TAMPA BAY — The Flyers headed to the Sunshine State to begin a four-game road trip, but the nice weather dried out their offense.
After scoring a combined 15 goals in the past four games, the Flyers were shut out for the first time this season, losing 3-0 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. It snapped the Flyers’ two-game winning streak and is their fourth loss in the last seven games.
It wasn’t a barn burner as the teams combined for 38 shots on goal. The Flyers had their chances, like when Matvei Michkov was robbed in the slot and Travis Sanheim was stoned in the high slot in the third period by Andrei Vasilevskiy. But they were few and far between, and the Lightning had better chances and buried them.
Flyers coach Rick Tocchet has spoken out about not wanting his players to back in and wanting them to stand up more at the blue line. Lightning coach Jon Cooper, who was Canada’s bench boss at the 4 Nations Face-Off alongside his assistant Tocchet, must have watched his pressers. The Lightning took a 1-0 lead with 4 minutes, 26 seconds left in the first period, thanks to Brandon Hagel using his speed to push the Flyers back.
Hagel got the puck at the Lightning’s blue line and carried it through the neutral zone. Despite three Flyers at the blue line waiting for him, he carried the puck in and dished a pass to Nikita Kucherov on the wall. As Hagel curled to the front of the net, Kucherov fed Emil Lilleberg at the point for a slap shot that Hagel ended up deflecting past goalie Sam Ersson.
Flyers right wing Owen Tippett (right) attempts a shot at Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy on Monday.
On their 12th shot of the game, the Lightning made it 2-0. And it was the same line: Brink, Michkov, and Sean Couturier, and the same defensive pairing, Jamie Drysdale and Andrae, on the ice — at almost the same time in the second period.
With four minutes remaining, after some sustained pressure in the Lightning’s end, Hagel sent the puck cross-ice to Kucherov, trapping the three forwards deep. The Russian winger skated up and sent the puck back across the ice to Hagel as the defensemen collapsed around the net, and the backcheck was late. Andrae went down to the ice to take away the pass, but Hagel skated around him and fed Anthony Cirelli alone in front for the easy tip-in.
Hagel added an empty-netter in the final seconds. … The Flyers’ Nic Deslauriers, who is 6-foot-1, dropped the gloves with 6-9 Curtis Douglas in the first period. The elder statesman in the fight by nine years, Deslauriers won the battle against the 25-year-old and yelled at his bench and a fan banging the glass on his way to the penalty box. … Sanheim played in his 600th NHL game, all with the Flyers. He is the sixth defenseman to hit that mark in franchise history.
Up next
The Flyers head to Sunrise, Fla., for a matchup with the Florida Panthers on Thanksgiving Eve (7 p.m., NBCSP).
There are games in the NFL that have repercussions. The Eagles’ 24-21 loss Sunday to the Cowboys — a game in which they blew a 21-point lead, throttled back their offense after taking that lead, and committed one egregious mistake after another — is likely to be one.
Those repercussions might yet be good for the Eagles. The NFL is so parity-ridden, each team separated from the other by such small differences, that it’s possible that Sunday’s meltdown will inspire the Eagles to clean up their sloppy play, beat the Chicago Bears on Black Friday, and embark on another deep playoff run. They’re still going to win the NFC East, at a minimum. It will be difficult to call such a season, no matter its final endpoint, a complete failure.
But Eagles chairman Jeffrey Lurie stopped judging his franchise by that standard a long time ago. Sunday’s loss went from See, the team is rounding into form to HOLY HELL EVERYONE’S WORST FEARS HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED in a matter of minutes. That sudden reversal of fortune, though, really had been the culmination of a steady accumulation of inconsistent performances, injuries to important players, and consternation both inside and outside the locker room.
Those conditions are the kind that, in the past, have compelled Lurie to act. It is, of course, true that the offensive line’s decline is a huge factor in the Eagles’ overall regression, maybe the biggest factor, and that reality, one could argue, should absolve Nick Sirianni, Kevin Patullo, Jalen Hurts, and anyone else for an 8-3 team that feels like it’s 3-8. But it’s naive to think, given the nature of Sunday’s loss and the arc of this season, that Lurie isn’t taking a long, hard look at the coaching staff, Sirianni included.
Raising such questions might seem premature or unnecessary. It’s not. There are reasons for Sirianni to be worried here — not necessarily that he’s going to be fired after the season, but that he’s more vulnerable than he once was. Nine months after winning the Super Bowl, six months after getting a contract extension, he ought to understand that, if recent history is any indication, there’s a lot at stake for him over the next 6-12 weeks. Consider:
1) The Eagles aren’t playing offense the way Lurie has generally wanted his teams to play offense.
This assertion is obvious, and it’s based on the Eagles’ production, or lack thereof. But it’s also based on the Eagles’ style of play.
For years, dating to the Andy Reid era, the Eagles made their bones by remaining aggressive in their play-calling even after taking a big lead, by using analytics to set themselves apart from the rest of the league. Sometimes, it cost them games. In February 2018, it won them their first Super Bowl. Lurie loves that approach.
The last two years, however, the Eagles have turned themselves into a full-fledged running team. Lurie is not necessarily anti-running the ball — not when it leads to the big plays and the Super Bowl victory that Saquon Barkley and that dominant offensive line delivered last season. But those plays haven’t materialized and the line hasn’t dominated this season, and Sirianni’s response has been to lean into being uber-conservative. He doesn’t call plays, no, but the offense is his, and he hasn’t prioritized piling up points. He has prioritized protecting the football, eliminating turnovers, and walking a thinner line to victory. He has tempted fate by trying to win games in a manner Lurie is inclined to reject once it fails.
2) Lurie has never hesitated to insist upon coaching changes when he has thought them necessary.
After the 2019 season, for instance, the Eagles parted ways with then-offensive coordinator Mike Groh and then-wide receivers coach Carson Walch. A year later, after the team’s disastrous 4-11-1 season in 2020, then-head coach Doug Pederson was fired.
For the moment, Patullo is a great shield for Sirianni. Everyone knows that Patullo is the Eagles’ offensive play-caller. Everyone knows that he’s a neophyte when it comes to this role and its responsibilities. And everyone can see that the Eagles offense has not been good this season, even though it has plenty of superstar-level players to whom Lurie is paying superstar-level dollars. So if the Eagles offense remains dysfunctional — and it really hasn’t been functional at all, not to the degree it was expected to be — Patullo will be and has been the coach who bears the blame, and a layer of protection will have been removed from Sirianni.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts on the sideline with head coach Nick Sirianni (right) during Sunday’s loss in Dallas.
3) Lurie expects his franchise quarterback to grow into greatness, then remain there.
One of the problems that the Eagles’ play-not-to-lose strategy creates for Sirianni is the implication that Hurts can’t be trusted or isn’t at his best when asked to operate a more dynamic, more daring offense. Lurie doesn’t care and doesn’t want to hear that the Eagles’ coaches feel like they have to run a Frankenstein’s monster style of offense, patching together parts from several systems just to maximize Hurts’ skill set. He wants his franchise quarterback to be worth the franchise-quarterback money he’s paying him, and if that player isn’t meeting those expectations, Lurie will greenlight a search for a replacement only as a last resort.
Remember: Even after Carson Wentz’s horrible 2020 season, the Eagles fired Pederson first. They were willing to make it work with Wentz until they finally understood they couldn’t. Only then did they trade him.
4) Sirianni’s personality is different from Pederson’s, and that difference doesn’t help Sirianni.
Pederson was a go-along-to-get-along kind of guy, at least as much of one as an NFL head coach ever is. But after he won the Super Bowl, he started to assert himself. He wrote his autobiography. He sought more power within the organization, at least with respect to his assistants. Lurie eventually disabused him of those notions.
Sirianni is naturally more emotional and combative than Pederson. He, too, has won a Super Bowl, and his winning percentage is among the best of any head coach in league history. It’ll be interesting to see whether he’ll have to quell his assertiveness with Lurie and Howie Roseman — and if he’s able.
TAMPA BAY — Look, a power play isn’t expected to score every single time. It would be nice, but it just doesn’t happen.
The best one in the NHL right now has a 32% effectiveness, which means the Pittsburgh Penguins roughly score every three opportunities. Currently, the Flyers’ power play sits at 17.5%. The unit’s not last in the NHL — that belongs to the New York Islanders (13.3%), who the Flyers face on Black Friday (4 p.m., NBCSP) — but it does rank in the lower-third (23rd).
And while the Flyers’ power play struggled before and during the John Tortorella era, the ranking is all-too-familiar. Although the current coach, Rick Tocchet, thinks it’s in a good spot, it can be better.
“Everybody wants plays, but sometimes it’s good old-fashioned beat pressure and then attack, and we’ve got to get that mentality, and we’re close, but we’ve got to keep working,” he said on Saturday morning, adding two days later that he wants his players to play inside more.
Entering Monday’s matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning (7 p.m., NBCSP), the Flyers have 10 power-play goals. The last one came five games ago against the Edmonton Oilers — they are 0-for-8 since — and Tocchet said his units may be more interchangeable.
Practice on Friday had four more players involved, and on Saturday night in the Flyers’ 6-3 win against the New Jersey Devils, new power-play units were deployed.
Another tweak came on Monday in Florida.
One power play has Noah Cates, Travis Konecny, Tyson Foerster, Trevor Zegras, and Cam York. What? York and Zegras reunited? Makes a whole lot of sense that the two former USA Hockey teammates are together; York has been on the ice for eight power-play goals this season — just one without Zegras.
Konecny was also switched to that unit, and while he has played a lot on the left flank the past two seasons, he is back to his familiar bumper spot.
“I feel a little bit more comfortable in there. I feel like I can make quick little plays, be fast on loose pucks, and recovery, stuff like that. … On the power play, I got to know my strengths. And I think it’s, I don’t have the hands that Trevor has,” Konency said with a grin, alluding to Zegras’ effectiveness on the right flank to draw in defenders, create space, and find seams.
Flyers right wing Travis Konecny says he feels more comfortable in the bumper position on the power play and that he needs to play to his strengths.
The other power play has Travis Sanheim, Emil Andrae, Owen Tippett, Bobby Brink, and Matvei Michkov. No center? “It’s interchangeable,” Tocchet said.
Sean Couturier will be on the ice when there is a face-off, but when they switch units “on the run” or on the fly when play is happening, that is the unit that will be on the ice.
It’s also interesting having two defensemen, with Sanheim being more of the pointman and Andrae on a flank. Tocchet thinks Andrae is not only good with the puck but “his shot’s pretty good,” too. The Swedish defenseman, who has been moved to the second pairing, knew that he had to build up trust with the new coaching staff, and it looks like he has.
“I like to be on the power play,” Andrae said. “I like to make those plays, and like to use my vision and my passing to create chances. So obviously, it boosts my confidence to know that the coaches rely on me on that side of the game. So, yeah, just make the most of it.”
Sanheim, who hasn’t spent much time on the man advantage in his career, is looking forward to the opportunity. It’s something he’s “always wanted to add to my game.”
“I think they’ve been doing a pretty good job in trying to grasp some of the structural components of what they’re trying to get across,” said Sanheim, who has been able to watch a lot of the power plays this season from the bench.
“And I think it’s just continuing to make those reads and understanding certain situations, depending on how the penalty kill is structured. And, maybe that’s a benefit, I guess, [being on the penalty kill] so much and understanding what the other team’s doing and trying to exploit some of the weaknesses that come with that, and, in saying that, [I] just want to have an attack mentality and deliver pucks and hopefully do a good job of doing that.”
Speaking of Sanheim, the defenseman is continuing to build a strong case to be part of Canada’s team at the 2026 Milan Olympics. No pressure, but the guy on the other bench on Monday night just happens to be the one making the decisions. Lightning coach Jon Cooper will be Canada’s bench boss in Italy, but a plus for Sanheim is that they’ve already worked together, snagging a gold medal at February’s 4 Nations Face-Off.
“You see these players, you compete against these players, but you don’t really know till you have them. And I’ve always, I’ve really liked his game,” Cooper told The Inquirer about Sanheim. “I’m a big fan of big D that take up a lot of space, and can skate, and he can do all those things. But his ability to jump into plays, he’s got an offensive mind to him.”
Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper, who will coach Canada at the Olympics, has been impressed with Travis Sanheim’s game over the past few years.
Sanheim seemed a little nervous and wide-eyed at the first practice in Brossard, Quebec, with Hockey Canada ahead of the 4 Nations. And while he didn’t start the tournament in the lineup, by the end — half due to injury and half due to his play — he was not just skating in the championship game but got the first shift of overtime. The familiarity and his ability to play both the left and the right side will help Sanheim once decision day comes.
“Anytime that you get to coach players, and you win with players, I always think there’s a familiarity. Past performance isn’t going to predict future success, and so the guy’s got to keep working, but he’s done a heck of a job so far,” Cooper said.
There’s another familiar face for Cooper on the Flyers bench. Tocchet was his assistant coach at 4 Nations and will be beside him again in Italy, making his Olympic debut.
Tocchet did a lot of the structure, faceoff planning, and in-game adjustments; he was a jack-of-all-trades for Cooper. But what Cooper loved most was how he would often meet with players 1-on-1 or in small groups to watch videos — over a garbage can. As Tocchet explained later, he would put his laptop on a garbage can and go over things, much like he did in his days with the Penguins. His assistants on the Flyers do it now, too.
“I couldn’t have surrounded myself with a better guy,” Cooper said. “I will tell you this, because his eye for the game and what happens in real time, having that talent is a real thing. And Tocc has that. He sees it, he processes it, and then gives you the information.
“And there were countless times at the 4 Nations that he made me think of things, or I saw things in a different light, or I missed something, and he caught it. And so many little adjustments we made in between periods, because of what Tocc did.”
One day after the Eagles offense stalled and was shut out after building a 21-0 lead 18-plus minutes into the game, Nick Sirianni said the Eagles are “searching for answers” for their ailing offense.
But the quest for more consistency won’t include a change to the play-caller.
“I haven’t considered that,” the head coach said when asked Monday if he had considered taking play-calling duties away from offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo.
“It’s every piece of the puzzle: coaching, playing, execution, scheme, everything. We’ve got to be better in all those aspects. And so yesterday, I thought Kevin did a good job of calling it. Obviously, he’s going to want some plays back, just like every player and myself, we all want plays back.”
The Eagles hurt themselves with self-inflicted wounds. Of their 14 penalties, seven were on the offense. Two of them erased gains of 16 and 20 yards and had a major impact on the game. But even still, the offense that looked dynamic and creative for the first few series went silent. The Eagles didn’t get past the Dallas 28-yard line in the second half. They have consistently failed to run the football and adjust to opponents who take the run away. They have been unable to consistently sustain a passing offense through a full game.
Nick Sirianni (left) says he is sticking with Kevin Patullo (right) as the play-caller despite the Eagles’ offensive issues of recent weeks.
What gives Sirianni confidence that the Eagles can make a course correction this late in the season?
“I feel like we’ve got the right people, as players, as coaches, that have had success,” Sirianni said. “And we’re all searching for answers to make it more consistent. There are some good things, obviously there are some not-so-good things. And we’ve got to find the things that we really can hang our hat on, and then the complements that come off of that.”
Left guard Landon Dickerson said the Eagles were surprised by Dallas’ frequent use of a five-man front. Jalen Hurts said “that’s how they’re built now” after the Cowboys acquired Quinnen Williams and retooled their defense.
The front gave the Eagles fits at times, especially as they tried to establish a running game that never got going. Saquon Barkley rushed 10 times for 22 yards.
Saquon Barkley added value in the passing game on Sunday but continues to have trouble finding running room.
Dallas showed that five-man front a week earlier vs. Las Vegas. So, were the Eagles prepared for it or were they not?
“You go into every week and you’re trying to play the game in your mind as much as you possibly can, not just with how you call it but how you plan it for practice as well, and how you plan for drills,” Sirianni said. “The walk-throughs, the practice, your drill work, you’re trying to identify what you think and what you’re always trying to do is say, ‘How many reps do I need to devote toward this? How many reps do I need to devote toward that?’ And you try to make educated guesses there.”
Which is to say …
“We devoted time for all of them,” Sirianni said. “We knew they had that in their package and their plan. They played a little bit more there, even than anticipated. So, of course, as coaches, you say to yourself, ‘Well, I wish I would’ve gave them a couple more reps on this one.’
“Now, you’re limited as far as how many reps you actually have at walk-through, at live, at drill work. … No one’s ever going to pitch a perfect game here. Looking back at it, yeah, sure, I wish I would’ve given us a couple more reps there.
“We prepared for the things that we thought we were going to get, some more than others, and then sometimes it doesn’t play out that way when you look at it after the game.”
The Eagles matched their high for penalties in the Sirianni era with 14. As mentioned, seven of them were on the offense and a few of them wiped out key plays.
The Eagles had three false starts. They also had an illegal formation penalty out of the jumbo package with Matt Pryor on the field as an extra blocker.
Nick Sirianni’s team shot itself in the collective foot with multiple pre-snap penalties against the Cowboys.
Sirianni said it’s “hard to sustain the success of a game when you have those.”
It has made a struggling offense’s problems even worse.
“Any time it’s penalties like that, or any time it’s ball security, or any time it’s the fundamentals, or something within ‘tough, detailed, together,’ I’m going to put that on myself,” Sirianni said.
“Just point-blank, I have to do a better job of coaching it and finding different ways to make sure it gets through.”
Temple is reeling after its third straight loss, but coach K.C. Keeler says his team needs to keep things in perspective.
Temple (5-6, 3-4 American) will need to win its regular-season finale Friday at No. 21 North Texas (3:30 p.m., ESPN) to become bowl eligible.
“Concerned the guys are losing some confidence, and I’ve got to make sure that we don’t,” Keeler said Monday at his weekly news conference. “My point to them [Tuesday] in our team meeting is going to be, ‘When I showed up in December, if I promised you that we’d be playing for a meaningful game in November, you guys would all be jumping up and down.’ So that’s what they have to remember. We’re playing a meaningful game in November. We’re playing for an opportunity to beat a nationally ranked team and go to a bowl game.”
Temple was cruising after defeating Tulsa, 38-37, in overtime on Oct. 25. The Owls were 5-3, a win away from their first bowl game since 2019, and even had an outside shot at making the American Conference championship game for the first time since 2016. Then came the three-game skid, capped by a 37-13 loss to Tulane on Saturday.
Temple coach K.C. Keeler on the sideline during the second half against Tulane.
Now comes a matchup with Drew Mestemaker and North Texas (10-1, 6-1). The redshirt freshman and former walk-on leads the conference’s top-scoring offense. Keeler said he tried to get Mestemaker to walk on when the coach was at Sam Houston State before the quarterback committed to the Mean Green.
North Texas averages 46.3 points per game, which ranks first in Division I. Mestemaker has passed for 3,469 passing yards, the most in the FBS, and 26 touchdowns.
“He’s a big, athletic kid who’s very smart and has a talented arm,” Keeler said. “You pressure him, he knows right where to get the ball. They do a good job with the screen game to where you try heating them up, boy, they’re going to really kill you with those quick screens. So, it’s not giving up the game plan, but we have to change it up.”
Temple’s defense has been banged up for much of the last month but is coming back to form for the regular-season finale. Keeler expects safeties Dontae Pollard (knee) and Avery Powell (shoulder) to play. He also expects to rotate cornerbacks, giving Adrian Laing, Denzel Chavis, and Devontae Ward-Grant some playing time.
However the priority will be getting the offense back to form. The Owls have failed to score 20 points in the last three games after three straight games scoring at least 31. Temple rushed for only 20 yards against Tulane, but Keeler expects that to change against the Mean Green, who are last in the conference in rushing defense (211.2 yards allowed per game).
“When we’ve played well, we’ve done a really good job of keeping our defense off the field,” Keeler said. “Just methodically moving the ball downfield, a couple big plays here and there, and taking that time off the clock and also getting points. Against these guys, you want to play by sevens, not threes.”
Temple’s Allan Haye (8) puts pressure on Tulane’s Jake Retzlaff on Saturday.
The three straight losses came against teams that rank in the top five in the American in scoring defense. Keeler hopes that with the toughest defenses behind them, the Owls offense will get back on track.
Temple was without right tackle Diego Barajas (flu) and center Grayson Mains (ankle) for much of Saturday, and they will be game-time decisions on Friday. Both saw limited reps Monday in practice, but linemen Luke Watson and Chris Smith also participated in case they need to fill in against North Texas.
“They’re a good football team,” Keeler said of the Mean Green. “When we’ve played well. We’ve played with everybody in this league. … I need to make sure that when we go into that game that our mind is set. … You know what? You kind of flush what happened last couple weeks. You’ve got to just go out and play this ballgame.”
Joel Embiid’s availability is either the NBA’s biggest mystery or the 76ers’ best-kept secret.
The 2023 MVP has missed the last seven games because of knee injuries. So what is his status for Tuesday’s matchup against the Orlando Magic at Xfinity Mobile Arena?
“The same as it was,” coach Nick Nurse said Monday, hours before Embiid was listed as questionable. “He’s still day to day.”
Embiid has missed the last six games because of soreness in his right knee. He also missed the Sixers’ 111-108 home loss to the Detroit Pistons on Nov. 9 because he doesn’t play on back-to-back nights as part of the rest and recovery plan for his left knee.
The Sixers have said there’s no structural damage to his right knee. So what’s holding up his return?
“Just waiting for doctors to clear him,” Nurse said.
Asked if Embiid has been a full participant at practice, the coach said he was during Monday’s session. Nurse said the center is in good spirits despite being sidelined for two weeks.
“He’s a little frustrated about it,” the coach said. “But I think it was cognizant that he was feeling something there, and he immediately wanted to get it figured out.
“Like I said last night, he’s trying to do a lot of stuff to try to get back on the floor. So his spirits are good.”
The 7-foot-2, 280-pounder has missed 10 of the Sixers’ 16 games. He is averaging 19.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.5 blocks in 23.3 minutes.
Sixers center Joel Embiid (left) talking with Tyrese Maxey after a victory against the Orlando Magic on Oct. 27.
The expectation was that Embiid would miss some time this season after arthroscopic surgery in his left knee in April. It was his second left-knee surgery in 14 months and third in nine years.
The plan was for Embiid sit out the second night of back-to-back games. He also wasn’t expected to play when there were fewer than two days of rest between games.
But now Embiid hasn’t played since Nov. 8, when he scored a season-high 29 points and posted six rebounds and four assists in a season-high 25 minutes, 57 seconds against the Toronto Raptors.
He has missed 64 games since the start of the 2023-24 season because of injuries. Embiid played in 39 games in 2023-24 and 19 games last season.
“As a friend, you want him to be healthy and ready to play,” Tyrese Maxey said of Embiid. “You want him to be happy. As long as he’s happy, then I’m happy. That’s at the end of the day.
“Yes, basketball is our career, but life is life, you know what I’m saying? You only get one life. So you’ve got to live life to the fullest. And as long as people are happy, his family’s good, he’s good, and he can get on the basketball court as much as possible, I’m happy.”
But Embiid isn’t the only banged-up player on the Sixers’ roster.
Two other starters, Kelly Oubre Jr. (sprained left knee) and VJ Edgecombe (left calf tightness), and reserve center Adem Bona (sprained right ankle) will remain sidelined for Tuesday’s game. Paul George (sprained right ankle) and Maxey (sprained right shoulder) are listed as probable. However, Maxey downplayed his injury.
When asked about coping with the team’s injuries, Maxey said the Sixers have a good mentality about them this season.
“It’s just like whoever’s playing is playing, whoever is not is not,” he said, “and they’re going to cheer the teammates on.”
Sixers guard Kelly Oubre Jr. shooting over Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs on Oct. 27.
The standout point guard said he would love to have everyone available for all 82 regular-season games. Maxey knows that’s not possible.
“But you just have to have the next-man-up mentality,” he said, “and we move on from there.”
The Sixers (9-7) are focused on securing their first NBA Cup victory when they host the Magic.
They’re 0-2 in East Group B after a 114-105 loss to the Pistons on Nov. 14 at Little Caesars Arena. The Magic (10-8, 2-0) are tied with the Pistons for first place in the group.
The Sixers must find a way to contain Orlando forward Franz Wagner, who averages 23 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal. The 6-10, 230-pounder has scored in double figures in every game this season. He scored at least 20 points on 13 occasions, including a season-high 37 points Saturday in a 133-121 victory over the New York Knicks.
Orlando All-Star forward Paolo Banchero will miss his seventh consecutive game with a left groin strain. Speaking to the Orlando Sentinel on Sunday, Banchero said he’s “pretty close” but could not pinpoint when he would return.
The Magic had their three-game winning streak snapped Sunday in a road loss to the Boston Celtics. Meanwhile, the Sixers are 5-7 after opening the season with four straight victories.
While the team has faded a little, Maxey has been one of the season’s elite players.
He scored a career-high 54 points to go with nine assists, five rebounds, three steals, and three blocks Thursday in a 123-114 overtime victory over the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum. Maxey was second in the league in scoring before Monday’s games at 33.0 points per game, and seventh in assists at 7.8.
Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey shoots as Miami Heat guard Pelle Larsson defends him on Sunday.
“I just want us to win,” Maxey said when asked if winning MVP was a goal. “If we win, and that comes with it, I’m happy. But I don’t really care. Like last night, we lost [to the Heat]. When I play well, and we lose, it doesn’t make me happy at all.
“But when I play bad, and we win, I’m extremely happy because at the end of the day … the wins mean more to me. Right now, we have nine wins. That means the most to me. It’s to keep stacking days, keep winning, keep getting better every single day, and keep leading this team.”
Eagles rookie safety Drew Mukuba suffered a right leg fracture in the waning moments of Sunday’s loss to Dallas and will require surgery, sources confirmed to The Inquirer.
ESPN and the NFL Network were first to report the news. Mukuba is likely headed to injured reserve.
“He’ll miss a little bit of time here,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said Monday. “But we’ll see how long.”
The second-round pick was injured after tackling George Pickens after the Cowboys receiver’s 24-yard reception with 35 seconds to play. He was helped into the locker room without being able to put pressure on his right foot, and was later seen in a walking boot and using crutches.
Drew Mukuba suffered a right leg fracture in pursuit of Cowboys receiver George Pickens on Sunday.
The Eagles lost both of their starting safeties to injury before the game ended. Earlier in the game, Reed Blankenship suffered a thigh injury and did not return.
Sydney Brown filled in for Blankenship and played 26 snaps. It’s unclear if Blankenship will miss Friday’s home game vs. Chicago.
The Eagles are thin at safety and have only those three on the active roster. Andre’ Sam is on the practice squad, and Marcus Epps is on injured reserve and unavailable to play Friday. Cooper DeJean and Michael Carter II would be potential options if the Eagles need a fill-in for Blankenship.
“This is why you need your entire roster,” Sirianni said. “It’s never just the 53 guys, it’s the 70 guys. You never know when those guys’ opportunity will come, and here we are.”
The Eagles also could be without Adoree’ Jackson on Friday. The outside cornerback suffered a concussion only a few weeks after clearing protocol from a concussion he suffered in Week 7.
The Eagles moved DeJean outside in the nickel package and had Carter playing in the slot after Jackson left. DeJean did not hold up well against a high-powered passing attack.
The Eagles return to the practice field Tuesday, and more clarity will come then on who may be available for Friday. One thing is certain, though, the Eagles need a replacement for Mukuba for an extended stretch. Brown, for now, is the next man up.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Terry Smith is no longer timid when asked about his interest in shedding his interim title to become Penn State’s next head coach. He wants the job, and he has made that desire known in recent days.
After the Nittany Lions’ 37-10 win over Nebraska on Saturday, Smith said he “has always been a head coach.” Dani Dennis-Sutton, the team’s standout defensive end, said Smith told players he wants to be Penn State’s next head coach.
And on Monday, Smith reiterated that statement.
“I would like to be the head coach [at Penn State],” Smith said. “If I don’t speak for myself, who will?”
After a 3-3 start led to James Franklin’s firing, Smith led Penn State (5-6, 2-6 Big Ten) through its toughest stretch of the season. The Nittany Lions went winless in his first three games, with losses to Iowa, No. 1 Ohio State, and No. 2 Indiana.
But the team was more competitive. Penn State lost to the Hawkeyes by one point in a tough road environment, trailed the Buckeyes by three points at halftime at Ohio Stadium, and nearly handed Indiana its first loss of the season.
Then came the team’s breakthrough, a 28-10 road win over Michigan State, followed by a dominant 27-point victory over Nebraska. Smith said he is interviewing for the head coaching job every day with the way he leads this team.
And through five games, he believes his interview is going well.
“No one knows Penn State better than me,” Smith said. “Of all the candidates that are out there, I [best] know the history of Penn State, I know the culture, the DNA, the locker room, the administration. I think I’m a good leader of men, and that will take care of itself when the time comes.”
Penn State interim coach Terry Smith celebrates after winning against Nebraska on Saturday.
Smith is correct. He spent four years as a player and 12 more as a coach at Penn State. He also has the backing of the team and its fans, which was showcased Saturday night with several “Terry!” chants and signs etched with “Hire Terry Smith.”
Smith has generated impressive support off the field, but his team also has improved in several key areas on the field since his promotion.
The Nittany Lions offense, which struggled to generate explosive plays before Franklin’s firing, has successfully thrown the ball downfield in recent weeks. After registering zero completions of 20 or more yards in his first two starts, Ethan Grunkemeyer had 13 completions in that category over his last three games.
“We’re answering all your guys’ questions about throwing the ball down the field,” Smith said. “The ball is going down the field, which is opening up our run game, which is why we ran for over 200 yards [against Nebraska]. We look like a real football team.”
On several occasions before his firing, Franklin said he wanted his defense to “play faster.” His pleas were not answered.
But three weeks ago, Smith simplified some of Jim Knowles’ defense and added a “prowler package” to generate a greater pass rush. The Nittany Lions have since allowed just 15.7 points per game and tallied 11 sacks — nearly half their season total.
After a six-game losing streak and a 3-6 start, Smith has his team positioned for bowl eligibility. The only thing standing in its way: a road date with Rutgers (5-6, 2-6) on Saturday (3:30 p.m., BTN).
“We approach these last couple of weeks as do-or-die, playoff-type games. And this is another playoff game for us,” Smith said. “We’re playing to get that extra game.”
The Eagles blew a 21-0 lead at AT&T Stadium on Sunday, allowing the Dallas Cowboys to score 24 unanswered points and putting an end to the Birds’ four-game winning streak.
After the epic collapse, the Eagles face a short turnaround as they prepare to host the Chicago Bears on Black Friday. From the team’s chances this week to updates on yearly awards, here are the latest odds from two of the biggest sportsbooks …
Eagles-Bears odds
The Eagles and Bears last met during the 2022 season, a 25-20 road win for the Eagles.
This time around, the game will be in Philly as the Eagles attempt to bounce back from an embarrassing loss to their division rivals. Meanwhile, the Bears are heading into Friday’s game on a four-game winning streak, including their latest over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. Despite the divergent results, sportsbooks are favoring the Eagles, with the Birds opening Week 13 as seven-point favorites.
Despite the collapse against the Cowboys, the 8-3 Eagles still hold a big lead in the race to win the NFC East. However, Dallas did manage to slightly close the gap from last week. Meanwhile, Washington is 3-8 and its chances remain the same, and the New York Giants are out of the running.
The Rams and Eagles have been among the favorites to win the NFC for most of the season.
NFC odds
As a result of Sunday’s loss, the Eagles are no longer the favorites to win the conference at both sportsbooks. Instead, the Los Angeles Rams reclaimed the top spot with a 34-7 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Elsewhere, the San Francisco 49ers enter the top six.
Both sportsbooks have the Rams as the favorites to win the Super Bowl, with the Eagles as a close second. Meanwhile, the Buffalo Bills have completely fallen out of the top five after Thursday’s loss to the Houston Texans.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts leaves the field after the Birds’ 24-21 loss to the Cowboys on Sunday.
MVP odds
Jalen Hurts’ MVP odds continue to fall after the latest loss. Drake Maye, Matthew Stafford, and Jonathan Taylor hold the top three spots in the race to MVP, but it appears to be a race between the two QBs at the moment.
After a Week 12 performance that featured one of his weakest outings — rushing for just 22 yards on 10 carries — Saquon Barkley continues to fall in the race for offensive player of the year. Meanwhile, Taylor and Jaxon Smith-Njigba remain the clear favorites.
It turned out that Matt Freese didn’t need to be the hero to oust his old team from the playoffs. Far more often Sunday night, the Union did it to themselves.
That was the feeling at the final whistle of the season as the Supporters’ Shield winners dropped a 1-0 decision to rival New York City FC in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Sunday night at Subaru Park.
Of all the game’s narratives — and there were almost as many as the fouls the teams bashed each other with — the Union looking so powerless was among the least expected. But far too often in the game, it felt like this team wasn’t going to score.
In the first half, the Union had four scoring chances, and at least two of them were only half-chances. The biggest what-if came in the 42nd minute, when Tai Baribo flicked a first-time shot from close range wide of the far post instead of trying to slam it nearer.
In the second half, the Union didn’t have a quality chance until the 73rd, when Danley Jean Jacques botched heading a cross from substitute Frankie Westfield, then Bruno Damiani whiffed on an acrobatic attempt at the loose ball.
For almost all the time until then, a New York squad, whose leading striker Alonso Martínez and key midfielder Andrés Perea were out injured, sat back and defended. That also wasn’t surprising, but the Union kept falling into the Pigeons’ traps. Play up the middle repeatedly fizzled out, and New York repelled almost all of the Union’s repeated crosses. When the Union tried shooting from range to try to break things up, all but one of the attempts were off-target.
“They had a team out there that was hungry, and for the first couple of moments of the game, we didn’t really match that,” Union manager Bradley Carnell said. “That’s on me. … Something just didn’t feel right, and we were a little bit slow to get into the game. Once we did, I thought we were very good.”
By the time Cavan Sullivan entered in the 83rd minute, it almost felt too late already. But even in the 15 total minutes he spent on the field — seven of regular time and eight of stoppage time — he was more creative than some of his teammates were all night.
But the end felt inevitable well before the final whistle. Westfield blazed over the bar from close (but offside) range in the 87th, and Freese went full-stretch to deny Milan Iloski in the 92nd. The Wayne native let out a big shout and a fist pump with that, finally releasing some of the emotions he’d kept pent-up with the U.S. national team.
The Union now turn to their offseason roster decisions, which are due to the league by Wednesday. Four players are out of contract, and eight have options on the table.
Any team expecting to make a deep run usually knows by this point what its decisions will be. The Union are no exception, even though sporting director Ernst Tanner has been on administrative leave since Wednesday. Most of the big calls were likely made before then.
But that doesn’t mean there will be smooth sailing. While the season’s end opens the door for a quick decision on Tanner, the odds of that happening feel slim. MLS has to finish its investigation, and there have been no hints about how long that will take.
If the league proves enough of the allegations of insensitive comments on many levels to move for Tanner’s dismissal, MLS and the Union will have to contend with however Tanner and his lawyers respond.
In the meantime, it looks as if the key decision-makers will be the trio of assistant sporting director Matt Ratajczak, scouting director Chris Zitterbart, and academy director Jon Scheer. All three know the way things work at the club plenty well, even if they don’t have Tanner’s name recognition or final-say power.
Union fans brought plenty of energy Sunday night, but they left the stadium disappointed.
The biggest decision that has already been made is releasing Mikael Uhre. He’s out of contract, and it’s been an open secret in Chester for weeks that he’s on his way out. Nor is it a secret in his native Denmark that Uhre has feelers out to clubs there including his previous home, Brøndby.
Uhre stood for a long spell on the field after the final whistle, at times with colleagues and at times alone. As he headed to the locker room, the fans left in the River End gave him a nice ovation.
“Let’s just say I’m keeping my options open,” he said. “I’m not saying I would never come back. I love it here — I love the people here, I love my teammates — so I would definitely not say no. But yeah, that’s not only up to me.”
The other players out of contract are Alejandro Bedoya, who will presumably first decide whether he wants to play another year; and two players deep on the bench, midfielder Ben Bender and third-string goalkeeper George Marks.
Eight players have options on the table: goalkeeper Oliver Semmle; defenders Nathan Harriel, Isaiah LeFlore, and Olwethu Makhanya; midfielders Nick Pariano and Indiana Vassilev; and forwards Tai Baribo and Chris Donovan.
Mikael Uhre stands on the field alone, knowing he has played his last game for the club.
Most of those decisions should be easy. Semmle, LeFlore, Pariano, and Donovan will almost certainly go, and the other four should get picked up. The quartet deserve new contracts, and who negotiates them will be a big question. At least taking the options allows for time to have those talks down the road.
Baribo will likely be the biggest challenge. He has earned a big raise and would love to stay in town for on-the-field and off-the-field reasons. But the Union might be wary of breaking the bank for him, and they’d be right. His skill set has limits.
Earlier this month, Israel’s Ynet news website reported that the Union offered Baribo a $2 million contract. That has yet to be confirmed anywhere else, but if it’s true, the view here is that Baribo (and his agent) would be wise to take it.
Sunday’s loss was not a failure of the Union’s system. They should have won the game since New York was shorthanded, and if they’d had the injured Quinn Sullivan, their odds would have gone way up. But the Supporters’ Shield trophy can’t be taken away from them, nor does losing at this point in the playoffs devalue it.
“On another night maybe it goes our way,” Carnell said. “But it just wasn’t meant to be. It gives us something to be hungry for down the line here starting in the new year, and that gives me motivation to come back and think we can do this thing one step further.”
Union manager Bradley Carnell on the sideline Sunday night.
As the Union, the crowd, and the season headed off into the Sunday night darkness, some words from a few weeks ago came to mind.
They came from principal owner Jay Sugarman when he met with the national media in New York, just before the playoffs started. He wanted to drum up some positive attention for his team, and he succeeded.
But at one point, he said something that he knew might come back around on him: “We don’t rely so much on guys creating their own shot.”
It was once again the missing piece Sunday. The only players who have that skill are Cavan Sullivan and Iloski, and that’s not enough — even though Sullivan will be ready for a lot more playing time next year.
It’s especially missing at striker. Ezekiel Alladoh could be a big-time addition, but the evidence from his time in Denmark shows him to be stylistically similar to what this team already has in Baribo and Damiani.
Cavan Sullivan (left) trying to get away from New York’s Raul Gustavo late in the game.
Then again, who will sign Alladoh if Tanner goes? That will put an even bigger question on the table for Sugarman and the rest of the Union’s ownership.
It will sit alongside the biggest question of all, one Carnell brought back into focus when he said that “the fairy tale came to an end tonight.”
A big-city team that has made the playoffs in seven of the last eight years and made deep runs in four of the last five — plus two deep Concacaf Champions Cup runs — shouldn’t have to frame a Shield-winning season as a fairy tale. The Union are legitimately one of the best teams in MLS. They should be again next year and should be treated as such.
But how to get over the biggest hump of all, to win an MLS Cup, is a question that can only be answered at the top of the organization.
That has been true since the beginning, and now it’s on to the 17th attempt.
