The Flyers snapped their losing streak at six games with a 2-1 victory on Monday against the Vegas Golden Knights. They ended the Golden Knights’ seven-game winning streak in the process.
After allowing at least five goals in the past five games, the Flyers were stingy, allowing just one goal for the first time since Sam Ersson stopped 20 of 21 shots against the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 23.
Vegas gave it their all to tie it up during a gut-wrenching end as Owen Tippett was called for delay of game with 1 minute, 33 seconds left in regulation. But Nick Seeler made a big block on Shea Theodore, and Sam Ersson stopped a slap shot by Jack Eichel with 23 seconds left on the clock. Golden Knights forward Pavel Dorofeyev was blocked twice, by Cam York and Travis Sanheim, as Vegas had six shot attempts in a final flurry.
Travis Konecny played his cards right and scored both Flyers goals. He gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead 3:46 into the game
Skating just inside the Flyers’ blue line, Vegas forward Tomáš Hertl was getting pressured by York and tried to feed a pass to his defenseman as he crossed in front of him.
The Flyers winger poked the puck away from Kaedan Korczak and took off. He skated in one-on-one with goalie Adin Hill and beat him glove side.
Konecny then gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead in the third period on a similar play — this time while shorthanded.
Eichel carried the puck across the Flyers’ blue line and passed it backward, thinking the Knights had numbers. Instead, it went right to Konecny, who outraced the defense for a breakaway. After beating Hill glove side, he went blocker side this time for the Flyers’ fourth shorthanded goal this season.
Asked postgame if he went blocker side on the second goal to switch it up, Konecny said with a smile, “No, that’s just more about, I’m just trying to mess with his head a little bit,” he said. Konecny knows Hill and his dad, as the Flyers forward spends his summers in Calgary, where the Golden Knights’ goalie grew up. The two also won gold at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February together.
Konecny now has 17 goals and 43 points in 47 games this season. He missed one game with an upper-body injury.
The first goal by Konecny came 42 seconds after Ersson made a spectacular save on Alexander Holtz. Ersson’s Swedish countryman got behind Sean Couturier and Emil Andrae for a tip-in chance off a centering pass by Cole Reinhardt.
It was one of several big-time saves by Ersson in the first period as Philly was outshot 11-4. He also read the play perfectly and stopped Hertl from the bumper during a Vegas power play. In his 18th start, it was the fifth first period this season that he did not allow a goal.
In the second period, he got some help when Seeler made a fantastic play on a two-on-one. Skating alone after Noah Juulsen pinched, Seeler stayed up as Mark Stone tried to go back to Ivan Barbashev and knocked the puck away.
The Flyers’ penalty kill, which allowed eight goals in 21 opportunities during the six-game losing streak, looked good across the first three power plays for Vegas. But if you keep giving the NHL’s fourth-best power play (26.5%) chance after chance, it is going to strike.
So on the fourth one, they did. Hertl, making up for his mistake earlier, glided through the slot and deflected in the shot-pass by Eichel past Ersson.
Ersson stopped 24 of 25 shots to earn his first win since Dec. 23.
Breakaways
The Flyers’ penalty kill went 6-for-7, and the power play went 0-for-2. … Konecny had his first multi-goal game of the season. … Center Lane Pederson made his Flyers debut after being recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Sunday. He played 8:38. … Winger Bobby Brink returned after missing six games with an upper-body injury. He played 13:28 and had one shot, two missed shots, and blocked two more. …
Up next
The Flyers head to Utah to take on the up-and-coming Mammoth on Wednesday (9 p.m., NBCSP+).
St. Joseph’s seemingly was in command with a seven-point lead in the second half at Virginia Commonwealth on Monday. However, the Rams held the Hawks without a field goal for a stretch of five minutes and snapped their three-game winning streak with a 79-72 victory at the Siegel Center in Richmond.
St. Joe’s (11-8, 3-3 Atlantic 10) got within three points in the final 30 seconds following a three-pointer by guard Derek Simpson, but the Rams (13-6, 4-2) hit four straight free throws to seal the win.
Simpson led St. Joe’s with a career-high 27 points and four assists. Forward Michael Belle had a career high of his own for VCU, scoring 20 points.
Hot and cold on offense
The Hawks entered the game last in the A-10 with a three-point percentage of .280, but they took a 12-7 lead by making four shots from deep. On two-pointers, though, they started the game 0-for-7.
St. Joe’s ended the half on a nearly four-minute scoring drought as VCU held a 34-29 lead at intermission.
The second half was much of the same. St. Joe’s took a 46-39 lead five minutes into the half, making six of its first seven shots. Then it missed seven of its next eight. St. Joe’s ended the game shooting 47.3% from the field and outrebounded the hosts, 37-33. But turnovers were their downfall.
Steve Donahue’s Hawks saw their three-game winning streak snapped on Monday in Richmond.
VCU entered the game forcing 12.7 turnovers per game and forced 13 in the first half. The Rams forced five more after halftime, converting them into nine points. They turned the ball over only 10 times in the game.
The hosts powered through St. Joseph’s press in the first half and then Belle became the go-to player. The 6-foot-8 forward scored 14 points in the second half. Brandon Jennings finished with 18 points for the winners.
Anthony Finkley and Justice Ajogbor added 10 points apiece for St. Joe’s.
Up next
The Hawks will host Dayton (14-4, 5-0) on Saturday at 6 p.m. (CBS Sports Network).
Almost a decade after a 37-year-old New Jersey man was killed by home invaders, two men have been charged with his murder, the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office announced Monday.
Norman Mosley was fatally shot in September 2016 when intruders wearing masks broke into the trailer he shared with his girlfriend in the Browns Mills section of Pemberton Township.
The investigation went on for years without arrests until detectives found DNA evidence on gloves located near the crime scene.
Kevin D’Costa, 45, of Irvington, and Daemen Hodge, 32, of Brown Mills, were charged with first degree felony murder, first degree robbery, and unlawful possession of a weapon, among other charges, after their DNA matched what was found at the scene, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Both men had already been named as suspects in the case.
D’Costa was in custody at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark for unrelated charges when he was served last month with his warrant. Hodge was arrested at his girlfriend’s home in Bordentown Township on Friday and subsequently held at Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly.
The next step in the case will be presenting it to a grand jury for potential indictment.
LAS VEGAS ― The Flyers’ chips are down right now, but do they have a wild card up their sleeve?
Bobby Brink is hopeful to return Monday night when the Flyers take on the Vegas Golden Knights (8 p.m., NBCSP+). The Flyers activated Brink from injured reserve about an hour before puck drop.
“Bobby’s got a good shot to get in,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said during his pregame availability. “He had a good day today, so [it] looks like he’s going to go in for us.”
The forward missed the entire six-game losing streak due to an upper-body injury suffered in the Flyers’ last win, a 5-2 victory against the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 6. In the first period of the game, Brink was blindsided by Jansen Harkins and did not return.
While Brink did not travel on the Flyers’ last road trip to Buffalo and Pittsburgh, he did practice on Sunday at T-Mobile Arena. At practice, he was back on a line with Matvei Michkov and Noah Cates.
“Having Bobby back, he’s a pretty smart kid,” Tocchet said. “He’s a quick kid. He adds more speed through the lineup for a forward position, which is good. [It] helps us there. I think he’s anxious, excited to play. It’s been a while.”
In a corresponding move, Dan Vladař was placed on injured reserve. There was no update on the goalie, who was injured in the Flyers’ loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday. The move is retroactive to Jan. 14, so he is eligible to be activated seven days after that date.
On a positive note, Vladař did make the trip to Nevada after Tocchet said that if he wasn’t going to play at all on the three-game road trip, then he wouldn’t travel.
“At this point, I’d say day to day,” Tocchet said Saturday regarding the goaltender’s status. “It depends [on] how he feels after therapy. So it’s like, one of those things every 24 hours … you get better or not? What percentage? So it’s hard to really pinpoint things exactly.”
The coach said that the game against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday (9 p.m., NBCSP) was a possibility. The Flyers also play the Utah Mammoth on Wednesday (9 p.m., NBCSP).
“He was on the ice today,” said Tocchet, updating his status on Monday. “He had a good day. So that’s good, that’s a good [one] for us. So, we’ll see the next couple of days how it reacts. But seemed like he had a good day today.”
Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar was moved to injured reserve. He is eligible to be activated beginning on Wednesday.
The reinsertion of Brink should help boost the forward lines — after all, the losing streak started when he got hurt. Brink works well with Cates, and the duo has a natural, connected chemistry on the ice.
It should help a Flyers team that, as defenseman Travis Sanheim said, needs to get back to fundamentals. It is something Cates and Brink have showcased since last season. And coupled with Michkov, the line has brought offense. According to Natural Stat Trick, across the nine games the two Minnesotans played with the Russian winger, beginning Dec. 16 in Montreal, the Flyers scored five goals and allowed one with a 64.63% expected goal share.
Brink has 11 goals and 20 points in 41 games this season. The 24-year-old is one goal away from tying his career high set last season in 79 games and is shooting a career-best 15.5%.
“He’s definitely a guy that you can count on,” Tocchet said. “He’s a consistent player for us. You lose guys like that, and then your depth gets challenged. But that’s where guys have that opportunity to shine. … But having Bobby back, he does settle things down for us.”
Breakaways
Rodrigo Ābols has been replaced on Latvia’s Olympic roster. The Flyers forward was one of the first players named to the squad, but he suffered a lower-body injury on Saturday against the New York Rangers. He was placed on injured reserve on Sunday. No timeline was provided for his potential return. … Sam Ersson (6-8-4, .855 save percentage) will get the start against the Golden Knights, while Lane Pederson, who was called up Sunday, is in Vegas and is “a possibility” to play, Tocchet said.
A day before taking the oath as New Jersey governor, Mikie Sherrill said in a visit to Camden on Monday that she willsteer resources to the city to commemorate the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Sherrill visited Camden on Monday morning to observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day by joining a community effort to shovel snow. In a short speech, she emphasized King’s historical connection to Camden and an incident he’s said to have cited as sparking his interest in becoming a civil rights leader.
“I’m going to work with the city of Camden to make sure we can better bring this history to light, that we bring resources to commemorate the real birth of this movement here in Camden, New Jersey,” she said.
Sherrill’s team told local officials last week that she would be announcing plans to commission a statue of King for Camden, but they backtracked minutes before her announcement to instead make a broader promise.
New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill shovels snow for a resident, as volunteers shovel snow at Fairview Village on Martin Luther King Jr. Day during a day of service Monday in Camden.
Her transition team later told The Inquirer that Sherrill “is excited about the chance to elevate the history of Martin Luther King Jr. in Camden, and will work with the community on different possibilities to do this, including with a statue.”
Sherrill’s decision to come to Camden on MLK Day — the eve of her swearing-in and also her 54th birthday — was significant to local officials. It showed that the diverse South Jersey city is at the top of her mind after it resoundingly voted for her in November and improved turnout compared to the last gubernatorial election.
Camden Mayor Victor Carstarphen said in an interview on Saturday — anticipating a statue announcement — that he would want King to be honored in a spot in Farnham Park that has sat empty since a statue of Christopher Columbus was removed in June 2020 amid a nationwide reckoning onracism after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd.
Camden released a statement at the time saying the statue’s removal was “long overdue.”
Carstarphen said the city has been wanting to replace that statue with one that’s more fitting for the community at some point. He said “it only makes just great sense” for King’s honor to be put there.
A headless statue of Christopher Columbus that was dismantled and then knocked off a trailer in Farnham Park in Camden on June 11, 2020.
State Sen. Nilsa Cruz-Perez, a Democrat who represents Camden, said in an interview on Friday that residents were surprised that Sherrill choseto come back to Camden so soon after being elected.
“It’s a good message for the South Jersey region that she is going to be available for South Jersey, that she’s someone who’s going to pay attention,” Cruz-Perez said.
City Council member Nohemi Soria-Pérez, who works as the chief of staff for Cruz-Pérez and two local assembly members, said Sherrill’s attention to Camden, and the possibility of a King statue, is “just such a positive step forward into what we see in the future.”
The (debated) significance of MLK to Camden
Sherrill said in her speech that she loves learning “so many neat things about our state that otherwise you just wouldn’t realize, even places you pass by every single day.”
“And I have to tell you, one of the coolest was hearing about Martin Luther King’s history in Camden, the fact that many scholars say he had his very first act of civil disobedience here in Camden,” she added.
She was referencing an incident in 1950 in which King and his friends reported that they were refused service at Mary’s Cafe, a tavern in Maple Shade Township in nearby Burlington County — not Camden — while attending Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania’s Delaware County.
New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill (center left) hugs pastor Pastor Daniel Brown from Freedom Worship Assembly Church, as volunteers gather to shovel snow at Fairview Village on Martin Luther KingJr. Day during a day of service on Monday in Camden.
King often recounted the incident as an example that sparked his interest in the civil rights movement, according to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and reported in a 1976 Inquirer obituary of the tavern owner.
Widespread accounts of the incident indicate that the tavern owner shot his gun in the air, but Sherrill said in her speech that King had a gun “pointed at him.”
“I didn’t realize that he lived in Camden during his years as a student at Crozer Theological Seminary from 1948 to 1951,” she also said.
The belief that King lived in the home stems in part from the building’s then-owner and his daughter saying thecivil rights leaderlived there “on and off for two years.”
Regardless of the disputed details, King is widely understood to have a connection to Camden.
Civil rights icon and U. S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia (center) is surrounded by admirers during his visit to the Walnut Street property in 2016.
David Garrow, a historian and the author of the King biography Bearing the Cross, has previously said he believes King spent time in Camden and likely occasionally stayed at the Walnut Street house where he visited his friend.
The state-commissioned study noted that King “almost certainly” stayed there the night of the Mary’s Place incident described by Sherrill.
John Lewis, a civil rights leader and member of Congress who died in 2020, visited the building in 2016 and called it a “piece of historic real estate that must be saved for generations yet unborn.”
Local advocates have sought to rehabilitate the Walnut Street home — which sustained a fire in 2023. A 2017 grant of $229,000 was earmarked to renovate the building — which sat vacant and in disrepair even before the fire — but the money was diverted to the city’s fire department in 2018 without explanation.
Sherrill and running mate Dale Caldwell visited the city repeatedly in the weeks leading up to Election Day, and Caldwell was in Camden on Saturday. The city’s population is nearly 38% Black and more than 54% Latino, and Sherrill’s campaign had outreach teams specifically catered toward both groups.
Carstarphen said a statue of King would be “a daily reminder” to Camden’s residents that “our city matters.”
“It sends a powerful message to us that we’re not an afterthought,” he said ahead of Sherrill’s visit.
Chris Meyers, 67, was planting onion seeds Monday in the warmth of a large greenhouse near North 24th and Berks Streets for Sanctuary Farm Phila’s first ever Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.
The onions will be transplanted when the time is right. They’re destined to take root in one of the urban farm nonprofit’s nine lots.
Meyers, a retired city worker, came to the role by an unexpected path. Three years ago, the North Philly resident sat in the office of nurse-practitioner Andrea Vettori, his primary health care provider, determined to reduce his blood pressure and cut back on medications.
“She was the only physician — in this case a nurse-practitioner — that started talking about doing it through diet and losing weight,” Meyers said. “I felt like here was someone who was truly listening to me instead of taking the stance, ‘OK, I’m the doctor. I know better. It was like we were reasoning out how we could make this possible.’”
Vettori told him about the urban farm she oversaw in North Philadelphia as executive director. Soon,Meyers enrolled in Sanctuary Farm’s therapeutic farming program, began meditating with the group he sowed seeds alongside, ate the fruits and vegetables they cultivated, shed weight, and reduced his medications.
“I can finally see light at the end of the tunnel,” said Meyers, and one of thousands of participants and volunteers in Martin Luther King days of service throughout the region.
Zora Clark, 8, waters her seed plantings in the greenhouse. She was there with her partents, Mike Clark and Shawnika Hull of Fishtown.
What’s Sanctuary Farm Phila?
Vettori, 61, executive director of Sanctuary Farm Phila, is a nurse-practitioner by training and still works in the medical field one day a week.
She founded the nonprofit in 2017 with a primary mission to improve the health of the neighborhood by addressing food insecurity.
Sanctuary Farm set out to achieve that by transforming abandoned urban lots into productive agricultural spaces where staff and volunteers grow produce to distribute to neighbors for free.
The farm offers residents various programs and classes centered on nutrition and health, including gardening, beekeeping, sewing, and candle-making.
”Everything’s free to community members,“ Vettori said. “We do lots of different programming.”
Sanctuary Farm founder and executive director Andrea Vettori (second from left) talks about seeds and germination.
Sanctuary Farm has a headquarters on North 24th Street, and currently operates nine gardening sites. Eight are located in North Philadelphia and one is in Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery County.
During the summer, the organization ramps up its operations to run two to three produce stands per week to distribute free food. The efforts are funded through a combination of private foundation grants, individual donations, and government support from state grants and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Vettori’s organization operates with a small staff — approximately five year-round employees, only two of whom are full-time.
Because of this small footprint, Vettori notes that they “couldn’t survive” without volunteers.
Sanctuary Farm has a core group of about 20 regular volunteers, though as many as 150 people have assisted the farm over the years. To draw members of the community, the farm uses a mix of social media, monthly meetings, and “old-fashioned” methods like handing out fliers door-to-door and using information boards, Vettori said.
In 2024, the organization harvested 9,500 pounds of produce.
Monday marked the first full scale MLK Day of Service the farm has hosted, though it has opened its doors in the past on the holiday. It was supported by a $1,000 grant for materials and food from Indego Bike Share.
Jose Hernandez (left) and Lisa Hernandez-Smith plant seeds.
‘Contribute back to the community’
Shamika Hull, of Fishtown, attended Monday’s event with her daughter, Zora Clark, 8, and husband, Mike Clark.
“I wanted to plan something together with my family to contribute back to the community, but I didn’t anticipate finding an organization that’s really this exciting,” Hull said, as she and her family began to plant onion seeds.
They had decorated planting pots earlier and also planned to bring home some seedlings.
Vettori gave a group of about a dozen people instruction in organic gardening basics, such as annuals vs. perennials, what type of seed starter to use, and what types of soils and fertilizers to avoid.
Sanctuary Farm does not use any chemical fertilizers or chemical pest control methods, she said.
“We use a lot of flowers to deter pests or to attract beneficials like wasps,” Vettori told the group. “I love wasps. I’m always trying to put in a good word for wasps, because they’re really good for the garden.”
She started Monday with onions because it’s too early to begin planting greens and tomatoes, she said. The group also planted flowers that they could bring home.
Patricia Farley (left) and Claudia Huot talk while painting their seedling pots indoors at Sanctuary Farm before heading out to the greenhouse.
‘The last think you’d expect’
Nearby, Jose Hernandez had smoothed seed starter over a plastic seedling tray. He joined the garden as a volunteer a few years ago to help manage his PTSD through the therapeutic gardening program. Hernandez served as a U.S. Marine in Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War in the early 1990s.
“I overheard someone at the Veterans Administration speaking about it,” said Hernandez, formerly of Olney but now living in Delaware County.
Other vets are also enrolled in the therapeutic gardening program, which is designed for people with health challenges.
Hernandez travels to Sanctuary Farm every Monday. He also takes part in meditation and the sewing class, “which is the last thing you’d expect,” he said with a smile.
“One of the things that you tend to do when you have PTSD is internalize everything. You just keep to yourself,” Hernandez said. “Coming here, you meet other veterans and realize, ‘Oh, so there are other vets like me.’ … We can speak of things that we’ve experienced.”
When Tyrese Maxey first learned he could become an NBA All-Star Game starter, the 76ers point guard said it would be cool.
He talked about watching Joel Embiid start in an All-Star Game and how much he enjoyed watching his teammate’s experience.
“So if I’m blessed with the opportunity, I definitely won’t take it for granted,” Maxey said on Dec. 29.
The opportunity has become a reality.
Maxey learned Monday that he was named an Eastern Conference starter for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game.
The starters were announced shortly after 2 p.m. on NBC/Peacock before the tipoff of the nationally televised game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers. The All-Star reserves, selected by the league’s coaches, will be announced at a later date. The game will be played on Feb. 15 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif.
“I’m very thankful for it, blessed,” Maxey said before Monday’s game against the Indiana Pacers at Xfinity Mobile Arena. “I appreciate everybody who voted for me, the people who believed in me. I’m thankful for my teammates, this organization for allowing me to kind of lead them and try to be a better version of a franchise and organization they were last year.”
Usually taking his pregame nap at 2 p.m., Maxey was asleep when the All-Star Game starters were revealed. But he could hear his ringer going off while teammate VJ Edgecombe tried to call him multiple times.
“I’m like, why is he calling me?” he said. “And I answer, and he’s screaming and showing me the TV. And I’m like, ‘OK.’ We chopped it up a little bit. I was thankful for that. Then my mom called me, and then I said, ‘Listen, I’m going back to sleep. I have work tonight.’
“But I’m thankful, man. I’m just thankful that my support system and everybody who is around me, and my very thankful for that.”
Maxey becomes the first Sixers guard selected to start an All-Star Game since Hall of Famer Allen Iverson in 2010. Iverson, however, did not play because his daughter, Messiah, was ill. The last time the Sixers had a player voted to start in the event was Embiid in 2024. He didn’t play because of a torn meniscus in his left knee.
Maxey made his first All-Star team that season as a reserve. But after missing the cut last season, he’ll be a two-time All-Star.
Fans accounted for 50% of the vote to determine the 10 starters. A media panel and NBA players each accounted for 25% of the vote. This season, All-Stars are selected regardless of position.
Tyrese Maxey is lifted up by Adem Bona after the Sixers beat the Golden State Warriors on Dec. 4.
Denver Nuggets center and three-time MVP Nikola Jokić and Milwaukee Bucks forward and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo are the leading vote-getters in their respective conferences.
The starters from the Eastern Conference are Maxey, Antetokounmpo, New York Knicks point guard and former Villanova standout Jalen Brunson, Detroit Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham, and Boston Celtics small forward Jaylen Brown.
“I guess you could say it’s one of the goals for sure, but my main goal is for us to win,” Maxey said of being a starter. “The rest of that will come. I feel like if I’m healthy and we can win games and stay afloat and try to get to a playoff spot and do something special there, all of the accolades and all that stuff will appear.”
For the Western Conference, the starters are Jokić, Los Angeles Lakers point guard Luka Dončić, Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama.
Maxey finished second in the fan voting among Eastern Conference players. He was third in the media voting and fifth in the player voting.
The sixth-year veteran’s 2,941,622 fan votes were the most by an American player.
“Thanks, fellow Americans,” Maxey said upon hearing the news. “I appreciate y’all. That’s love. I appreciate y’all.”
The Texas native said he’s “blessed” to earn that type of popularity.
“I have great teammates, great organization that believes in me,” Maxey said. “I just give grace to God every single morning to be able to at least wake up and do what I love every single day. And I just work extremely hard to be in this position.”
Under a new format, the All-Star Game will feature a U.S. vs. World competition, consisting of two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players in a round-robin tournament featuring four 12-minute games.
It’s not surprising that Maxey was voted an All-Star starter.
He entered Monday third in the league in scoring (30.3 points per game), tied for third in steals (1.9), and 15th in assists (6.7). He’s also fourth in made three-pointers (139), and has scored at least 30 points in 19 of 38 games.
“Look at his stats and what he’s been doing the whole season,” teammate Quentin Grimes said. “From Game 1 to Game 41 today, he’s been probably a top-three player in the league right now. So just seeing him go out every night has been really fun to go out there and watch.”
Maxey’s season highlight came Nov. 20 when he scored a career-high 54 points, to go with nine assists, five rebounds, three steals, and three blocks in a 123-114 overtime victory over the Bucks. He joined Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain (March 18, 1968) as the only players in franchise history to produce at least 50 points and nine assists in a game.
Sixers point guard Tyrese Maxey finished second in the Eastern Conference fan voting, third in media voting and fifth in player voting. Here are NBA All-Star Starters Voting Results: pic.twitter.com/WjMC8hGLpv
In the past week, the Eagles have made it known to sources around the league that hiring former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel as their new offensive coordinator is their No. 1 offseason priority. That includes fired New York Giants coach Brian Daboll, who is expected to interview for the position this week. Virtually no amount of money, literally no amount of autonomy, and no fear of conflict would deter the team from signing McDaniel, a respected offensive innovator.
McDaniel and Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio endured a rocky year together in 2023, when Fangio worked for McDaniel as his defensive coordinator in Miami, and their split, while couched as a mutual parting of the ways, was not without acrimony.
At any rate, league sources indicate that even though Fangio’s work the last two seasons has been integral and possibly unmatched around the league, if the Eagles were somehow able to hire McDaniel, they would not be deterred by any possible discomfort from Fangio.
Of course, the actual hiring of McDaniel in Philadelphia would be an unexpected coup for the Birds. Right now, he’s a hotter commodity than Venezuelan oil.
He got even hotter Monday morning.
The Bills fired head coach Sean McDermott on Monday. McDaniel is sure to be a candidate for that job. So will Daboll, who worked with superstar quarterback Josh Allen as the Bills’ offensive coordinator from 2018-21. And McDermott immediately becomes the top head coaching candidate in the league.
There’s also a chance McDermott blocks McDaniel from a head coaching position, which pushes him back into the OC market, to the Eagles’ benefit.
One thing is certain: McDermott’s firing immediately makes the Eagles’ quest for their top two candidates much less likely to succeed.
McDaniel already has interviewed for head coaching vacancies in Tennessee, Baltimore, and Cleveland, was scheduled to interview in Las Vegas on Monday, and is expected to be interviewed a second time by the Browns this week. He interviewed with Atlanta, too, but the Falcons have already hired Kevin Stefanski, whom the Browns just fired.
A report last week indicated that McDaniel would consider taking one of the premier offensive coordinator positions in favor of a bad situation as a head coach.
Former Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel will interview for the Bucs’ OC job Friday. He would consider a great OC opportunity better than a not-great head coaching vacancy.
To that end, McDaniel has interviewed with the Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The former is reportedly closing in on a deal with Arizona’s Drew Petzing. The latter offers a head coach in Todd Bowles whose future beyond next season is unsure, and the Bucs are as fervent pursuers of McDaniel as the Eagles.
After he leaves Las Vegas — or, if he leaves Las Vegas, which owns the No. 1 overall pick and would be an enticing rebuild — McDaniel is expected to interview for the Los Angeles Chargers’ vacant OC job. There, McDaniel would coach Justin Herbert, who, like Lamar Jackson in Baltimore and Allen in Buffalo, is a more enticing option than the QBs on the other teams.
And yes, that includes Jalen Hurts.
However, in Philadelphia, McDaniel would have the best offensive roster of any of the other stops. That is, unless you believe: right tackle Lane Johnson is too old, left guard Landon Dickerson never will be healthy, Hurts will never develop past his current skill set, and A.J. Brown and Saquon Barkley, both 28, have lost a step.
Nick Sirianni (right) and the Eagles reportedly have not yet convinced Mike McDaniel to interview for the offensive coordinator position.
League sources say the Eagles have not yet convinced McDaniel to interview, which offers a glimpse into how he considers the Philly job. That said, don’t expect money to be an obstacle. Sources say that, for McDaniel, the position could be worth as much as the $6 million annual salary the Raiders gave Chip Kelly, who then was fired just 11 games into 2025, his first of three seasons under contract. At the end of the season head coach Pete Carroll also was fired, which created the current vacancy.
The Eagles have already interviewed former Falcons OC Zac Robinson, Indianapolis Colts OC Jim Bob Cooter (who does not call plays and therefore can leave), and former Eagles backup QB Mike Kafka, who was Daboll’s offensive coordinator with the Giants. They are expected to interview fired Bucs OC Josh Grizzard on Monday, and have expressed interest in Dolphins passing game coordinator Bobby Slowik, fired Washington Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury, and former Ole Miss OC Charlie Weis Jr., who was scheduled to follow Lane Kiffin to LSU.
They’re wise to cast their net wide, because, as of Monday morning, it looked like no amount of money or power will be enough to land their two biggest fish.
From experienced offensive minds and play-callers to young and up-and-coming offensive coaches, the Eagles are looking at candidates from various backgrounds. They have so far been linked to at least eight names.
Let’s take a look at the coaches the Eagles could be looking at, according to reports. (Names are listed in alphabetical order.)
Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter has a connection to Eagles coach Nick Sirianni.
Jim Bob Cooter
Cooter was a consultant when Sirianni first got the Eagles job in 2021 and has been Shane Steichen’s offensive coordinator in Indianapolis since 2023. The Eagles, according to Sports Illustrated, interviewed Cooter on Friday after the team requested permission to interview him.
Cooter does not call plays for the Colts, which is why this would not technically be a lateral move to the Eagles.
The Colts revived Daniel Jones’ NFL career before he suffered a season-ending injury this season. While he didn’t call plays, Cooter helped oversee what was one of the best offenses in the NFL before Jones got hurt.
Cooter, 41, was Doug Pederson’s passing game coordinator in Jacksonville during the 2022 season. He previously worked under Adam Gase with the New York Jets as the team’s running backs coach and before that worked under Jim Caldwell and Matt Patricia with the Detroit Lions. Sirianni and Cooter also worked together with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2012 under Romeo Crennel. Sirianni was the wide receivers coach that season while Cooter was an offensive quality control coach.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts has familiarity with former Giants head coach Brian Daboll.
Brian Daboll
ESPN reported Sunday that the Eagles are expected to interview Daboll, who most recently was the head coach of the New York Giants before he was fired in November.
Daboll was also on that 2012 Kansas City staff with Sirianni and Cooter. He was the boss as offensive coordinator. Daboll, 50, worked with Jalen Hurts at Alabama, so there is plenty of familiarity with the coach and quarterback in Philadelphia.
That said, Daboll is also in the market for head coaching jobs, and an interesting one opened Monday morning when the Buffalo Bills fired Sean McDermott. Daboll was born in Canada and grew up in suburban Buffalo. He was the team’s offensive coordinator during the rise of Josh Allen before leaving to lead the Giants.
Daboll is one of the more experienced offensive coordinators on the market. His offenses have been up and down over the years, but when he led the Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins, and Chiefs more than a decade ago, he wasn’t working with stellar quarterback talent. His best success was with Allen, who is sort of a unicorn. Could he help Hurts turn the Eagles offense around?
Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard worked closely with quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) this season.
Josh Grizzard
The Eagles, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, plan to interview Grizzard, who was just let go by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Grizzard, 35, was the offensive coordinator for one season after joining the Bucs in 2024 as a passing game coordinator.
Before Tampa Bay, Grizzard worked with Mike McDaniel in Miami and was with the Dolphins during stints with Gase and Brian Flores, too.
Grizzard has been a fast riser. He played at Yale and was a student coach there, too. He was hired to David Cutcliffe’s staff at Duke as a 23-year-old and was there for four seasons as a graduate assistant and then a quality control coach before leaving for the NFL.
This past season was Grizzard’s first calling plays, and he oversaw a steep drop-off in Tampa after former coordinator Liam Coen departed for the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Bucs, however, dealt with multiple key injuries.
Mike Kafka was the Giants’ interim coach and knows the Eagles well.
Mike Kafka
The Eagles, according to ESPN, have already interviewed Kafka, who was Daboll’s coordinator in New York before taking over as interim head coach.
Kafka, 38, is a familiar name around here, having spent two seasons as a backup quarterback after the Eagles selected him in the fourth round of the 2010 draft.
Kafka bounced around to seven teams in six seasons before embarking on his coaching career at his alma mater, Northwestern, as a graduate assistant in 2016. He joined Andy Reid’s Chiefs coaching staff in 2017 as a quality control coach and then was Patrick Mahomes’ first position coach as a full-time starter in 2018. Mahomes’ career high in touchdowns (50) came that season, and Kafka was his quarterbacks coach through the 2021 campaign when Kafka left to become Daboll’s offensive coordinator.
The Giants, obviously, did not have a ton of offensive success under the Daboll-Kafka regime. Kafka called plays before Daboll stripped him of those duties in 2024. But Daboll gave that responsibility back to Kafka this past season. The Giants were 13th in yards per game in 2025, up from 30th in 2024. The Jaxson Dart effect.
Mike McDaniel (left) is a popular pick to become Nick Sirianni’s offensive coordinator but could also be in the running for another head coaching job.
Mike McDaniel
The Eagles’ link to McDaniel is a loose one, with ESPN’s Jeff Darlington replying “yes” to a person on X when asked if McDaniel would get an interview with the Eagles. But it’s worth including him as a candidate.
McDaniel, of course, was fired by the Dolphins after it initially appeared as if he’d return for a fifth season.
The 42-year-old went 35-33 as Dolphins head coach. Before that, McDaniel spent 11 seasons working under 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, who is well respected as an offensive mind. McDaniel was San Francisco’s offensive coordinator in 2021 and helped lead the 49ers to the NFC title game.
His titles before that under Shanahan were running game coordinator, offensive assistant, and wide receivers coach. McDaniel could help revive an Eagles running game that stalled behind a weakened offensive line in 2025.
He is also a popular head coaching candidate.
Zac Robinson helped guide Michael Penix Jr. and Kirk Cousins while with Atlanta.
Zac Robinson
The Eagles interviewed Robinson on Friday, according to ESPN. They are among at least three teams who have interviewed Robinson for an OC job, joining the Bucs and Lions.
Robinson, 39, was Atlanta’s offensive coordinator for two seasons. The Falcons had a lot of success on offense in 2024 but took a step back in 2025 as quarterback Michael Penix struggled in his second NFL season (first as a starter).
Robinson, a former quarterback, was a seventh-round pick by New England in 2010 and was in the league for four seasons as a backup or practice squad player. In addition to the Patriots, he spent time with the Seattle Seahawks, Lions, and Cincinnati Bengals.
Robinson then became an independent coach and trainer of quarterbacks and was a senior analyst at Pro Football Focus before Sean McVay hired him in 2019. Robinson eventually became the Rams’ passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2022.
Bobby Slowik had initial success as the Texans’ offensive coordinator but was fired by DeMeco Ryans after the 2024 season.
Bobby Slowik
The Eagles, according to ESPN, requested to interview Slowik, Miami’s senior passing game coordinator.
Slowik, 38, is another branch on the Shanahan tree. He worked with the Shanahans in Washington from 2011 to 2013 and then, like Robinson, was a PFF analyst. Kyle Shanahan then hired Slowik in 2017 as a defensive quality control coach.
Slowik, the son of Bob Slowik, a longtime NFL coach, jumped to the offensive side of the ball in San Francisco in 2019. He was the passing game coordinator for the 2022 season before Houston hired him to be its offensive coordinator in 2023. He was with the Texans during C.J. Stroud’s impressive rookie season but oversaw a decline in 2024 that led to his firing.
Slowik then joined his pal McDaniel in Miami for the 2025 season.
Ole Miss offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. is a wild-card candidate in the Eagles’ OC search.
Charlie Weis Jr.
As with McDaniel, the connection from Weis to the Eagles is a loose one right now. The Eagles, according to the New York Daily News, “poked around” on Weis, the 32-year-old son of longtime coach Charlie Weis.
Weis was just 28 when Lane Kiffin hired him to lead Ole Miss’ offense after the 2021 season. In four seasons at Ole Miss, Weis helped lead one of the best offenses in college football. The Rebels were second in yards per game in each of the last two seasons.
Sunday’s snowfall might have been the best winter weather has to offer: Just enough to enchant, without back-knotting amounts to shovel.
Totals varied throughout the Philadelphia region, with a high of 4.9 inches in East Rockhill Township, Bucks County, to less than an inch at Philadelphia International Airport.
The official National Weather Service observation for the region in Mount Holly, Burlington County, was 3.6 inches.
Snowfalls were reported over 24 hours by National Weather Service employees, trained spotters, weather stations, automated systems, and the public. They do not include Saturday’s snow.
Snow covered the trail leading down to Forbidden Drive from North Jannette Street on Monday.
Overall, the weekend was good news for skiers. Stroudsburg in Monroe County in the Poconos received 4.2 more inches of powder that resorts didn’t have to make.
Weisenberg Township in Lehigh County received 4.8 inches.
Areas farthest east of the city, including the Shore region, received the least amount of snow. Atlantic City International Airport reported only a dusting.
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But with most homeowners and businesses likely to be shoveled out by Monday night, forecasters warn that the coldest weather of the winter so far is on the way — along with bitter wind chills, according to Joe DeSilva, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly.
“For this week, it’s going to be mostly cold,” DeSilva said. “Especially tonight [Monday] and tomorrow night we’ll have wind chills mainly in the single digits. Tonight we’ll have windchills around zero to 5 degrees above zero.”
In fact, the Weather Service says windchills could even dip to minus-15 degrees Monday night into Tuesday morning northwest of the I-95 corridor.
The Weather Service has issued a cold weather advisory as a result.
A route 61 SEPTA bus heads up Ridge Avenue in Roxborough on Monday.
DeSilva said the jet stream is due to dip south — like a big door swinging open to let in all the frosty air from the Arctic and northern Canada.
“Once that passes tonight,” DeSilva said, “the cold air will start pouring in.”
After the sunny and mid-30s of Monday afternoon, temperatures were to dip Monday night to around 15 with 10 to 15 m.p.h. winds.
Then the cold settles in, with a high of only 23 on Tuesday with a low of 10.
Some relief comes on Wednesday with a forecast high of 36 and overnight lows of 28.
A woman clears a car along Calumet Street in the East Falls section of Philadelphia on Monday before driving away.
Thursday, however, looks like a return to more normal temperatures with a mostly sunny day and a high of 43.
Unfortunately, bracing cold returns for the weekend, with a forecast low of 13 overnight Friday night and a low of 8 overnight Saturday.
