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  • The Premier League’s spectacle is as big as it gets, but its players know the World Cup dwarfs it all

    The Premier League’s spectacle is as big as it gets, but its players know the World Cup dwarfs it all

    LONDON — You can learn a lot about England’s famed Premier League from watching it on TV or online, given how much coverage it gets in the United States. But as with many things in life, there’s nothing like actually being there.

    And in particular, there’s nothing like seeing it in England’s capital city.

    Though soccer has helped make cities like Manchester, Leicester, and Newcastle world-famous, London’s scene dwarfs them all.

    The English game’s four professional leagues have 14 teams within the city limits, including seven in the top flight this season: Arsenal, Brentford, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur, and West Ham United. Many American fans know them well these days, from the big fan bases of Arsenal, Chelsea, and Spurs to the U.S. national team stars at Palace and Fulham.

    But it’s the rest of London’s tapestry that makes the scene so vivid: Millwall in the second-tier Championship, AFC Wimbledon in third-tier League One, and countless semipro and amateur sides like 133-year-old Dulwich Hamlet. The Hackney Marshes sports complex in east London has 88 soccer fields, and used to have 135.

    Outside the 121-year-old Johnny Haynes Stand at Fulham Craven Cottage stadium in London.

    On any given Saturday, London’s trains and buses are a kaleidoscope of jerseys, scarves, and hats. Arsenal fans in red head to north London as blue-clad Chelsea fans head south. Fulham fans in black and white walk along the Thames River to 130-year-old Craven Cottage; West Ham fans in claret and blue ride to the modern stadium built for the 2012 Olympics.

    A clutch of Norwich City fans who came from afar stood out in green and yellow. Their trip to Queens Park Rangers on New Year’s Day would be rewarded with a 2-1 win, including a goal from American striker Josh Sargent. At the same hour, his countryman Haji Wright was across town with Coventry City at Charlton Athletic.

    Medford’s Brenden Aaronson is on a hot streak with Leeds United at an ideal time for his World Cup hopes

    Just beyond the city limits, an old friend of this reporter checked in as a longtime Watford fan. His Hornets hosted Birmingham City, just before Kai Wagner moved to Birmingham from the Union.

    It was fun to watch the scene, but there was serious business at hand. The stretch of games from mid-December through the first weekend of January is the signature time of the season — especially Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. The stretch from Dec. 26 through Jan. 1 is to English football what Thanksgiving weekend is to the NFL and college football.

    The action was nearly constant, even though the Premier League played just one game on Boxing Day this year. That gave some extra spotlight to the lower leagues, and they were happy to have it.

    There was also another matter: When the calendar flipped to 2026, it became a World Cup year. All over the world, races are on to make national squads for the tournament, and many of those races will play out on Premier League stages.

    Mark McKenzie’s plan to crack the USMNT’s World Cup roster? Sticking to what’s in his ‘control.’

    How much are players thinking about that right now? A lot for some, not so much for others. But they all know in some form.

    “One hundred percent,” said Netherlands forward Justin Kluivert, the son of Dutch legend Patrick Kluivert and a club teammate of U.S. stalwart Tyler Adams at Bournemouth. “Every single game that I’m playing now, I want to show the coach that he’s got to put me in the starting 11.”

    Justin Kluivert celebrates after scoring for Bournemouth against Chelsea on Dec. 30.

    It’s necessary to explain here that it isn’t always easy for the media to talk with players in the Premier League, or in European soccer generally. The world’s game hasn’t shared American sports’ long tradition of players meeting the press on a regular basis.

    Former Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo could come to Philadelphia this summer with Ghana’s national team. He just joined Manchester City in an $84 million deal, and one of his last games with the Cherries was the one where Kluivert spoke — a 2-2 tie at Chelsea. The move wasn’t sealed yet at that point, so it was no surprise that Semenyo went nowhere near a microphone.

    Noahkai Banks knows he’s getting a lot of USMNT hype, but he isn’t thinking about the World Cup yet

    Nor was there much from Arsenal’s Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus when he scored a brilliant goal in the Gunners’ 4-1 rout of Aston Villa on Dec. 30, fueling the league leaders’ dreams of a first Premier League title in 22 years.

    The collective neurosis around that mimics what plays out for the sports teams here in Philadelphia.

    Three days earlier, Jesus had returned from a long injury absence in a win over Brighton. There was much talk among journalists and team staff about how badly he wants to make Brazil’s squad — which will play its tournament opener in Philly against Haiti. But alas, we didn’t hear it from the man himself.

    Fortunately, another familiar face did stop by. Brighton’s Diego Gómez joined the Seagulls 12 months ago from Inter Miami, and two months ago played for Paraguay against the U.S. at Subaru Park.

    Gómez should easily make the Albirroja’s World Cup squad, which means he’ll see the Americans again in their tournament opener in Los Angeles. In this moment, he was annoyed that his well-taken goal couldn’t stop a 2-1 loss, but he was happy to talk with someone who knew of him.

    Led by Miguel Almirón and Diego Gómez, Paraguay shows MLS can develop players for the rest of the world, too

    “I’m thinking about what’s coming up here,” Gómez said in his native Spanish. “Then there’s the World Cup, but my head is here at the club. … My thoughts are not on the World Cup, nothing like that. My thoughts are on what’s going to happen here at the club.”

    (He did say he watched Miami’s MLS Cup title win, and that he was “very happy for the team because they really deserve it.”)

    Diego Gómez (right) on the ball for Brighton against Arsenal on Dec. 27.

    Then there are players whose World Cup hopes hinge on March’s last qualifying playoffs. Sixteen teams in Europe and six teams from the rest of the world will compete for the six berths left to claim. One will go to a nation that will play superpower France in Philadelphia this summer, and another could go to Jamaica, and subsequently favoring the Union’s longtime goalkeeper in Andre Blake.

    Among the European contests is Sweden, whose outside back Gabriel Gudmundsson is a Leeds United teammate of Medford’s Brenden Aaronson. He has a good reason to not have the World Cup on his mind yet: Leeds is fighting to avoid being relegated out of the Premier League.

    “No, because I need to focus here — it’s the most important,” Gudmundsson said after watching Aaronson score a big goal against eternal rival Manchester United. “When the time is there, I will be fully ready, of course. But [for] the time now, I have the white shirt [of Leeds] on, so that’s what matters.”

    Leeds’ Brenden Aaronson (right) and many others playing in Europe know that their play also serves as an observation period ahead of this summer’s World Cup.

    Leeds, unlike London, is a one-team town. It’s similar to Philadelphia in how the local football team unifies the city, even if the kinds of football are different.

    But the World Cup unifies the planet, from England to the United States and everywhere else imaginable. Just a few months remain until it does so again.

    Brazil and France headline the teams coming to Philadelphia for next year’s World Cup
  • Don’t look now but the Sixers have turned a dire situation into a hopeful one behind their new Big Four

    Don’t look now but the Sixers have turned a dire situation into a hopeful one behind their new Big Four

    Well, it’s not the same season it was seven weeks ago, is it?

    On Nov. 26, the 76ers were in 10th place in the Eastern Conference standings with a 9-8 record. They also were a day removed from a 144-103 loss to the Orlando Magic at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

    The 41-point drubbing was their worst home loss since a 135-87 drubbing at the hands of the Boston Celtics on Feb. 15, 2022. At the time, Joel Embiid missed eight consecutive games with right knee soreness. Kelly Oubre Jr. also was sidelined with a sprained left knee ligament. And Paul George had only played in three games because of left knee injury management and a sprained ankle.

    Whatever their chances were of contending for a conference championship, they’re drastically improved.

    Sixers takeaways: Paul George keeps taking over, Kelly Oubre Jr.’s energy outweighs shooting woes, and more in win over Magic

    In the team’s first meeting since the November rout, the Sixers defeated the Magic, 103-91, on Friday at the Kia Center. The fifth-place squad has a 21-15 record and is a half-game game behind the fourth-place Toronto Raptors entering the teams’ two-game series on Sunday and Monday at Scotiabank Arena.

    Embiid is listed as questionable for Sunday’s matchup against the Raptors (23-16) with left knee injury management. Not having been cleared previously to play on back-to-back nights, Embiid is expected to miss one of the matchups in Toronto. However, his current six-game streak is the longest since playing six straight from Jan. 15-25, 2024.

    Meanwhile, Oubre returned on Wednesday after missing 22 games. And now healthy and back to playing at a high level, George has shown signs of why the Sixers gave him a four-year, $211.5 million contract last summer to form a Big Three with Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

    But …

    Rookie shooting guard VJ Edgecombe has been playing so well that we might want to reconsider adding him to the group and renaming it the Big Four.

    Not only are the Sixers the healthiest they’ve been in some time, but they all know and have accepted their roles, which has enabled them to thrive. And from a team culture standpoint, the Sixers have come a long way from the squad that had a well-publicized team meeting after a 106-89 road loss to the Miami Heat on Nov. 18, 2024.

    Joel Embiid has played in six consecutive games. It is his longest streak since playing in six straight from Jan. 15-25, 2024.

    In that meeting, Maxey called out Embiid for being late for team functions. Players also told coach Nick Nurse and his staff that they wanted to be coached harder. In turn, the coaches said they wanted the players to practice with purpose and attention to detail.

    So far this season, things have seemed like a love fest. Players have built bonds playing video games and blossomed into each other’s biggest supporters.

    On the court, Maxey, who entered Saturday as the league’s third-leading scorer at 30.7 points per game, has supplanted Embiid as the No. 1 option.

    But Embiid is moving better, and George is excelling in his role. The Sixers have benefited from those things.

    After starting 0-4 in games the Big Three played in this season, the Sixers have gone 5-1 with them.

    “I think Tyrese is kind of always going to be like explosive and scoring, pretty much, his speed and energy,” Nurse said. “But when we get to Joel in a few situations, you know he’s either going to get a bucket or a foul for a stretch. That gives our team a lot of confidence. And you shift over and give PG the ball a couple of times, then he gets a couple of buckets. And [the opposing players] are not quite sure where you are going to hit them from. … You still have to worry about some of the other guys out there, too.”

    Paul George thinks Sixers’ defense has ‘special’ potential after victory at Orlando Magic

    Nurse could be referring to Edgecombe, sixth man Quentin Grimes, and Oubre, once he regains his rhythm.

    Embiid (23.5 points per game) is the team’s second-leading scorer, followed by Edgecombe (16.1), George (16.0), Oubre (14.5), and Grimes (14.5).

    But now that they’re healthy, the Sixers have a chance, on paper, to be the deepest squad of Nurse’s three-year tenure.

    Dominick Barlow, Jared McCain, Andre Drummond, Adem Bona, Jabari Walker, Trendon Watford, Justin Edwards, and Eric Gordon also have made solid on-court contributions.

    Quentin Grimes has provided a huge lift off the Sixers bench.

    In addition to staying on the Raptors’ heels, Friday’s victory gave the Sixers the 2-1 head-to-head tiebreaker over the Magic. That could be valuable if the Sixers and Orlando finish the season with the same record.

    “It’s still early in the season,” Embiid said. “It’s kind of hard to start thinking about tie breaks and all that, but it’s good. Obviously, we’re right there with them. Our aim is to keep winning and keep climbing up the standings, and they happen to do the same thing, and if that’s needed. I guess that’s a good thing.”

    But it’s even better for them that the season is not the same as it was seven weeks ago.

    The Sixers have hope.

  • Ray Didinger wrote ‘Tommy and Me’ in 2016. He and his play are now the subject of a film 10 years in the making.

    Ray Didinger wrote ‘Tommy and Me’ in 2016. He and his play are now the subject of a film 10 years in the making.

    Ray Didinger is gone. Gone on vacation, gone to the other side of the world, gone to places he has never been before and will never visit again.

    He and his wife, Maria, left last Sunday on a five-month Magellan-like cruise, a journey to Bora Bora, to the Hawaiian Islands, to New Zealand and Tasmania, to the Far East, to Canada and Alaska and back home again to their 15th-floor apartment in Center City.

    He will not be in Philadelphia to watch Super Bowl LX — a prospect, given the very real possibility that the Eagles will return to the big game and win it again, that once would have been unthinkable. Didinger, after all, is regarded as the foremost authority on the franchise and its history, having covered, commented on, and written comprehensive books about the Eagles over his half-century-plus in journalism and media.

    He also wrote a play tied to the Eagles, Tommy and Me, about his relationship with Hall of Fame wide receiver Tommy McDonald, and the play is the thing that makes the timing of his once-in-a-lifetime trip so ironic. Ten years after Tommy and Me’s debut, Boys to Fame — a documentary/feature film, produced by Sam Katz, about Didinger, his play, and McDonald — became available for purchase and viewing on Sunday morning.

    Tommy and Me, the play created by Ray Didinger, chronicles his childhood and its close relationship to former Eagles great Tommy McDonald.

    Didinger, a week into his journey, isn’t around for the release. And there was no chance he would be.

    “I would rather be here to help Sam promote it as best I could,” he said before embarking on the cruise. “But this trip has been two years in the making, so there was no way to be here and tell Maria, ‘Honey, we’ve got trip insurance. Let’s just bag this thing.’ It’s a long fall from the 15th floor to Locust Street.”

    Katz, 76, has seen his career evolve into multiple iterations that he still maintains simultaneously: a player in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania politics — he ran for mayor three times — a venture capitalist, and a filmmaker. Through his company, History Making Productions, he has produced documentaries about Philadelphia’s filmmaking history, the rise of classical music in China, and one about Detroit’s bankruptcy, Gradually, Then Suddenly, which in 2021 won the Library of Congress’ Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film.

    Watch: What the Eagles Super Bowl win meant to Vic Fangio’s hometown high school

    When he saw Tommy and Me in 2016, its first run, he thought the play was worthy of film treatment — a film about the play and Didinger, that is. “The play itself was powerful, emotional, and a really incredible story of a relationship between two men,” he said. “I felt that a feel-good story like this would be timely, and I still feel that way.”

    He worried, though, that funding such a project would be a challenge.

    His other documentaries, all historical and to one degree or another educational in nature, lent themselves to philanthropic contributions. A film delving into the life of a sportswriter, even one as well-known and locally admired as Didinger, required Katz to find private investors — and contribute money himself.

    He found a group willing to back the film, former City Council member Allan Domb and Bullpen Capital founder Paul Martino among them, and decided, instead of pursuing a deal with a streaming service or television station, to release the film independently. It will be available on a website, boystofame.com, on a pay-per-view basis — “I’m selling it direct to the Philadelphia sports fan,” Katz said — and he hopes to generate attention and interest through grass-roots media coverage and screenings at film festivals and private clubs.

    In the play Tommy and Me, Ray Didinger (left, Simon Canuso Kiley) meets boyhood hero, and Eagles player Tommy McDonald (right, Ned Pryce) in the late 1950s in Theatre Exile’s world premiere of the play in 2018.

    The 82-minute film covers topics, features voices, and reveals details and emotions that Tommy and Me, by its singular focus on the big brother/little brother dynamic between McDonald and Didinger, and on Didinger’s efforts to get McDonald into the Hall of Fame, didn’t and couldn’t.

    Katz interviewed Didinger for more than five hours, talked to all four of McDonald’s children and several members of his Hall of Fame class, and even tracked down Billie Jo Boyajian, who was McDonald’s Queen’s Court escort at the 1998 induction weekend — and whom McDonald scooped up in his arms and carried to the stage during the Hall of Fame dinner.

    As the NFL playoffs begin, remembering a Pa. pro football champion that wasn’t

    (In a fascinating side note, Boyajian pleaded guilty last January to charges of theft, forgery, and misuse of credit cards while she was the treasurer of a Canton high school basketball booster club. Katz had interviewed her for Boys to Fame years earlier.)

    The documentary bookends both McDonald’s life and Didinger’s. It directly confronts the fact that in 2021, three years after his death at 84, McDonald was diagnosed with the brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, commonly known as CTE.

    Tommy and Me at Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, with (left to right) Matt Pfeiffer and Tom Teti.

    The McDonalds gave Katz access to scrapbooks that Tommy’s parents had begun keeping of his exploits when he was a high school phenom in Roy, N.M., in the early 1950s. They also provided him with a video of McDonald’s reaction — joyful tears, dozens of thank-yous and thank-Gods — when he received the phone call to tell him that he finally would be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

    “I’ve seen it a hundred times, and I still get a lump in my throat,” Didinger said, “because it’s so raw and real and so true to the guy I know.”

    To Katz, though, it was important to give Didinger’s background and story — his childhood in southwest Philadelphia, his careers at The Bulletin and The Daily News, NFL Films and WIP and NBC Sports Philadelphia — as much weight as McDonald’s. To recreate Didinger’s youth, Katz took over The Barn, a pub near his vacation home in Eagles Mere, Pa., for two days and transformed it into Didinger’s grandfather’s bar, the place where Didinger, as a kid, spent hours wowing patrons with his encyclopedic Eagles knowledge. Katz hired several of The Barn’s regulars and a 10-year-old boy, none of whom had ever acted before, to star in the film.

    A rowdy Eagles-49ers game led to Eagles Court, where the hardest part was ‘keeping a straight face’

    To depict the vacations that Didinger’s family would take to Hershey each summer to watch the Eagles at training camp, Katz coaxed a collector of antique cars to bring three 1955 vehicles to the Eagles Mere community center. “I insisted on everything being better,” he said.

    The most poignant moments of the film come when Didinger describes in depth his last visit with McDonald, on the day before McDonald died.

    A play about ex-Eagle Tommy McDonald‘s road to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and his connection with legendary sports writer Ray Didinger, at People’s Light Theatre last year. The play is being turned into a film by Sam Katz.

    “Sam kept telling me, ‘For this thing to work, I need you to open your kimono,’” Didinger said. “That was the hardest and least comfortable aspect for me, but that day Tommy and I spent together had to be talked about.”

    In the film’s final scene, Didinger and his son, David, sit together on the couch in Ray’s home, watching an Eagles game. On Feb. 8, the day of this year’s Super Bowl, the Didingers’ cruise ship is scheduled to be off the coast of New Caledonia.

    If the Eagles do make it to Santa Clara for the big game, it would hardly be surprising if Ray stood atop the bow, hurled himself into the South Pacific, washed up on the beach in Sea Isle City, and was in front of his TV, pen and yellow legal pad in hand, by kickoff. Sorry, but that would be a better ending to the doc. Prepare accordingly for a reshoot, Mr. Katz.

    Columnist’s note: In the interest of full disclosure, I succeeded Didinger as a WIP co-host in July 2022, and I appear briefly in the documentary.

  • Depleted Flyers fall hard at home against Tampa Bay, snapping a three-game point streak

    Depleted Flyers fall hard at home against Tampa Bay, snapping a three-game point streak

    The Flyers were facing an uphill battle Saturday night.

    Against a Tampa Bay Lightning team riding an eight-game winning streak, the Flyers were without three key players in forwards Travis Konecny and Bobby Brink and defenseman Jamie Drysdale.

    The result was a 7-2 loss, ending the team’s three-game point streak. It is only the second time the Flyers have lost in regulation following a loss this season; Philly was handed a 2-1 overtime defeat by the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.

    Sam Ersson received several Bronx cheers for his saves throughout the game, notably his first save after allowing two goals on the first three shots he saw and in the third period after the game was well out of reach. He allowed seven goals on 23 shots, including four on eight shots in the third period.

    Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson allowed seven goals on 23 shots faced in a loss at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.

    Nikita Kucherov gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead just 109 seconds into the game.

    Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh sent a stretch pass up the ice from his own goal line. Kucherov wasn’t able to control it as it bounced into the Flyers’ end, and Travis Sanheim tapped it away from him as he was surrounded by four Flyers defenders.

    Owen Tippett corralled the puck and, under pressure, sent it over to Denver Barkey as he curled up the boards — all while Kucherov hung out by the Flyers’ net all alone. Brayden Point stole the puck from Barkey, and as four Flyers focused on him, he sent the puck to Kucherov all alone at the right post. The Russian winger shot it off the pass and by Ersson, who was making his first start since New Year’s Eve.

    Kucherov, who entered the game with 37 points in 29 games against the Flyers, would get a second. He got the puck in the neutral zone from Point and carried it down into the left circle — causing the Flyers to back up — before shooting against the grain while in stride past the glove of Ersson.

    Flyers will be without Travis Konecny, Jamie Drysdale, and Bobby Brink as they begin pivotal stretch

    In between Kucherov’s goals, Garnet Hathaway finally got on the board.

    “Yeah, I can’t go back and change the first half,” Hathaway said after Thursday’s game, acknowledging that he didn’t have a point in his first 36 games and was a healthy scratch for six games beginning on Dec. 20. “I wish I could, but I can’t. I’m trying to go day by day. … And I think the last few games I’ve played to my identity more than I have before that and that’s what I need to rely on.”

    Hathaway and Rodrigo Ābols put in the work along the end boards to take the puck away from Erik Cernak before Hathaway skated toward the slot. Noah Juulsen got the puck at the point and put a slap shot on goal that Hathaway deflected in.

    In the second period, Nick Paul gave the Lightning a 3-1 lead when the puck bounced away from Barkey at the Bolts’ blue line.

    Tampa Bay went the other way but also couldn’t control the puck, and it went to Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who tried to put it up the boards in the Flyers’ end. It was blocked by Anthony Cirelli, and he got the puck back for a shot attempt that was blocked by Nick Seeler.

    Lightning defenseman Charles-Edouard D’Astous then corralled it and put a high shot on Ersson that was stopped, but Paul skated through the Flyers’ defense relatively untouched and knocked in the rebound.

    Flyers takeaways: Power-play struggles continue, Rick Tocchet frustrated about missed reads
    Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stops the puck against Flyers right wing Matvei Michkov during the second period on Saturday.

    In the third period, the wheels fell off.

    The Lightning padded the lead to 5-1 with goals by Gage Goncalves and Brandon Hagel just 94 seconds apart. Goncalves’ goal came off a rush that initially started with a turnover by Matvei Michkov at the offensive blue line. Hagel scored as he blew past Barkey during a two-on-two.

    Tippett did get on the board with a power-play goal off a faceoff win by Christian Dvorak. The Flyers forward didn’t get good wood — or whatever sticks are made out of now — on it, and it seemed to fool Andrei Vasilevskiy.

    The goal was Tippett’s 14th of the season and fifth in his past 10 games. He is on pace for 27 goals, which is one shy of his career high, set two seasons ago.

    Yanni Gourde scored on a breakaway after Zegras lost the puck inside the Lightning blue line, and Goncalves scored two minutes later.

    Breakaways

    Konecny and Brink are day-to-day with upper-body injuries and watched the game from the press box with Drysdale, who is on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. Joining them in the press box was Tyson Foerster.

    Up next

    In an interesting twist, the Flyers host the Lightning again on Monday at Xfinity Mobile Arena (7 p.m., NBCSP).

    Follow the Inquirer’s complete coverage of Flyers hockey right here!
  • Matt Ryan was named president of football for the Falcons. His first task: find a new coach and GM

    Matt Ryan was named president of football for the Falcons. His first task: find a new coach and GM

    On Saturday, the Atlanta Falcons named former longtime quarterback Matt Ryan to the newly created role of president of football.

    Ryan, the Exton native and Penn Charter graduate, is now tasked with leading the search for the Falcons’ new coach and general manager. Each new hire will report directly to Ryan, who will leave his role as NFL analyst with CBS.

    Falcons owner Arthur Blank on Thursday confirmed the team’s interest in Ryan. The team interviewed candidates for only two days before hiring Ryan.

    “Arthur gave me the chance of a lifetime almost twenty years ago, and he’s done it again today,” Ryan said in a statement released by the team. “While I appreciate the time I had with the Colts and with CBS, I’ve always been a Falcon. It feels great to be home.”

    Ryan was the Falcons’ starting quarterback from 2008-21 and was named the 2016 NFL MVP after leading the team to the Super Bowl. He holds most of the team’s major passing records, including yards, touchdown passes and completions, and he retired following one season with the Indianapolis Colts.

    The Falcons have scheduled a news conference with Ryan on Tuesday.

    Blank said Thursday he believed Ryan was qualified for the job despite his lack of front-office experience because of his high football IQ. Blank said in a statement Saturday that Ryan’s “leadership, attention to detail, knowledge of the game and unrelenting drive to win made him the most successful player in our franchise’s history.”

    Added Blank: “I am confident those same qualities will be a tremendous benefit to our organization as he steps into this new role. From his playing days to his time as an analyst at CBS, Matt has always been a student of the game, and he brings an astute understanding of today’s NFL, as well as unique knowledge of our organization and this market. I have full confidence and trust in Matt as we strive to deliver a championship-caliber team for Atlanta and Falcons fans everywhere.”

    The Falcons fired coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot last weekend, hours after the completion of an 8-9 season. It was the team’s eighth consecutive losing season. It will be Ryan’s challenge to help direct the team to its first playoff appearance since 2017.

    Falcons owner Arthur Blank, left, has appointed former quarterback and Exton native Matt Ryan as the team’s president of football on Saturday.

    Ryan acknowledges there will be an adjustment in his new job.

    “My history with this team speaks for itself, and I’m really grateful for it, and the great relationship I’ve been lucky to have with Arthur and his family,” Ryan said. “I also recognize this side of football is not where I’ve come up. I’ve played, I’ve commented, but I haven’t directly operated. I think I’m humble enough to recognize there will be some baptism by fire, but I’m ready for that.

    “I know I’ve got great resources and partners throughout this organization and I’m fortunate to have mentors across the league. That said, I do understand the weight of a role like this — I’ve lived it. I have confidence in the perspective my years as a player and a team leader give me. This is not a new table; it’s just a new seat.”

  • It’s a third-straight Big East road win for Villanova after freshman Acaden Lewis leads Wildcats past Marquette

    It’s a third-straight Big East road win for Villanova after freshman Acaden Lewis leads Wildcats past Marquette

    Powered by its star newcomer, Villanova snapped a losing streak at Marquette that was approaching six years long.

    It took the game’s final minutes, but, fueled by Acaden Lewis, the Wildcats won, 76-73, marking the first time since Dec. 23, 2020, that they beat Marquette on the road. Lewis, a freshman guard who has impressed since arriving on the Main Line, scored a team-high 20 points and had eight assists, tying a career-best.

    Villanova (13-3, 4-1 Big East) picked up its third consecutive conference road win. Wildcats coach Kevin Willard noted that while he’s pleased, replicating that success inside the Finneran Pavilion has been a challenge.

    “I think we’ve really developed a road identity,” Willard said. “I think we need to take that identity and bring it home and really have that same kind of dog mentality that we have on the road at home. I think if we can develop that same attitude, we’ll continue to get better.”

    Here’s how Brynn McCurry became Villanova’s ‘bionic’ force on its women’s basketball program

    Lewis, the four-time Big East Freshman of the Week, is averaging 12.5 points and 5.0 assists.

    Despite being outscored in the second half for the second consecutive game and third time this season, Villanova shot 48.2% in the second half to escape Milwaukee. Graduate guard Devin Askew led Villanova’s second-half effort with 13 points off the bench.

    “[Devin] has been playing really well,” Willard said. “The last four or five games, [he] hasn’t been shooting well, but he’s been playing well. And I thought he got a couple of good mismatches, hit a couple of really big pull-up jumpers that kind of settled us down and kept the lead going.”

    Overall, the Wildcats shot 31-for-56 (55.4%) from the field, including 7-for-25 from beyond the arc, and 7-for-7 from the free throw line.

    Defensive ups and downs

    Villanova struggled defensively to stop the worst three-point shooting team in the Big East from beyond the arc in the first half. However, the Wildcats shut Marquette down in the second half, though they lacked defensive stops throughout the game, much like in their four-point home loss to Creighton on Wednesday.

    The Golden Eagles (6-11, 1-5) entered the game 340th in the country in three-point percentage, averaging 29.5% but shot 11-for-31 on three-pointers on Saturday. Nigel James Jr. led the way with a career-high 31 points, shooting 7-for-9 from deep.

    Villanova is losing key starters from its FCS semifinal team. Could the transfer portal be an option to retool?

    James was perfect in the second half offensively with 12 points, shooting 4-for-4 from the field, including 2-for-2 from beyond the arc. Royce Parham scored 15 of his 17 points. The duo accounted for 27 of Marquette’s 35 second-half points.

    “[Marquette was] just scrappy,” Askew said. “They were playing hard, and I’m glad we could pull it through.”

    In the second half, Villanova held Marquette to 3-for-13 (23.1%) from beyond the arc and 11-for-24 (45.8%) from the field.

    Depth on display

    Villanova got into foul trouble in the back half of the game. Duke Brennan (12 points, four rebounds), the nation’s third-leading rebounder, picked up four fouls in the second half and fouled out with 4 minutes, 29 seconds to go.

    After Brennan’s fourth foul, at the 8:28 mark, Villanova shifted to a small-ball lineup, with Matt Hodge (14 points, five rebounds) at center.

    “Luckily [Marquette] went small,” Willard said. “So we were able to play [Hodge] at the five and Malachi [Palmer] at the four. And so we didn’t have to really worry about battling something at the rim. We were able to kind of go small with them.”

    Villanova committed 16 personal fouls, and Marquette was in the double bonus with 8:13 to go. Marquette shot 12-for-15 (80%) from the free-throw line.

    Up next

    Villanova will look to make it four straight away from home in a road game against Providence (8-7, 1-3) on Tuesday (6:30 p.m., FS1). Providence defeated Villanova, 75-62, in Rhode Island in the teams’ last matchup.

    Follow the Inquirer’s complete coverage of Villanova athletics right here!
  • Flyers will be without Travis Konecny, Jamie Drysdale, and Bobby Brink as they begin pivotal stretch

    Flyers will be without Travis Konecny, Jamie Drysdale, and Bobby Brink as they begin pivotal stretch

    Between now and the Olympic break, the Flyers have 14 games in 26 days. It’s a bit of a gauntlet as they come across red-hot teams like the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Colorado Avalanche.

    The stretch begins Saturday (7 p.m., NBCSP) with the first of two straight home meetings against the Tampa Bay Lightning, winners of eight straight.

    And the Flyers will have to do it without three of their top players. Defenseman Jamie Drysdale was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury on Friday, and forwards Bobby Brink and Travis Konecny are day-to-day with upper-body injuries.

    Flyers takeaways: Power-play struggles continue, Rick Tocchet frustrated about missed reads

    “I talked to Drysie and Brink; they felt better today. So, that’s a real good sign,” coach Rick Tocchet said on Saturday after the team’s morning skate, which Brink and Drysdale participated in wearing green noncontact jerseys.

    “TK said he felt a little bit [better] yesterday, but not good enough to play.”

    Konecny, who did not participate in the morning skate, was injured in Thursday’s overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs after scoring the Flyers’ lone goal.

    Since Nov. 29, when he had two assists in the win against the New Jersey Devils, Konecny is tied for 20th in the NHL in points (21) with names like Mitch Marner, Kirill Kaprizov, Nick Suzuki, Sam Reinhart, and Sam Bennett. His nine goals in that timeframe are tied for 19th with several players, including Sidney Crosby, the Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov, and Trevor Zegras.

    Konecny has been playing with Christian Dvorak and Zegras, who called his loss “terrible.”

    “Yeah, it’s a big hole. He’s a big part of our team offensively, especially,” added Sean Couturier. “So it’s going to be next-man-up mentality. He’s not an easy guy to [replace], you don’t just fill in with one guy. But, I think collectively, we can all step up and take over.”

    Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet will shuffle his lines and power-play units without three key regulars on Saturday.

    With Konecny and Brink out of the lineup, Matvei Michkov has been moved to Konecny’s spot. According to Natural Stat Trick, Michkov, Dvorak, and Zegras have played 39 minutes, 15 seconds together this season, with the Flyers having 40 shot attempts for and 40 against and potting two goals while allowing one.

    “When you have four or five guys out, you get the bingo balls going, right?” said Tocchet about reuniting Zegras and Michkov. “You’re trying to put chemistry and thought process. So, yeah, we’ll see how it works.”

    As Couturier said, it is a next-man-up mentality, but the Flyers will assuredly also be looking for Owen Tippett to continue his charge.

    Since Dec. 20, his four goals are tied atop the team’s leaderboard with Konecny and Carl Grundström. His 32 shots during that span rank No. 1 on the Flyers and are tied for the 13th-most in the NHL, but the problem has been his finishing. His 12.5 shooting percentage across those nine games ranks eighth on the team. (Tippet is scoring on an almost identical 12.6% of his shots for the season, also eighth among Flyers.)

    Tippett has been flying of late, using his speed to create chances for himself and his linemates, Denver Barkey and Couturier. Does he feel pressure to produce without Konency in the lineup?

    Contract grades: Was signing Christian Dvorak for the long haul the right move for the Flyers?

    “I don’t want to put that pressure on myself. But I think I said the same thing when [Tyson Foerster] went out, he’s one of those guys that we have to kind of pick up a little bit where we can and contribute where we can,” he said.

    “Obviously, I know I’m capable of doing it, but I think the moment you start putting pressure on yourself to fill that void and fill that gap, it can tend to kind of take away from your game. [Konecny is] a big loss in the room, we all know that, so we’re all going to have to kind of step up and chip in where we can.”

    Breakaways

    Sam Ersson (6-5-4, .868 save percentage) will start against the Lightning. He was in net for the Flyers’ 3-0 loss on Nov. 24 in Tampa Bay, Fla., allowing two goals on 17 shots. … Defenseman Adam Ginning, who was recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Friday, is expected to be a healthy scratch. … Forward Nic Deslauriers will slot back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the past eight games. … With the power play having plummeted — it is tied for second worst with the Washington Capitals (15.0%) — and guys who normally play on the man advantage out, Tocchet has two new units: Tippett, Michkov, Zegras, Dvorak, and Rasmsus Ristolainen are on one, and Noah Cates, Cam York, Barkey, Travis Sanheim, and Nikita Grebenkin are on the other. Couturier, despite being a net-front presence on Thursday and consistently screening the goalie — something Tocchet has preached this season — is not on a unit. “He’s played a lot of power play this year, and I think he’s just getting overused,” Tocchet said. “It doesn’t matter who, you’ve got to get in front of the net.”

  • Eagles cornerbacks Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell named to 2025 NFL All-Pro team

    Eagles cornerbacks Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell named to 2025 NFL All-Pro team

    Eagles cornerbacks Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell entered the league together, and they’ve earned their first Associated Press first-team All-Pro nods together.

    DeJean, the Eagles’ 2024 second-round pick out of Iowa, and Mitchell, the No. 22 overall pick in the same draft out of Toledo, were the only Eagles players to garner All-Pro designations on Saturday morning. Both players were named to their first Pro Bowl in December.

    DeJean was named to this year’s team in the “slot cornerback” position introduced to All-Pro voting in 2023. Since the AP began to separate cornerbacks from the broader “defensive backs” category in 1962, this is the first time two corners from one team have been named first-team All-Pros. The Houston Texans’ Derek Stingley Jr. was the third cornerback named to the first team.

    According to the Eagles’ communications department, this is the seventh time an NFL club has had its top two draft picks from the same class earn first-team All-Pro honors in their first two seasons. The Eagles had already been among those teams. In 1989, Eagles tight end Keith Jackson and cornerback Eric Allen, both members of the 1988 draft class, were voted first-team All-Pro.

    The last Eagles cornerback to earn first-team All-Pro honors was Lito Sheppard in 2004.

    DeJean, 22, has made an impact at multiple positions this season, playing 63.3% of his snaps at slot corner and 21.8% at outside cornerback. Last season, only eight of DeJean’s 881 defensive snaps came on the outside.

    Still, his most impressive play has come in the slot. From that alignment this season, DeJean has allowed a 57.4% completion percentage and 5.9 yards per target, ranking below the league averages of 69.5% and 6.8, respectively, according to Next Gen Stats.

    DeJean has allowed just one touchdown in coverage in his career, per Next Gen Stats, which occurred against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 12, when he was lined up on the outside in base defense.

    The Odebolt, Iowa, native earned NFC defensive player of the week honors for his Week 16 performance in the Eagles’ win over the Washington Commanders. He notched a career-high four pass breakups and an interception.

    DeJean is tied for 10th in the NFL with 16 pass breakups and is second on the Eagles behind Mitchell (17), who is tied for sixth.

    Mitchell began the season moving around the formation and often shadowing opposing teams’ top receivers. But since the Week 9 bye, according to Next Gen Stats, Mitchell has aligned as the boundary cornerback on 74.1% of his snaps.

    In that span, he has registered more passes defended (nine) than receptions allowed (six) on 26 targets and 233 coverage snaps from the boundary. He has a 20.7% completion rate allowed, which is three times lower than the season-long NFL average from the boundary (65.5%).

    Mitchell, a Williston, Fla., native, earned NFC defensive player of the week honors in the Eagles’ Week 4 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In that performance, he had a career-best five pass breakups, making him one of two NFL players to record five pass breakups in a single game.

    Since they were drafted in 2024, DeJean and Mitchell have helped drastically improve the Eagles defense. In the Eagles’ Super Bowl-winning season last year, Vic Fangio’s defense conceded the fewest passing yards in the NFL and the sixth-fewest touchdowns. This year, the Eagles’ secondary has allowed the fewest passing touchdowns and the eighth-fewest yards.

  • Paul George thinks Sixers’ defense has ‘special’ potential after victory at Orlando Magic

    Paul George thinks Sixers’ defense has ‘special’ potential after victory at Orlando Magic

    ORLANDO — Nick Nurse called a timeout about two minutes into Friday’s matchup at the Magic, frustrated that his 76ers were “standing up straight and not moving great” defensively.

    The coach continued to cycle through personnel groupings, searching for a spark on that end of the floor. He found it at the top of the final period, with guards VJ Edgecombe and Quentin Grimes, wings Paul George and Kelly Oubre Jr., and center Andre Drummond.

    Their suffocating, versatile defense turned a four-point Sixers lead into a 13-point advantage in an eventual 103-91 victory at Kia Arena. It helped the Sixers (21-15) overcome a night when they shot 4-for-28 from three-point range to secure the tiebreaker against a potential Eastern Conference playoff opponent. And the almost-five-minute surge happened with stars Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid getting their customary rest.

    After the game, George said he believes the “scrappy” effort from that fourth-quarter lineup was only a flash of the Sixers’ potential on the defensive end of the floor.

    “I think we can be special defensively,” said George, a four-time, all-defense selection during his standout career. “And that’s where the praise needs to be.”

    Sixers takeaways: Paul George keeps taking over, Kelly Oubre Jr.’s energy outweighs shooting woes, and more in win over Magic

    The Sixers exited Friday ranked 12th in the NBA in defensive rating, with 113.3 points allowed per 100 possessions. Yet in their last five games, which have coincided with a return to a fully healthy roster for the first time since December of 2023, they are sixth (109.1 points per 100 possessions).

    Nurse’s teams have regularly been lauded for an aggressive defensive style, anchored by playmakers who can deflect passes and generate takeaways. Yet this season’s Sixers also exited Friday ranked 12th in opponent turnovers (15.2 per game) and steals (8.7 per game).

    Though the Sixers did not force a turnover during Friday’s decisive fourth-quarter stretch, Oubre and Grimes disrupted ballhandlers with their perimeter pressure. That allowed George and Drummond to “[patrol] in the back” near the basket. And it was a block party at the rim, with Drummond, George, and Oubre all rejecting one shot during the Magic’s 1-for-12 stint from the floor.

    “We were just really keeping the ball in front,” Nurse said. “And when it did get past us, we always were sending a crowd to it.”

    It was the second consecutive game that Nurse turned to the lineup that began the fourth quarter, after it blew open Wednesday’s home victory against the Washington Wizards. In 14 minutes across those two victories, that lineup has a stunning defensive rating of 48.1 points allowed per 100 possessions and a net rating of plus-74.9.

    Even with that minuscule sample size, that group’s success perhaps represents a more under-the-radar benefit to the Sixers regaining health.

    Sixers guard VJ Edgecombe was part of a game-altering defensive effort.

    Outsiders may believe roster continuity is most helpful on the offensive end, where timing and chemistry between teammates are critical. But Nurse said last week that it also would allow the Sixers to add defensive schemes to complement the offensive firepower of Maxey, who dropped another 29 points Friday, the returning-to-form Embiid (22 points, nine rebounds) and George (18 points, nine rebounds), and the complementary scoring potential of Edgecombe, Oubre, and Grimes.

    When George was sidelined to begin the season, for instance, Nurse said the wing would be especially valuable to this team as a defensive communicator. Oubre, who earlier this week returned from a month-plus-long absence with a knee injury, also welcomes guarding wings and switching onto multiple positions. Edgecombe is already an impact player on that end, a rarity for a rookie, while Maxey is a noticeably improved defender. And if Embiid continues to improve physically, he could become an impact rebounder and rim protector again.

    Those options mean the Sixers can contest outside shots and “make it a tight paint” on drives, George said. At other points Friday, the Sixers shifted into a zone defense and used Drummond to “blitz” out on perimeter ballhandlers. The next step as a group, George said, is to become even more comfortable playing “on a string” and rotating sharply with teammates.

    Nurse, though, may have discovered a lineup that can provide a defensive spark. And George believes Friday’s five-minute effort is only a glimpse at the Sixers’ capabilities on that end of the floor.

    “I know it’s tough to do — especially more now than ever in this league,” he said. “But I think the versatility that we have, we should be able to do it.”

  • Jeff McLane’s keys to Eagles vs. 49ers in the wild-card round: What you need to know and a prediction

    Jeff McLane’s keys to Eagles vs. 49ers in the wild-card round: What you need to know and a prediction

    The Eagles host the San Francisco 49ers in a wild-card playoff matchup at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. Here’s what you need to know about the game:

    When the Eagles have the ball

    The 49ers don’t have a good defense. Season-ending injuries to their two best players — linebacker Fred Warner and defensive end Nick Bosa — were a prominent reason why coordinator Robert Saleh’s unit struggled most of the season. But there also isn’t much talent elsewhere on that side of the ball. The 49ers ranked 25th in expected points added per play and 29th in success rate. Saleh has been forced to play a bend-but-try-not-to-break defense, which has meant more two-high safety shells than he’s accustomed to employing and hoping that opposing offenses eventually will make mistakes on grind-it-out drives. The 49ers have done a good job of limiting explosive plays as a result and rank ninth in allowing 20-plus-yard plays in EPA. They’ve also buckled down in the red zone, where they rank 12th overall and fourth in goal-to-go situations.

    The Eagles’ offense, conversely, has been at its best inside the 20 and ranked first in the league. Getting there on a consistent basis has been a season-long problem. The chess match here could center on which unit is willing to get out of its comfort zone. Will the 49ers play more aggressively and stack the box — only the Eagles and New England Patriots had a higher rate of light boxes — knowing the Eagles have struggled in the run game when numbers haven’t been in their favor? Or will the Eagles come out firing, looking for explosives through the air, knowing that Saleh likely will make Jalen Hurts and the pass game beat his defense?

    Nick Sirianni and Kevin Patullo have several directions they can go that should favor the Eagles, even if the 49ers match heavy personnel with their base front. It would be foolish not to test San Fran’s run defense, especially an off-ball linebacker unit that could be down to its fourth and fifth options on the depth chart. Warner’s replacement, Tatum Bethune, went down for the season last week, which means the aging Eric Kendricks, the younger brother of former Eagle Mychal Kendricks, will be at middle linebacker. Outside linebackers Dee Winters and Luke Gifford also are questionable. The Eagles offensive line, with right tackle Lane Johnson expected to return, likely will need to adapt to a slanting front if they want to carry out their combo zone blocking schemes. But if even all doesn’t go according to plan, Saquon Barkley should have opportunities to do it on his own against a run defense that missed 11 tackles against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 18.

    Eagles vs. 49ers predictions: Our writers pick a winner for the wild-card round

    I think more of Hurts on designed runs, and a sprinkling in of the more north-to-south Tank Bigsby, could further buoy a run offense that has shown marginal improvement over the last month. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Patullo open with a fair amount of empty sets. Hurts has operated well out of that formation. It forces defenses to have to account for his legs on draws or scrambles if they’re going to match in man coverage.

    Saleh still favors Cover 3 more than any zone, but he’s going to have to pick his poison with Eagles receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith having skill and size edges over cornerbacks Deommodore Lenoir, Renardo Green, and Upton Stout. Logic would suggest that tight end Dallas Goedert should get a healthy dose of pass plays as the first read with the 49ers’ linebacker corps battered. The same could be said for getting Barkley more involved in the pass game. Hurts should have time in the pocket. San Fran’s pass rush has been deficient without Bosa. Former Eagle Bryce Huff may be the 49ers’ best edge rusher. I watched enough of Johnson and Jordan Mailata dominating him in training camp a year ago to think they’ll keep him under wraps on Sunday. The Eagles’ offensive line must be prepared, though, for a high rate of stunts that Saleh calls to offset his rushers’ inability to win one-on-one.

    San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) runs against Indianapolis Colts outside linebacker and Philly native Zaire Franklin (44) on Dec. 22.

    When the 49ers have the ball

    This is where the more intriguing matchup lies with 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan and Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, two of the best play-callers in the business. While Fangio’s defense has jelled into a unit comparable to last year’s, Shanahan’s offense hasn’t been as explosive as it was in previous seasons when the 49ers reached the playoffs. He still has one of the more sophisticated run schemes in the NFL, but the production just hasn’t been there for various reasons. Like the Eagles, San Fran has faced a high rate of stacked boxes. That often is by design. No team utilizes two-back personnel more than the 49ers, who have fullback Kyle Juszczyk. At 34, he isn’t as dynamic, but Shanahan lines him up all over, increasingly in an unorthodox offset position in which he can be a blocker in a variety of ways.

    Christian McCaffrey remains the workhorse running back, often from under center. He finished second in the league in carries (311), but had the lowest rushing yards over expected per attempt (-0.5) of his career. The 49ers’ scheme has long majored in wide zone runs, but McCaffrey has had more success running in between the tackles this season. Shanahan’s offense often needs to establish its ground game to utilize play action. His two-back personnel will force Fangio to decide between using his base five-man front to stop the run or his preferred nickel four-man front to protect the back. It will likely be based on the situation, but Fangio doesn’t want to leave his secondary susceptible to throws off play-action. The 49ers’ run game had two strong showings vs. the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears, but it regressed last week against an athletic Seahawks defense.

    Saquon Barkley is extra excited for a showdown with Christian McCaffrey, ‘one of the best to ever do it’

    The possible return of Hall of Fame-bound left tackle Trent Williams (listed as questionable) would help San Fran, but if the Eagles contain McCaffrey, it could be a long day for Shanahan’s unit. He’ll scheme up pre-snap motions to manipulate a defense, and he’ll dial up naked bootlegs and screens to compensate for struggles on the ground. But his offense has been lacking in the dropback game without a top receiver who can consistently get separation downfield for quarterback Brock Purdy. Ricky Pearsall would be the best candidate, but he’s questionable after not practicing all week. That has left most of the heavy lifting to tight end George Kittle and McCaffrey, who led the team with 102 catches. Kittle can do it all. Shanahan will use him like a chess piece. He can win vs. linebackers, safeties, and cornerbacks. The Eagles’ Zack Baun, Reed Blankenship, and Cooper DeJean will be most responsible for keeping him in check.

    Purdy isn’t just some byproduct of Shanahan’s genius. He’s quick through his progressions, has good pocket movements, and can extend plays as well as most quarterbacks. He’s not necessarily a scrambler, but he can run to the sticks. If you can collapse the pocket, the throws get harder for him because he’s only 6-foot-1. Purdy’s excellent when “hot,” so it makes little sense to blitz him much — not that Fangio would be inclined to send extra rushers a lot. Shanahan likely will go after cornerback Adoree’ Jackson with Quinyon Mitchell on the opposite side. Fangio has found ways to cover for Jackson with split-field zones. I also could see Purdy targeting safety Marcus Epps or returning linebacker Nakobe Dean on middle-field throws.

    Extra point

    The 49ers have a lot of success throwing over the middle. But there’s a risk. Eight of Purdy’s 10 interceptions have come between the numbers. That’s part of the reason Hurts doesn’t throw over the middle as often as other quarterbacks. Sirianni has hammered winning the turnover battle into his team. The Eagles finished the season plus-6 in turnover differential, while the 49ers finished minus-6. I also give Sirianni the nod in game management and fourth-down decision-making. He has been more conservative this season, partly because the Tush Push is no longer close to automatic.

    Eagles’ postseason adjustments, concerns with the offense, breakout players, and other AMA highlights

    Shanahan has lacked the gumption in key spots over his career. He’s a master game-planner and play-caller. But if his teams get behind, they often struggle to rally because his offense isn’t as strong in the dropback world. The same could be said for Sirianni’s system, as well. I think the first team to 20 points wins this game. The Eagles of old could salt away a second-half lead, but Sirianni and Patullo have been unable to find a formula when ahead. It’s been ugly at times and that should be worrisome. But this is how I see the matchup: There’s a push when it comes to the Eagles’ underperforming offense vs. the 49ers’ subpar defense; but I give the edge to a great Eagles defense over a very good, but not great 49ers offense.

    Prediction: Eagles, 23-17.