Saquon Barkley has a favorite element of playoff football. Winning the Super Bowl in his first season with the Eagles last year and celebrating with a parade was a lot of fun. The Eagles got there and did that in large part because the NFL’s 2024 offensive player of the year rushed for 499 yards and five touchdowns in four games.
The trophy and the stats were cool, but Barkley — who is, it’s worth mentioning here, not having a statistical season worth remembering — would seemingly hand those numbers to someone else if the postseason result can remain the same. If the Eagles, like they are more prone to do this season, plod their way to another title.
“Most importantly it’s winning, winning football, however it looks,” Barkley said this week. “That’s the best thing about the playoffs. If we win every game the way we won against Buffalo, no one’s going to care. No one is going to feel like we didn’t do enough on offense. Even you guys can’t really write nothing about it because we got to move on to the next week.
“That’s my favorite part about the playoffs. Stats don’t matter. The only thing that matters is winning the game, and I’m excited for that.”
It is a constant message around the NovaCare Complex, straight from the mouths of the organization’s leaders, Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts, who, to be fair, have done a lot of winning.
But it’s also the easiest message to lean on right now as the Eagles and their maligned offense start on a playoff run — in a wide-open tournament — that could conceivably end Sunday or a month from now in California. Because the stats, which Barkley says don’t matter, aren’t good.
In case you need to be reminded how Kevin Patullo’s first regular season as offensive coordinator went: The Eagles ranked 24th in yards per game. They had a higher three-and-out percentage than the New York Jets. Barkley’s rushing yards were nearly cut in half this season as the Eagles faced a higher frequency of stacked boxes and he ran behind a banged-up offensive line that struggled to create space. They have struggled with their operation from one play to the next and snap the ball later in the clock than any other team. Hurts is running less than he ever has.
Offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo (with wide receiver A.J. Brown and quarterback Jalen Hurts) has been subject to constant criticism this season.
The Eagles went 11-6, won the woeful NFC East for the second consecutive season, and earned the NFC’s third seed, which awarded them a home game Sunday, in large part because Vic Fangio’s defense allows the Eagles to squeak out 13-12 victories like the one Barkley mentioned against Buffalo.
But will the offense turn it on in the playoffs and help the Eagles make another run? Playing defense at a high level and taking care of the football is the Eagles’ formula. It can be a winning one. Which raises the question: Does the offense need to turn it on?
The answer to that question can be both yes and no. The Eagles can’t win a Super Bowl by just playing defense and not turning the ball over. They will obviously need to score points. But they have shown that winning football games does not require 30-point outbursts despite their high-priced offensive firepower.
There is not, however, a lot of recent precedent for a team with this type of offense reaching the Super Bowl. Only two teams — as pointed out recently by PHLY Sports — had lower success rates and expected points added per drive than this year’s Eagles team and reached the final weekend of the NFL season: the 2015 Denver Broncos and the 2023 Kansas City Chiefs.
The Eagles are 22nd in offensive success rate, according to SumerSports. Only one playoff team, the Houston Texans, ranks lower.
But multiple key members of the organization this week expressed confidence that the Eagles are moving in the right direction offensively and have what it takes to make a playoff run with the offense being a big part of it all.
Saquon Barkley’s production took a major step back from his award-winning campaign of 2024.
Jordan Mailata pointed to the last month for evidence. He said the Eagles have gotten more creative with their formations, sending Hurts under center and using play action. The running game has shown signs of life, even if a weak Bills defense stopped the Eagles in the second half of their Dec. 28 game in New York, the last time the first-team offense was on the field.
“I’ve seen us do it at a high level,” Barkley said. “Now we just got to lock in.”
That would be made a little easier with the return of Lane Johnson, who missed the last seven games of the season with a foot injury. The Eagles’ offense goes as its running game goes, and while Barkley was hit behind the line of scrimmage on 47.1% of his carries this season, according to Next Gen Stats — it got even worse when Johnson was out.
Designed rushes outside the right tackle earned 2.3 yards before contact per carry when Johnson was on the field compared to 0.1 with him out of the game, according to Next Gen.
The Eagles can lean on that and some of their recent success in scheming runs against the Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders, and Washington Commanders, and in the first half of the Bills game. They can lean on under-center looks to both run out of and utilize the play-action game. They can, so long as they move the ball, lean on their NFL-best 70.45% rate of converting red zone opportunities into touchdowns. They can let Hurts loose in the running game, which could in turn help open up everything else.
“You have to have an identity of what you want to do,” Sirianni said this week.
He thinks the Eagles have found theirs. Better late than never.
Sunday’s playoff-opening matchup with the 49ers should present opportunities for the offense. The 49ers have the 20th-ranked defense in the NFL by yards allowed per game. They are missing multiple linebackers, which should weaken a unit that already allows 4.3 yards per carry, also 20th in the NFL. The passing defense has been even more beatable. Only seven teams allow more passing yards than the 49ers.
It is an opportunity for Patullo to dip into the playbook and game plan a balanced offensive attack that exploits San Francisco’s weaknesses and utilizes the abundance of talent the Eagles have on offense.
Can Kevin Patullo exploit a diminished 49ers defense?
“I think game-by-game, you’re just doing whatever you need to do to win the game,” said Patullo, whose job could be in jeopardy with an early playoff exit. “So, we will do anything and everything we have to, to put our players in a position and give them a chance to execute and win the game.
“Really up to this point, our whole goal has just been to win games, and that’s what we’re trying to do is win as many games as we can. And obviously now it counts even more. So as far as game planning going forward, it is whatever we need to do is what we’re going to do to win the game.
“I think we’ve spread it out to do totally different things from game-to-game, week-to-week. And so that’s where we’re at. We’ll just do whatever we have to do and keep pushing forward.”
That is the company line. It is one that has worked, but it is one that will be tested this weekend and beyond, should the Eagles advance.
Do the Eagles, with all the ups and downs the offense has been faced with this season, have enough answers?
“I think it depends on what perspective you look at, half-empty or half-full,” Hurts said. “I think being able to evolve and change as much as we have and still find ways to win, in ways gives you … maybe gives off this perspective of, ‘Well, what are they going to do? Who are they?’ I do definitely think that is a way that you can look at it.
“Also, at the end of the day, we’re not going to be judged off how it got done. We’re going to be judged off of if we did it or not. So my focus is on doing it.”
TOKYO — Lindsay Mariko Steigerwald and Jesse Pryor set the gold standard for ramen in Philadelphia during their five-year run at Neighborhood Ramen. But when the couple announced the closure of their beloved Queen Village restaurant at the end of 2024, they also teased an audacious bit of news: They were moving to Japan with plans to reopen their shop in the ramen capital of the world.
“This is the next chapter for Neighborhood Ramen!” said Steigerwald, 35, as we stood in a blustery November rain beside Shibuya Scramble Crossing, the famously chaotic, neon-lit intersection in Tokyo where we rendezvoused for a day of noodle slurping across the city.
The couple had arrived from Philadelphia just 10 days earlier — following a year of planning (and a pop-up venture called ESO Ramen Workshop in Society Hill). They’d already begun their classes at Japanese language school and launched the arduous visa process that must be settled before they can begin working on their own restaurant. It will likely still be many months before Neighborhood Ramen fires up its stockpots and noodle machine in Tokyo.
Lindsay Mariko Steigerwald (from left), Jesse Pryor, and Jesse Ito sit at the counter at Ramen Ichifuku in November in Tokyo.
Their move was precipitated by a long-simmering goal to practice their craft alongside the best, but also a desire for “a better quality of life” they’ve come to love over the course of multiple visits to Tokyo, says Steigerwald.
Equally motivating is the couple’s passion for consuming ramen regularly; it’s every bit as intense as their drive to make it.
“I want to eat ramen every day,” says Pryor, 38. “I want to go to different shops all the time, be inspired and just soak it up. It’s hard to do that in Philadelphia.”
He’d already eaten 14 bowls of ramen in the first nine days since landing in Tokyo in November — on top of the 300 ramen shops the couple had visited during their 10 previous visits to Japan. By the end of December, Pryor was up to 80 bowls of ramen at 70 different places. (Steigerwald has been keeping pace with ramen, too, but she documents her own obsession — dumplings — on her GyozaKween Instagram account.)
That’s still just a fraction of the 10,000 ramen shops in Tokyo serving myriad variations: rich tonkotsus cloudy with the emulsified essence of slow-simmered pork bones; crystalline shio salt broths and shoyus tinted amber with soy; creamy miso ramens; and gyokai ramens punchy with seafood umami. Pryor’s quest for soupy inspiration here, he says, is “infinite.”
“Jesse is a true ramen hunter,” says Steigerwald. “At night he’s game planning what bowls he’s going to eat the next day.”
“The ramen comes first,” he says, “and then the rest of the day just fills in around it, you know?”
Ramen-hopping rules
We were about to learn firsthand, as the couple, who’ve begun a fledgling ramen tour business, had mapped out an afternoon of visits to some of their favorites. There were rules. Our group must be small (ideally two to three guests max) because the best ramen counters are often tiny. Also, come hungry.
“It’s expected each person that steps foot in the shop orders their own ramen and finishes the bowl. … Doggie bags are not a thing,” says Pryor.
The last edict was especially daunting considering the belly-filling richness of ramen. Consume three bowls and you’re in for a long nap. In addition, eating ramen like a pro is a full-contact sport — a messy, broth-splashing endeavor for which there is not only a recommended dress code (“Jesse’s entire wardrobe is black,” Steigerwald says), but also an almost athletic eating technique: the power slurp.
Ramen with shark cartilage at Ramen Ichifuku.Chef and owner Kumiko Ishida of Ramen Ichifuku in the Honmachi neighborhood of Shibuya, Tokyo, looks back across the counter while making miso ramen.
As the bowls landed before us at Ramen Ichifuku, our first stop in the Honmachi neighborhood of Shibuya, I marveled at the nutty aroma of the tan broth of an irorimen-style ramen, enriched with three kinds of miso, tender pork, tangy sake lees, and translucent threads of shark cartilage bundled over top.
I was just as mesmerized by Pryor and Steigerwald, though, as they locked onto their bowls with trancelike focus, then pounced, their faces hovering just inches above the steamy rims. As they began to slurp, columns of noodles steadily streamed upward into their open jaws. The jazz soundtrack of Hiromi’s Sonicwonder playing “Yes! Ramen!!” was punctuated by a gurgling roar reminiscent of shop vacs inhaling shallow pools.
“We call it ‘hitting the zu’s,’” says Steigerwald, noting the reference to zuru zuru, the onomatopoeia for slurping ramen in Japanese comics.
“It’s like turbo tasting, because you get the flavor of it up into all your sensory crevices,” says Pryor, who typically eats a bowl in five minutes or less, to consume each element at its peak.
I leaned over and gave it my best slurp — only to scorch my too-tightly pursed lips with hot broth while the noodles refused to rise. I resorted to my usual leisurely pace, savoring what was nonetheless the best bowl of ramen I’d ever eaten.
It was a comforting collage of firm but slippery noodles glazed in a nuanced broth with a parade of so many other textures — velvety pork, snappy bamboos shoots, tiny crunchy croutons. If only I could learn to properly slurp, it might be even better.
Steigerwald give me a sympathetic look: “We’ve had a lot of practice.”
Philly restaurant romance leads to Japan
Philly’s ramen power couple met at CoZara in 2016, where Steigerwald tended bar, and Pryor, a former news photographer from Delaware turned line cook at Zahav, had become a regular for the restaurant’s $5 Japanese riff on a citywide (Orion beer and a shot of sake).
“I saw them falling in love at that bar,” says Mawn chef Phila Lorn, who was CoZara’s chef de cuisine at the time.
Steigerwald, who grew up in New Jersey near Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base with two half-Japanese parents who are both kung fu masters, found Pryor’s budding obsession with ramen endearing: “Cool, the guy I’m dating is into the food of my culture.”
Lindsay Mariko Steigerwald (left) and Jesse Pryor co-owned Neighborhood Ramen on Third Street in Queen Village. They are pictured in their dining room shortly after opening in 2019.
She studied business management at college in Texas with an eye toward opening a Japanese restaurant, so it wasn’t long before they launched one of the city’s early pop-up sensations in 2016, dishing out bowls of intense tonkotsu and spicy tantan from his apartment between shifts at Cheu Noodle Bar, Morimoto, and Zahav.
When they finally opened their Queen Village shop in 2019, they instantly raised the city’s ramen bar. They acquired a used ramen machine in 2022 to begin making their own noodles (a rarity, considering the process is more involved than Italian pasta), raising the local standard once again.
But over the course of their research visits to Japan — where they were entranced by the abundance of quality ingredients as well as a public sense of order thatkeeps the streets tidy, safe, and tranquil — their pipe dream steadily bloomed into a determination to actually move.
“We did our thing for 10 years in Philly, but between the political climate and inflation there, the more we visited [Japan], we realized that this was where we want to be,” says Steigerwald. “We just want to make a modest living, be happy, and be proud of what we do.”
Steigerwald is eager to bring her family’s Japanese roots full circle, closing the loop that brought her two grandmothers to the United States after World War II: “My aunt in Texas finds it interesting that [my grandmothers] moved to America for a better life in the 1950s and that we are moving back to Japan to find a better life 70 years later.”
Steigerwald is pursuing a Nikkei visa for Japanese descendants. She hopes that the couple, who eloped in August — “moving to a new continent, we figured it was time,” she says — can open their shop in Koenji, a neighborhood known for its counterculture. It reminds them of South Street.
Tokyo transplants
In the meanwhile, they’ve been having rewarding ramen encounters everywhere. That included a spontaneous detour to Honmachi’s bustling and futuristic Denny’s, where ordering is automated and the food is delivered by a fleet of beeping musical robots.
“Honestly, I’d be hyped to eat that tantan anywhere,” says Pryor, gazing approvingly at a bowl of noodles whose broth is rich with sesame paste, ground pork, and orange puddles of chili oil. (Japanese Denny’s are owned by the same company as the country’s celebrated versions of the 7-Eleven, explaining the impressive confluence of quality and value.)
The duo’s exploration of the upper echelons of Tokyo’s artisan ramen world, however, has gone a long way toward building a community of friends and peers. When we arrivedat Ichifuku, chef Kumiko Ishida was wearing a Neighborhood Ramen T-shirt. The 15-seat restaurant in a homey, living room-like space is one of the very few ramen shops in Tokyo owned and operated by a woman, and Steigerwald and Pryor had named one of their regular specials in Philadelphia “Mama Miso” in the chef’s honor.
The source of their inspiration did not disappoint, even if Ichifuku would not divulge how (or from what) she makes her signature croutons, which remain a subject of ramen-world speculation because they never turn soggy in broth.
Chef Kumiko Ishida wears a Neighborhood Ramen T-shirt while cooking at her restaurant, Ramen Ichifuku. It is one of the very few ramen shops in Tokyo owned and operated by a woman.
Such minuscule details are the fodder for constant discussion among ramen hunters like Pryor and chef friends like Hiroshi “Nukaji” Nukui of Menya Nukaji in the Shibuya section of Tokyo, where Neighborhood staged a well-received pop-up in 2023. Nukui, who joined us for part of our journey, said he was thrilled the couple had decided to make the move to Tokyo.
“Their passion is so strong. Many Japanese have not been to the amount of ramen shops they’ve been to,” Nukui said. And their status as foreigners might also be an advantage, he suggested. “Japanese ramen chefs typically work under a famous chef and end up following in that tradition. But [Pryor and Steigerwald] are not boxed into a style or lineage.”
In fact, Pryor plans to focus on a ramen style similar to Nukui’s, a double-brothed ramen (also called “W soup”) that blends rich pork tonkotsu with an intense seafood broth called gyokai. While Nukui is known for his tsukemen style — in which noodles are served on the side for dipping into a broth as thick as gravy — Pryor intends to serve his noodles soup-style.
“This style is so impactful,” Pryor says, “you eat it and you’re like ‘Whoa!’” (I tried Pryor’s gyokai tonkotsu at both Neighborhood Ramen and Eso, and it is one of the most powerful, smoky, ocean-flavored broths I’ve ever tasted.)
Gyokai tonkotsu ramen at ESO Ramen Workshop, 526 S. Fourth St.
“Their ramen is no joke,” agrees Kosuke Chujo, the griddle master of Nihonbashi Philly, Tokyo’s shrine to Philly culture. “They are very, very good. The broth, of course. But also the fact they make their own noodles. Your average Japanese ramen maker does not do what they do.”
Indeed, high-quality noodles are so widely available in Japan that few ramen shops bother; there are so many other details to refine in composing a great bowl. At our final stop of the day, Ramenya Toy Box in Minowa, we were given a master class in the art of ramen’s two most elemental styles: shio (clear broth seasoned with salt) and shoyu (clear broth seasoned with soy).
As we stood in line outside the small white building, Pryor warned us of a solemn dining experience to come. It sounded like the polar opposite of the relaxed atmosphere at Ichifuku. “Yamagami-san is strict. His vibe is very serious, and the cooks stand at attention,” he said, referring to owner Takanori Yamagami, who studied under famed “Ramenbilly” chef Junichi Shimazaki, the pompadour-coiffed social media sensation whose shop is known for its no-talking rule.
Lindsay Mariko Steigerwald (from left), Hiroshi Nukui, and Jesse Pryor laugh with chef and owner Takanori Yamagami during a meal at Ramenya Toy Box in November. “I think it’s a great thing,” Yamagami says of Steigerwald and Pryor’s move to Tokyo. “If their ramen is good, people will go.” A ticket vending machine is used to pay for ramen at Ramenya Toy Box. Gilded trophy versions of the shop’s bowls attest to its reputation as one of Tokyo’s best ramen destinations.
Yamagami has made his own name in this tiny space, where the counter wraps like an elbow around the open kitchen. Pristine renditions of three classic styles won him induction into the ramen hall of fame in 2024.
The small team worked silently alongside him, prepping the “tare” seasoning base while the chef drained baskets of noodles in both hands, shaking off cooking liquid with almost-musical syncopation. A flick of his chopsticks coaxed the noodles, placed in bowls, into a perfect comb-over wave, to be swiftly layered with two kinds of chashu (pork belly and loin), a perfect egg, a curl of bamboo shoot, and a final spoonful of rendered chicken fat that glinted like gold.
The intense broth of just chicken and water is the true source of Toy Box’s magic, drawn froma slow-cooking cauldron in back that appears to be more chopped-up bones than liquid. Three kinds of heritage chickens contribute different properties of richness, collagen, aroma, and flavor. In the bowl, the most straightforward shio ramen is seasoned only with salt, thinly shaved scallions, and a dusting of tart sudachi citrus zest; it’s one of the most vivid yet delicate distillations of chicken I’ve tasted.
Yamagami’s shoyu ramen — seasoned with six kinds of soy sauce, including several fermented in wood vats — begins with that same vivid chicken flavor, then blooms with earthy umami.
Shoyu ramen at Ramenya Toy Box.
I lean in, inhale, and — at last — execute a proper slurp, the firm, slippery noodles swiftly rising up past my lips with a velocity and snap that fans the flavor volume even higher. I can understand why Pryor, who usually visits new shops daily, has returned to Toy Box a dozen times.
The respect is clearly reciprocal. Yamagami is eager to see the Neighborhood Ramen couple plant their flag in Tokyo. And, as if to punctuate that thought, he reached over the counter and gifted Pryor one of the white bowls lined with sky blue that he uses for his signature shio ramen. It’s like watching a great athlete hand his jersey to a rising star.
“It’s inspiring for us, too,” Yamagami says of their arrival. “I think it’s a great thing. If their ramen is good, people will go.”
The gesture isn’t lost on Pryor or Steigerwald, who clearly cannot wait to begin sharing their own ramen talents with Tokyo. They sold their coveted ramen machine before leaving Philadelphia (to the forthcoming Tako Taco) and have plans to buy a new one here soon, so Pryor can get his hands back in the dough.
The couple intend to level up to the standards of their new noodle landscape. “We want it to be fun, welcoming, and chill — not intimidating,” says Steigerwald, who imagines a space with fewer than a dozen seats.
But so many hurdles remain, from visa bureaucracy to finding the perfect location. So they have stayed focused on what’s next: their first holidays in Tokyo, a trip to the ramen museum in Yokohama, and a big test at their Japanese language school.
They already have a post-exam celebration plan in place. Not surprisingly, said Steigerwald, it will involve “one monstrous bowl of ramen.”
Lindsay Mariko Steigerwald and Jesse Pryor, formerly the owners of Neighborhood Ramen in Philadelphia, lead the way on a ramen crawl across Tokyo, where they moved toward the end of 2025.
ARIES (March 21-April 19). You’re often the one who takes charge, but you don’t always have to. Today, let others lead. Conserve your energy for the moment you’re truly needed: the moment only you can handle better than anyone else.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Once again, you’ll be reminded that power can create or destroy. Wisdom is what keeps it pointed in the right direction. Keep seeking it. What you learn today will be exactly the guidance you need to make the right move.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You’ll make huge goals, as you usually do. Just remember, falling short of an unreasonable goal is normal or even expected. If you aim for the moon and land in the upper atmosphere, that’s still further than most people ever get.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). You’ll face a group challenge. There’s pressure to belong or impress. Don’t treat the group as a single force. Really try to see each individual instead. When you meet people one by one, everything becomes more flexible, relatable and negotiable.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Today offers the opportunity to be gentle with yourself, even a little lazy. Get rest when you can, because a shining focal point is about to enter your scene. It will be wonderfully disruptive.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). If can’t say “no” to someone, are you ever really saying “yes”? Maybe what you’re saying is, “sure, it’s easier just to do things your way.” Healthy relationships include the freedom to disagree or decline without fear of the backlash.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). The beginning of an interaction will set the tone. Help people feel safe to contribute — to be real, honest and comfortable. Get everyone into a rhythm and they’ll keep coming back. Whatever you can do to make things easier and more accessible for others will make your life better, too.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). With the right people, you can just be yourself. The friends who matter won’t be scared off by your big feelings. They know they can handle life’s messiness, so yours doesn’t rattle them. Therefore, you can relax, be real and trust the connection.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Someone keeps disappointing you, so you rewrite your expectations. You’re not being cynical; you’re being accurate. The smart move is to let reality set the terms so your heart doesn’t shore up all the differences.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You’ll have a receptive audience today. When they laugh at your joke or praise your work, it’s more than an ego boost. Being seen makes you want to offer even more of yourself and share what you do best.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You might wrestle with the job at hand. Don’t assume that because it’s hard for you, you’re in the wrong. No. This is just the learning curve doing its job. Keep going. The thing that was hard to learn will be sweet to know.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). People consult you for a reason. It’s not just that you know what’s up. You also keep adding to the knowledge and information, and now you’re practically an enlightened expert whose comprehensive understanding is essential to operations.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Jan. 10). In your Year of Dynamic Harmony, personal life and public life complement each other beautifully. Family politics smooth out, and your reputation rises with each generous act. You’ll make powerful connections and experience love that feels both fated and freeing. More highlights: artistic breakthroughs, a financial win, moves that have you living in beauty. Libra and Sagittarius adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 2, 1, 10, 36 and 12.
DEAR ABBY: My mother passed away six years ago. She was a manipulative woman who had alienated all family members except my adult son. She promised him a sizable amount of money when she passed but didn’t follow through. As the fiduciary of my parents’ estate, I followed their trust directives as written, with no exceptions.
My son received a nice check, but not as large as he had expected. He was upset and blamed me for “taking” his money. Then he declared that we would never see our grandsons again unless he received what his grandmother had promised. He refused to understand the concept of a trustee’s fiduciary duty and has ghosted us, even though I have tried reaching out to him several times.
Thanks to the generosity of our former daughter-in-law, we do have access to our grandsons. I have finally come to terms with my son’s decision to remove himself from the family, which includes his brother and sister. He’s an adult and can make that decision for himself.
It was always my intention to one day pass what I inherited on to my three children. What I am struggling with is that I’m feeling a considerable amount of guilt because my husband and I have excluded this son from any monetary distributions from our own trust because of how he has behaved and his attempt at blackmail. Am I justified in excluding him? I want to forgive and forget, but I can’t get past his actions.
— CONFLICTED IN IDAHO
DEAR CONFLICTED: That your son misdirected his anger from his grandmother, where it belonged, onto you is very sad. Forgive him in your heart, but do not reward him by changing your estate plans. If you haven’t already done so, discuss with your lawyer leaving your son’s share of your estate in trust for your grandsons instead.
** ** **
DEAR ABBY: I am married to a verbally and economically abusive alcoholic. His drinking has grown much worse during this last year to the point that he can no longer hold a job longer than two months. We have three children, and I know our constant fighting is bad for the kids.
Because I haven’t worked in eight years, it has been extremely hard for me to find a job. I have applied for many. I want to leave this toxic marriage, but I’m scared. I don’t know how. I have nowhere to go, no money, no car, no job. What can I do, Abby? I am so miserable that I can’t stand it.
— BREAKING POINT IN THE WEST
DEAR BREAKING POINT: It’s time to contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline, which can be accessed at thehotline.org or by calling toll-free 800-799-7233. Your husband may not be beating you, but that does not mean you aren’t being abused. The atmosphere you describe isn’t healthy for you or your children. You cannot save your husband from his addiction. Only he can do that when he finally hits rock bottom and decides to seek help for his drinking.
Now it’s just a matter of dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s. The team going to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, won’t be announced until Sunday. But South Jersey figure skater Isabeau Levito did everything necessary to make the team.
Levito, 18, placed second in the free skate and third overall Friday night at the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis, after placing third in Wednesday night’s short program. But this was by no means any failure on her part. The top five women skated clean programs on both days.
At the end of the evening, Amber Glenn won her third consecutive national title, landing triple axels in both programs. Alysa Liu, the 2025 world champion and a two-time national champion, won silver. Two-time national champion Bradie Tennell placed fourth, which in the United States also is a medal, the pewter.
Levito, who lives and trains in Mount Laurel, charmed in both of her programs, set to Italian music. Friday’s long program was a light but dramatic piece, to “Cinema Paradiso” by Ennio Morricone. Every note was accentuated and every toe pointed.
She opened with a triple flip-triple toe combination and moved through the program without missing a beat. She pumped her fist after she finished skating.
Isabeau Levito skates in the women’s free skate at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis. She won the bronze medal.
“She truly is a ballerina, but what I love most about Isabeau is that there is iron below; there is grit,” NBC commentator and 1998 Olympic champion Tara Lipinski said. (Lipinski, like Levito, was born in Philadelphia.)
“I can’t wait to see that on Olympic ice,” added NBC’s other commentator, two-time Olympian Johnny Weir. (Weir is from Coatesville.)
In the end, Levito earned 148.73 points in the free skate and 224.45 points overall. Her overall score is a new personal best.
“I feel like [my free skate] reflected the training I put in,” Levito said in a news conference after the competition. “It was my first time competing in an Olympic year being age eligible for the Olympics.”
Levito, Glenn, and Liu are expected to be the women’s team representing the United States in Milan — which also is Levito’s mother’s hometown and where her grandmother and other relatives still live. Levito understands and speaks Italian.
Silver medalist Alysa Liu (left), gold medalist Amber Glenn, bronze medalist Isabeau Levito, and fourth-place finisher Bradie Tennell pose with their medals after the women’s free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis.
Unlike other sports, the national championships are not an Olympic qualifier. It is the last of a series of events over two years that are considered in the equation that determines the team.
ATLANTA — Undefeated Indiana’s already impressive march through the College Football Playoff gained momentum as its dominant defense created three first-half touchdowns with turnovers, Fernando Mendoza threw five scoring passes and the Hoosiers overwhelmed No. 5 Oregon 56-22 in the Peach Bowl semifinal on Friday night.
No. 1 Indiana (15-0, No. 1 CFP) will face No. 10 Miami on Jan. 19 in the national championship game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Miami beat Mississippi 31-27 in the Fiesta Bowl semifinal on Thursday night.
Indiana will try to give the Big Ten its third straight national title, following Ohio State and Michigan the last two seasons. Few teams from any conference can compare with the Hoosiers’ season-long demonstration of balanced strong play.
Led by Mendoza and the defense, Indiana is making a case to be considered among the top teams in history.
Though Miami will be home for the national championship game, Mendoza, the Heisman Trophy winner and Miami native, will enjoy a homecoming following an almost perfect game against Oregon. Mendoza completed 17 of 20 passes and the five touchdowns, including two to Elijah Sarratt and a 36-yarder to Charlie Becker.
Kaelon Black ran for two touchdowns to lead the Indiana running game.
Oregon (13-2, No. 5 CFP) was doomed by the three first-half turnovers while also being short-handed by the absence of two of their top running backs.
The Hoosiers led 35-7 at halftime as the Ducks were held to nine rushing yards on 17 carries. Noah Whittington, who leads Oregon with 829 rushing yards, was held out with an undisclosed injury after Jordon Davison, who had rushed for 667 yards and 15 touchdowns, already was listed as out with a collarbone injury.
Backup running backs, including Jay Harris and Dierre Hill Jr, provided too little help for quarterback Dante Moore. Moore’s task against Indiana’s stifling defense would have been daunting even with all his weapons.
Indiana’s defense didn’t wait long to make an impact. On Oregon’s first snap, cornerback D’Angelo Ponds intercepted Moore’s pass intended for Malik Benson and returned the pick 25 yards for a touchdown. Only 11 seconds into the game, the Hoosiers and their defense already had made a statement this would be a long night for Moore and the Oregon offense.
Moore’s 19-yard scoring pass to tight end Jamari Johnson tied the game. The remainder of the half belonged to Indiana and its big-play defense.
After Mendoza’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Omar Cooper Jr. gave the Hoosiers the lead for good at 14-7, Indiana’s defense forced a turnover when Moore fumbled and Indiana recovered at the Oregon 3, setting up Black’s scoring run.
Moore lost a second fumble later in the second quarter when hit by Daniel Ndukwe and Mario Landino recovered at the Oregon 21. Mendoza’s first scoring pass to Sarratt gave the Hoosiers’ the 35-7 lead.
Indiana extended its lead to 42-7 on Mendoza’s 13-yard scoring pass to E.J. Williams Jr.
Oregon finally answered. A 70-yard run by Hill set up a 2-yard scoring run by Harris.
Indiana’s special teams added a big play in the fourth quarter when Ndukwe’s blocked punt set up Mendoza’s second scoring pass to Sarratt.
Following their undefeated regular season, the Hoosiers have only gained momentum in the CFP. Indiana overwhelmed Alabama 38-3 in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal as Mendoza passed for 192 yards and three touchdowns.
Honorary captains
Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber was an honorary captain for Indiana and watched the game from the Hoosiers’ sideline. Former Oregon and Carolina Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart was the Ducks’ honorary captain.
Season sweep
Indiana completed a sweep of two games against Oregon this season. Defense played a lead role in each win. The Hoosiers took a 30-20 win at Oregon on Oct. 11 when Moore threw two interceptions and was sacked six times.
Indiana also dominates the stands
The game was a sellout and the red-clad Indiana fans were almost as dominant as the Hoosiers on the field. Indiana appeared to claim at least 80% of the 75,604 fans.
The center rotation between Joel Embiid remains in flux.
And Kelly Oubre Jr. must regain his shooting rhythm. But in the meantime, his effort has been a huge asset.
Those things stood out in the 76ers’ 103-91 victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday night at the Kia Center.
George continues to shine
The Sixers (21-15) need someone to take over when Tyrese Maxey and Embiid are on the bench at the start of the fourth quarter. Based on Friday, George is determined to fulfill that role.
The nine-time All-Star scored eight of the Sixers’ 11 points to put them up 94-82 before Embid and Maxey checked in with 6 minutes, 48 seconds remaining. George made 4 of 7 shots, grabbed four rebounds, blocked two shots, and assisted on Andre Drummond’s layup during the stretch without the two standouts.
After he went to the bench briefly at the 6:18 mark, Maxey and Embiid continued where he left off. They combined to score seven points before George returned with 3:35 remaining. He added his 10th point of the quarter on a layup with 2:57 left.
“He was really good in the fourth,” Maxey told the media. “Really good! He played defense all game. Then in the fourth, he made shots.”
The 6-foot-9 small forward finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and three steals to go with his two blocks. This is the second consecutive game that George dominated a quarter. He scored 13 of his 23 points in the second quarter of Wednesday’s home victory against the Washington Wizards.
The Sixers need him and rookie VJ Edgecombe to keep dominating quarters, especially when Maxey and Embiid are resting.
George didn’t shoot the ball well, missing all seven of his three-point attempts. But he played with poise and got to his spots for key buckets, especially in the fourth quarter.
Maxey finished with a game-high 29 points and three steals. Embiid added 22 points, nine rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block. Edgecombe had just six points on 3-for-8 shooting. But the shooting guard finished with nine rebounds, a team-high seven assists, and two steals.
The Sixers will be tough to beat if their four best players continue to display this type of balance.
Center rotation
When healthy and available, Embiid will always get the start at center. And that’s understandable, considering he’s the 2023 MVP and a seven-time All-Star. Who backs him up, however, often depends on the matchup.
Adem Bona usually gets the nod when the Sixers are playing an athletic team that likes to play an uptempo style. Meanwhile, Drummond assumes the role whenever they need rebounding against a towering team.
So against Orlando (21-18), Drummond was the first player off the bench, subbing in for Embiid with 5:47 left in the opening quarter. This marked his second consecutive appearance after not playing in the previous two games.
Drummond quickly made an impact, grabbing an offensive rebound and scoring a putback at the 5:12 mark. He played well, finishing with seven points and six rebounds, and was a plus-8 in 16:37. Bona did not play.
Friday marked his second game back after missing 22 games with a sprained left knee ligament. The small forward failed to score while missing all five of his shots. But what Oubre lacked in shooting, he made up for in other areas. The 6-8, 203-pounder finished with six rebounds and one block.
He’s shooting 1-for-9, including missing all four of his three-point attempts, in his return.
But his energy and solid defense have made Oubre an asset off the bench in the last two games. And he should make an even larger impact once he regains his shooting rhythm.
Before the injury, Oubre averaged 16.8 points on 49.7% shooting — including 34.3% from three-point land.
The Sixers expect him to regain his shooting form over time.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Tyrese Maxey had 29 points and three steals, Joel Embiid added 22 points and nine rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Orlando Magic 103-91 on Friday night in a game in which the teams combined to make 8 of 57 3-point shots.
Paul George scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half and added nine rebounds for the 76ers, who won for the fifth time in six games. Philadelphia has won four straight on the road.
Desmond Bane led Orlando with 23 points. Anthony Black added 21 points and Paolo Banchero finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
Philadelphia shot 4 for 28 (14.3%) from long range to Orlando’s 4 for 29 (13.8%).
Maxey, the NBA’s third-leading scorer at 30.7 points per game, made only 3 of 12 shots in a 12-point first half and missed all four of his 3-point attempts. He finished 10 for 22 overall and 3 for 8 on threes.
When Maxey hit his second 3-pointer of the game with 1:36 remaining in the third quarter, the 76ers were 3 for 22 from 3-point range and had a seven-point lead. His final 3-pointer came with 3:42 left and gave the 76ers their largest lead, 101-85.
ORLANDO, Fla. — NBA official Bill Kennedy left the court in a wheelchair after suffering an apparent leg injury during the first quarter of the Sixers at Orlando Magic game on Friday night.
Kennedy appeared to start limping as he was running down the court during a 76ers fastbreak with about 2 1/2 minutes remaining in the first quarter. He was seen hopping on the baseline as Paul George made a layup to cut Orlando’s lead to 22-20. He then called for assistance as the Magic called a timeout.
His right leg was tended to for several minutes before he was wheeled off the court.
Kennedy’s departure left officials James Williams and Michael Smith to work the rest of the game. The 76ers won the game 103-91.
WASHINGTON — Trae Young’s tan outfit nearly matched the color of Washington’s uniforms. And although he couldn’t take the court and help his new team, Wizards fans showed their appreciation.
Young was introduced to the home crowd with a video during the first quarter of Friday night’s game against New Orleans. Earlier in the day, the trade that sent the high-scoring guard from Atlanta to Washington became official, and now Young can look forward to a fresh start after leaving the Hawks.
“For me, DC is overlooked as far as a big market,” Young said. “In the NBA, I feel like this is a big market, and I just feel like I’m going to be able to come into an opportunity to be myself.”
The first big question is when Young will play again. He missed Friday night’s game with knee and quadriceps issues and hasn’t appeared in a game since Dec. 27.
Big market or not, the Wizards lost 64 games last season and 67 in 2023-24. They were 3-20 around mid-December but had won seven of their last 13 entering Friday night’s game. Washington has plenty of young players, and the development of second-year big man Alex Sarr has been encouraging, but the Wizards could use a true point guard to play alongside the likes of Bub Carrington, Bilal Coulibaly, Tre Johnson and Kyshawn George, all of whom are between 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-8 and under 23 years old.
Enter the 27-year-old Young, who for his career has averaged 25.2 points per game and 9.8 assists. After the Wizards spent two seasons bottoming out, his arrival gives Washington fans a star they can pin their hopes on. General manager Will Dawkins suggested the move won’t alter the patience the team has shown with its less experienced players.
“As an organization, we have a long-term plan, and we’re not going to do anything to deviate from that,” Dawkins said. “I think Trae fits into what we’re trying to do based on the development of a lot of the younger players.”
Washington could lose its first-round pick this year if it falls outside the top eight, but aside from that, there was little obvious downside to bringing in a four-time All-Star like Young, especially since the Wizards gave up no draft choices in the trade. Washington sent guard CJ McCollum, who coincidentally has the same birthday as Young but is seven years older, to Atlanta along with reserve forward Corey Kispert.
Young has a player option for about $49 million for next season.
“When you have a four-time All-Star, All-NBA player available, who wants to come to DC and help make it what we want it to be, it was an easy partnership and an easy decision,” Dawkins said.
Although he led the Hawks to the conference finals back in 2021, Atlanta hasn’t even made the playoffs the past two seasons, and the light return for Young indicates where his stock was when the deal was made.
“On behalf of the Hawks franchise, I’d like to thank Trae for how he embraced the city of Atlanta and represented the Hawks during his time here, on the court and in the community.” Hawks GM Onsi Saleh said in a statement. ”Over more than seven seasons, including four All-Star appearances, he cemented himself as a fan favorite and one of the great players in our franchise’s history. We wish Trae and his family all the best.”
Now Young will try to add to Washington’s recent history of dynamic point guards. After years with John Wall leading the way, the Wizards had Russell Westbrook for one remarkable season in which he averaged a triple-double and led Washington to its most recent playoff berth.
But that was back in 2020-21, the same season the Hawks peaked with Young. He was in only his third season then.
“It happened faster than I expected in my last place,” Young said, suggesting the Wizards could be capable of a similar rise.
