,” Villanova coach Kevin Willard said postgame. “We had opportunities in the second half to win the game. And when you have two freshmen and a sophomore out there, sometimes you have to live through those mistakes.”

    Live by the three, die by the three

    The Wildcats got off to a hot start from the three-point line, hitting 8 of 19 attempts in the first half, led by Tyler Perkins’ barrage. He came into the game making 40.5% of his three-pointers, and his third three-pointer of the half from the top of the key pushed Villanova’s lead to 13 before the break.

    Perkins paced the Wildcats with 19 points and earned praise from his coach afterward.

    “I like the fact that Perk’s looking to shoot the basketball,” Willard said. “He’s shooting a high percentage. He does all the little things that most people don’t see. But when he’s aggressive out there, it gives us another scorer.”

    Villanova guard Tyler Perkins prepares to shoot a three-pointer against Wisconsin on Friday.

    But the second half was a different story. The three-point shots weren’t falling (1-for-10 in the second half), and the pressure Wisconsin (7-4) put on Villanova’s ballhandlers, like freshman Acaden Lewis and transfer guard Bryce Lindsay, left little room to operate.

    A lead that had ballooned to 15 early in the second half was slowly whittled to three with less than seven minutes remaining in regulation. After a Brennan layup with 6 minutes, 16 seconds left, the Wildcats did not score a field goal for nearly five minutes. Villanova was outscored, 34-21, in the second half and shot just 8-for-29 from the field.

    “We knew they [were] going to go on that run,” Lindsay said. “They got everybody in the crowd [into it], their fans. We just had to stay [together] as a team and play together.”

    Wisconsin tied the game with 31 seconds left, and Lewis’ contested stepback jumper fell short right before the buzzer to send the game to the extra frame.

    Judge dismisses lawsuit by Villanova’s Kris Jenkins against NCAA

    But in overtime, it was Lindsay, who shot 1-for-9 from the field through the first 40 minutes, who ignited the Wildcats. He opened the scoring with a curling three from the top of the key after a Brennan screen freed him. A dribble handoff with Villanova’s big man got Lindsay loose again two minutes later, pushing the Wildcats up seven with 2:59 left in overtime.

    “I see one fall, the hoop gets a little bigger for me,” said Lindsay, who finished with 12 points.

    Brennan’s battle on the boards

    Brennan was tested by the size of Wisconsin big men Nolan Winter (7-foot) and Aleksas Bieliauskas (6-10). The 6-10 Brennan, who entered the night averaging 11.6 rebounds, second-most in college basketball, pulled down seven of his 11 rebounds in the first half and outrebounded Winter and Bieliauskas combined.

    He also found soft spots in the middle of Wisconsin’s defense on pick-and-roll action. Lindsay found him in the lane for an and-one layup to open the second half, and Lewis found him on a similar action to end a scoring drought later in the half.

    Villanova’s Duke Brennan dunks the ball during overtime of a 76-66 win over Wisconsin.

    He played a team-high 39 minutes finished with his fourth double-double of the season.

    Turning up the heat defensively

    It was a shame that Lewis got into foul trouble in the first half because he was a big reason Wisconsin turned the ball over.

    His full-court pressure, along with Lindsay and Askew, made the Badgers uncomfortable in the first 20 minutes, which was part of Villanova’s game plan. The Wildcats scored 15 points off 16 Wisconsin turnovers, eight of which came in the first half.

    “That’s a Wisconsin team that can put up a lot of numbers,” Willard said, “and to have them struggle and turn them over like that, to me, was huge.

    “If you let them just run their offense, they will pick you apart. And really early in the game, we wanted to get them uncomfortable.”

    Friday was another learning experience for Lewis, who had opportunities to close out the game for Villanova. He missed the front end of a one-and-one with the Wildcats up three with 59 seconds left, committed a foul on the other end to give Wisconsin two free throws, then missed the potential game-winning shot and didn’t play most of the overtime period.

    However, he didn’t turn the ball over and finished with seven points and two assists on 3-for-9 shooting.

    Villanova freshman Acaden Lewis attempts a shot over Wisconsin’s Nick Boyd on Friday at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.

    “I thought he played great,” Willard said. “This is a great learning experience for him of what to do at the end of the game. But he had two huge steals in the end of the second half. And he’ll make his free throws next time, and he’ll make a better play at the end of the game.

    “That’s why you got to put him in those situations, and he’ll learn from it. He’s done it every game.”

    Added Perkins: “He’s so mature. … He got in foul trouble early. And a lot of freshmen would dig in their head, not be ready, not stay in the game. But he had some great stops at the end of the game.”

    Jalen Brunson gifts Villanova men’s and women’s basketball teams his new Kobe shoe

    Freshman guard out indefinitely

    Before the game, Villanova announced that freshman guard Chris Jeffrey underwent right knee surgery and is out indefinitely. Jeffrey, a Brooklyn native, had a knee injury before he arrived on campus that “recently flared up,” the program said.

    In nine games this season, Jeffery was averaging 4.2 points across 10.6 minutes. The team also announced that walk-on Wade Chiddick also had right knee surgery and has no timetable to return.

    Up next

    Villanova will open conference play at Seton Hall on Tuesday (7 p.m., Peacock). The Wildcats hope to ride the momentum they gained through their tough stretch of nonconference play.

    “The schedule we inherited, didn’t give us a whole ton of games in November to test ourselves,” Willard said. “And I think going through Michigan, [Pittsburgh], now Wisconsin, and now we got a really good Seton Hall team on Tuesday, now we’re testing ourselves, and I like the way these guys are going.”

  • How two Father Judge graduates are leading the way for Merrimack men’s basketball

    How two Father Judge graduates are leading the way for Merrimack men’s basketball

    When Kevair Kennedy saw Ernest Shelton enter his name in the transfer portal after spending two years at Division II Gannon University in Erie, Pa., the Merrimack College pledge texted his former Father Judge teammate about joining him in Massachusetts.

    “I was just telling him, if me and him team up again, we could cause so much damage,” said Kennedy, now a 6-foot-2 freshman point guard. “He’s familiar with my game, I’m familiar with his game. He knows that I like to drive, he like to shoot, so we got a good one-two punch. I also was reminding him about all the good times that we had at Father Judge, and he bought into it.”

    That he did. Shelton, a 6-5 junior shooting guard who led Gannon with 17.4 points last season, didn’t have any Division I scholarship offers in high school. But after proving himself in the PSAC, Shelton wanted to move up a level.

    His name and background — being a Father Judge product coached by Chris Roantree — stood out to Merrimack head coach Joe Gallo, who heavily recruits the Philadelphia area and has built a relationship with Roantree. So with the push of a former teammate and the familiar ties to his hometown, Shelton landed with the Warriors, where he and Kennedy are the team’s leading scorers, averaging 14.6 and 15.2 points, respectively, for the 6-7 team.

    The two have quickly emerged as impact players, and their addition to the program, which lost its top scorer last season in former West Catholic standout Adam “Budd” Clark, now at Seton Hall, has filled a large void.

    “I knew Kev would probably have to carry a big load with us losing Budd, and we’re a pretty point guard heavy program,” Gallo said. “We always have a great guard, so I knew he’d have the opportunity to do it. He’s definitely exceeded expectations, and Ern the same thing. You never know when a player goes from Division II and transfers up a level if it’s going to translate. But they both hit the floor running right from the summer.”

    Here’s a glimpse of their contributions so far: Shelton tied the single-season program record with 9 three-pointers against Boston on Nov. 15, where he finished with a career-high 33 points and was named MAAC Player of the Week. Kennedy also had his first career double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) against the Terriers. He’s been selected as Rookie of the Week twice.

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    A familiar face played a major part in their success. Shelton and Kennedy met while playing AAU together on Philly Triple Threat. Shelton spent his first two years of high school at Bishop McDevitt in Wyncote, before it closed down at the end of the 2020-21 academic year.

    He considered going to Archbishop Wood, where Roantree was a longtime assistant under John Mosco. But once Roantree landed the head job at Father Judge, Shelton decided to follow his coach there. He was reconnected with Kennedy, then a freshman who saw minutes. He later became a stater on the varsity team.

    The team took some bumps in those first two years as the program underwent a rebuild under a new coach. The Crusaders finished 4-9 in the Catholic League in 2021-22. They were 6-7 in 2022-23. But last season Father Judge made school history, earning a Catholic League and state championship.

    Kennedy played a large role in that achievement.

    Coach Chris Roantree of Father Judge raises the trophy after his team defeated Roman Catholic in the Catholic League championship. Kevair Kennedy is on the left.

    “I feel like I grew a lot in leadership there,” Kennedy said. ”Somebody had to be the leader, be the voice, and get us going on days when they didn’t feel like it. I feel like [Roantree] trusting me at an early age helped me with my accountability, not just hold others accountable, but hold myself accountable too.”

    Kennedy, who held one other scholarship offer from Wagner, had the chance to play at the Plaestra as a college player when Merrimack competed in the Cathedral Classic from Nov. 28 to Nov. 30. It wasn’t the same as playing in front of 10,000 fans for the Catholic League championship, but it was “a special moment” as the current Father Judge staff and team attended some of the games.

    The Warriors were riding a four-game winning streak before falling to Vermont on Dec. 14, thanks in part because of Shelton and Kennedy. The two would consider themselves to be more reserved, but on the court, they always seem to know where each other are.

    “It’s a lot more eye contact then words,” Gallo said. “Kev gets Ern a lot of unscripted three-point shots in transition, where we don’t even have to call a play, because [Kennedy] knows where [Shelton] is.”

    They aren’t the only Philly-area players on the team, either. Graduate student Jaylen Stinson is a former Archbishop Wood guard, senior forward Brandon Legris attended Perkiomen School, and next year, Rocco Westfield, a senior at Father Judge, intends to play for Merrimack.

    Gallo likes to recruit the area because of the the high-level competition in the Catholic League, and earlier in the season, when Merrimack faced Auburn and Florida, Kennedy and Shelton looked unfazed.

    “They’ve just been Philadelphia battle tested,” Gallo said. “Neither one of them blink at any of the competition we played against. I think that’s just going to continue to pay dividends.”

    So would Shelton and Kennedy say their time at Father Judge is helping them now?

    “For sure, definitely,” Shelton said. “It means a lot to have someone that you grew up with in college.”

    Kennedy added: “Having him here, it made me break through the ice even easier than it would have been if he wasn’t here. It was easier for me to get out of my shell, knowing that if I don’t know anybody at least I have Ern.”