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  • Matt Strahm, the seventh inning, and Dave Dombrowski’s high-risk trade

    Matt Strahm, the seventh inning, and Dave Dombrowski’s high-risk trade

    There were some signs that the Phillies and Matt Strahm weren’t long for this world. Small ones. The kind you see in a lot of relationships between headstrong people. Certainly nothing that suggested things were fractured beyond repair. Still, there was enough smoke to at least dampen the surprise when the Phillies decided to trade their versatile setup man to the Kansas City Royals last week.

    Whatever the rationale for trading Strahm, his departure reopens a major question that appeared to be solved when the Phillies signed veteran high-leverage righty Brad Keller:

    Will that Thomson have enough depth at the back of his bullpen to avoid another season of Russian roulette in the sixth and seventh innings?

    We tend to focus on the eighth and ninth innings when assessing the strength of a team’s bullpen. But when you look at the game’s truly elite units, you’ll usually find that they are just as dominant in the bridge to their setup/closer combo. Think about the 2008-era Phillies. Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge were one of the best setup/closer combos in the game. But think about all of the big outs you saw from guys like Chad Durbin and J.C. Romero in situations that were just as pivotal as the ones Madson and Lidge would face.

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    A more recent example is last year’s San Diego Padres. The most dominant bullpen in the majors by a wide margin in 2025, San Diego relievers ranked ninth in the majors in total batters faced in the seventh inning while also allowing the fourth-fewest runs. The correlation between those two numbers makes sense: the better a manager’s options in the seventh inning, the more likely he is to go to that option rather than attempt to stretch his starting pitcher. Same goes for the sixth.

    Those were the innings that killed the Phillies in their NLDS loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Eight of the 13 runs that the Phillies allowed over four games came in the seventh inning. Another two came in the sixth inning.

    Not all of those runs were charged to the bullpen. But that’s not the whole story. Think about the seventh inning of Game 2, when Thomson stuck with Jesús Luzardo rather than going to his bullpen. Luzardo allowed two runners to reach base, both of whom ended up scoring off Orion Kerkering, who then allowed two runs of his own.

    Phillies manager Rob Thomson has been forced to lean on his starters because of a thin bullpen.

    A similar situation unfolded in the seventh inning of Game 4. Cristopher Sánchez took a 1-0 lead into the bottom half of the frame but allowed two of three batters to reach before Thomson pulled him. In fact, that game was Exhibit A for why a team needs at least three, and ideally four, arms who can thrive in situations where the outcome is in the balance. Not only did Thomson use closer Jhoan Duran in the seventh, and for five outs, he went to Luzardo for five outs in extras. The only other actual reliever who pitched in the first 10 innings: Matt Strahm.

    In that context, it sure looks puzzling that the Phillies decided to trade Strahm for a middle reliever with a light big league track record (Jonathan Bowlan). How does a guy go from being a manager’s second-most-trustworthy option in a do-or-die postseason game to superfluous in barely two months?

    Here was the explanation from Dave Dombrowski, who pointed out the presence of fellow lefties José Alvarado and fly-ball on the roster.

    “We didn’t necessarily think we needed all three,” the Phillies’ president said. “[Strahm is] a year away from free agency. We were able to get a guy that we liked who has six years of [club control], and we think can help us right away. So you have to give to get. And we still feel good with our left-handers in the bullpen.”

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    Which is all well and good. Except, the Phillies never looked at Strahm like a typical lefty. He was even more effective against righties, in fact, with a .585 OPS against in 2025.

    While the Phillies may like Bowlan, who has an impressive frame and an intriguing pitch mix as well as six more years of club control (albeit at the age of 29), Strahm’s presence in trade rumors over the last several weeks suggests the Phillies weren’t necessarily targeting the Royals’ righty. The driving force in this trade was that the Phillies were ready to move on from Strahm.

    For some justifiable reasons.

    Most conspicuous were Strahm’s comments after Kerkering’s fielding error in the Phillies’ NLDS elimination loss to the Dodgers, when he suggested that the team didn’t do enough pitcher’s fielding practice. A few days later, Dombrowski disputed Strahm’s characterization, going so far as to point out that Strahm did not participate in the PFP drills the team did have before the NLDS.

    Not exactly bridge-burning stuff, there. But Strahm also showed some signs of decline in his age-33 season. When he was a well-deserved All-Star in 2024, he struck out a third of the batters he faced while walking 4.6% of them. Last year, both of those metrics worsened. He still struck out a solid 27.3% of batters, but his walk rate rose by almost 50%.

    In fact, Strahm’s underlying results declined across the board, a clear indication that his stuff had diminished. Always a fly-ball pitcher, Strahm’s ground-ball rate plummeted by nearly a third in 2025, dropping from 31.9% to 23.8%. That decline correlated with a noticeable drop in life on his fastball, with his average velocity falling from 93.4 in 2024 to 92.3 in 2025, per Statcast.

    Only four relievers in the majors have logged more than his 212⅔ innings since the Phillies signed him in 2023, three of them are younger than Strahm.

    Phillies pitcher Matt Strahm yells into his glove after the Los Angeles Dodgers score three runs in the seventh inning in Game 1 of the NLDS.

    There’s a realistic chance that this move looks like a nothingburger at worst by the end of next season.

    Make no mistake, though. It’s a move that weakens the Phillies bullpen in the short term. Mostly, it puts a lot more pressure on Duran, Keller, and Alvarado to remain healthy and effective. If all three pitch to their potential, the Phillies will be plenty OK in tight games. But Alvarado is in his decline phase and is coming off a season where he missed 80 games and the postseason because of a PED suspension. Keller could be a one-year wonder. Behind them is Kerkering, who has yet to blossom into the high-leverage ace the Phillies envisioned and who will have to overcome the psychological trauma of his debilitating mistake in Game 4 of the NLDS.

    No team would be comfortable with those kind of question marks in the ninth inning. But the seventh can be just as important, particularly when your roster is built around its starting rotation. Last year, Phillies relievers allowed the fifth-most runs in the majors in seventh innings, despite facing the fewest batters (513, or 101 fewer than the Padres). It has been a long-running theme under Dombrowski. Since 2021, the Phillies’ bullpen has the ninth-highest seventh-inning ERA in the majors (4.46), per FanGraphs.

    Trading Strahm was a defensible move. But it could easily become one that Dombrowski regrets.

  • Adoree’ Jackson has had ups and downs as an Eagle. A positive approach has him playing his best when it matters most

    Adoree’ Jackson has had ups and downs as an Eagle. A positive approach has him playing his best when it matters most

    On any given weekday, 30-year-old Adoree’ Jackson still has the look of a college student. After practice, he’s often sporting a University of Southern California sweatshirt, the alma mater that he considered his dream program as a child. He totes a notebook filled with Vic Fangio’s defensive plays to complete his studious uniform.

    Jackson didn’t stop learning when his college career ended. It’s a process, even in Year 9 — especially in Year 9 — of his NFL career. After splitting the first eight years of his career with the Tennessee Titans and the New York Giants, Jackson arrived in Philadelphia last offseason on a one-year deal to help replace Darius Slay, competing with Kelee Ringo for the vacant starting cornerback role in the Eagles defense.

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    Everything was new — new system, new terminology, new coordinator. Jackson’s transition wasn’t seamless, as evidenced by his shaky showing in the home opener against Dallas Cowboys All-Pro receiver CeeDee Lamb. But his persistence and his smile never wavered.

    “To be able to go through the offseason, learning, keeping my head down, just trying to be consistent and get better and get better and understand that it would take time, didn’t know how long it would take,” Jackson, the Titans’ first-round pick in 2017, said. “But just being persistent and not giving up and not wavering in my faith.

    Eagles cornerback Adoree’ Jackson had his issues covering CeeDee Lamb in Week 1.

    “Sometimes I just think that the Lord maybe wanted to see that I want it as much as I said I did. As much as I prayed for. And if I was going to continue to put the work behind it, because when there’s a storm coming, it’s got to end.”

    The storm isn’t so relentless now. Jackson weathered it, rebounding from a groin injury in late September that gave Ringo an opportunity to start in his place. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound cornerback won his job back a few weeks later, then suffered a concussion that sidelined him for another game.

    Injuries weren’t his only threats. Howie Roseman attempted to add competition, acquiring Jakorian Bennett from the Las Vegas Raiders in training camp and Jaire Alexander from the Baltimore Ravens at the trade deadline. Still, Fangio turned to Jackson at the bye week and hasn’t looked back.

    “I’ve personally been rooting for him all year to play [well,]” Fangio said earlier this month. “He’s had his ups and downs, like a lot of us. Hopefully, he can stay on the track that he is, but I don’t think it’s any magical thing [that led to his improvement]. It’s just a process [of] getting comfortable and getting confident.”

    Jackson’s confidence is showing. His play in the second half of the season — while far from flawless — has stabilized, peaking with his interception and pair of pass breakups against the Los Angeles Chargers earlier this month. His positive attitude, though, never changed.

    “I’m so used to being uncomfortable with something just very unexpected happening,” Jackson said. “But just keeping my faith and what I was taught and how I was raised helped me prepare to keep me going forward.”

    Long before he became the senior member of the Eagles’ defensive backs room, Jackson considered himself an old soul.

    Jackson hails from Belleville, Ill., a suburb of St. Louis, where his dream of becoming a pro athlete was born. Jackson told his mother, Vianca, that he was bound for the NBA after watching Space Jam at age 4. The dream felt attainable as he practiced Michael Jordan’s game-winning dunk over his parents’ bed.

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    That aspiration evolved. Jackson played sports year-round as a child, from basketball to soccer to track to football. He moved to California to live with his older sister, Lekisch Williams-Keene, ahead of his sophomore year of high school, in pursuit of better athletic and educational opportunities. He found such opportunities at Junipero Serra High School in Gardena, about 15 miles south of Los Angeles.

    “I think it helped me grow up a lot faster,” Jackson said. “It made me, I guess, prepared to be independent and in college. And also that fear of going back home motivated me to want to be something more than maybe I’d seen or what people assumed was going [to happen] for me.

    “I think that was the biggest thing for me, just staying motivated. I didn’t want to let my family down.”

    Adoree’ Jackson reunited with his high school football coach, Scott Altenberg, at the Eagles’ game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 8.

    Scott Altenberg, Serra’s football coach, never sensed that kind of pressure on Jackson. Rather, he picked up on two other qualities about his newest player on the first day of practice with the junior varsity team.

    For one, Jackson wasn’t long for the JV squad. He wasn’t the biggest player, Altenberg said, but he was the “Road Runner-type guy,” capable of running around and covering receivers effortlessly.

    Jackson also had a “glow” to him, according to Altenberg. He seemed to have more fun on the football field than anybody else. He set the tone for his teammates, dancing between plays, then dialing in on his assignment at the snap of the ball. Even opposing teams took notice of Jackson’s blend of prowess and personality.

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    “He would wear the grill and do different things that would look like he was kind of one of those look-at-me guys,” Altenberg said. “But he did it in a way that the opponents, like, he was very respectful about it. It was the strangest thing. I’d never seen it before or since. He would kill them the whole game, and then they would take pictures with them afterward, the opponents.”

    His glow never dimmed, no matter the circumstance. In his senior season, Jackson hurt his ankle in the playoffs. He played on his bad ankle through the state final. After every play, Altenberg watched as Jackson would limp, reset himself, make a play, then do it again.

    In the state final, Jackson had a 92-yard punt return for a touchdown and a 93-yard kickoff for a touchdown, despite his nagging ankle injury.

    “When things don’t go his way, he’s able to recompartmentalize it and then get back going,” Altenberg said. “He’s always been like that.”

    Adoree’ Jackson joined the Eagles this offseason after splitting time with the Titans and Giants over eight seasons.

    Jackson takes after his mother, he says. He acknowledged that they tend to keep their struggles to themselves. In the spring of 2015, Vianca was diagnosed with breast cancer. She didn’t share her diagnosis with her son until she was pronounced cancer-free in the winter that year.

    But Jackson said his father, Christopher, told him and that he knew about her illness throughout his sophomore year at USC. The uncertainty surrounding her health made him uneasy. At age 15, Jackson had lost one of his closest friends, Jeremiah Radford, to cancer.

    Even though Jackson wasn’t by Vianca’s side as she went through treatment, he admired her strength from afar. Her resilience and positivity still inspire Jackson.

    “We think we’re strong playing football and doing different things and our bodies getting beat up, but [strength is] to have eternal and spiritual warfare and figuring out how you’re going to get through it, and not really trying to tell and keep a secret, and to come out on top and to thrive after what all you’re going through,” Jackson said.

    Altenberg still will give Jackson the occasional call just to receive a dose of the positivity he cherished daily during Jackson’s high school years.

    Jackson exudes it, even when his on-field performance slips. Early this season, when opposing quarterbacks were picking on Jackson, Altenberg sent him a text to lend his support. The cornerback responded with a sense of determination familiar to his high school coach.

    “He just was like, ‘I got this,’” Altenberg said. “‘I’m working on it, Coach. I’ll get there.’ And he just had that positive attitude. I was like, ‘OK.’ It’s hard not to be successful when you look for the positive and you work for the positive.”

    Cooper DeJean saw that work firsthand. The second-year defensive back said Jackson can keep the atmosphere in the room light, just like Slay did last season, while learning alongside his younger teammates.

    Adoree’ Jackson’s teammates have remarked the corner’s ability to remain even-keeled amid the peaks and valleys of the season.

    “He’s been the same person every single day, whether he’s playing well or if he’s had some downs throughout the year,” DeJean said. “He’s been the same guy. Every single day, he comes in and he works, and you can see that starting to show out on the field, I think. You’ve seen the past few weeks, the way he’s playing out on the field. Playing at a really high level. And he just continued to get better each and every week.”

    Ringo, who had been vying for the starting outside cornerback role with Jackson early in the season, has a deep sense of appreciation for the veteran, too. Jackson is always willing to lend his perspective and experience to younger players in the room. While he’s competed with Jackson this season, he says he harbors no resentment toward him.

    “Relationships are beyond football,” Ringo said. “Nothing out there on the field would affect a good relationship. We all have that good, dynamic relationship within each other, and it’s nothing but love, regardless of what that is.”

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    That gratitude — for everything — is mutual. Even in the aftermath of the Week 1 game against Dallas, Jackson stood at his stall in the NovaCare Complex and insisted that he wasn’t discouraged. He said he was excited that every week provides another chance to improve and build confidence in practice and on game day.

    He had that mentality when he wasn’t the starter, too. When Ringo briefly took over in early October, Jackson said he had learned to be content with his role, no matter how big or small. He had cultivated that attitude over the course of his career. He was a starter for seven seasons until his final year with the Giants.

    Adoree’ Jackson (22) was a known figure to the Eagles via his work as a Giants starter.

    His sense of appreciation for every opportunity, Jackson said, also comes from his mother.

    “She used to always tell me, ’The Lord can give it to me and he can also take it away,’” Jackson said. “It’s easy to praise the Lord when everything is going great, but how easy is it when things are not going your way? Or you seem like you’re in a turmoil.

    “I think just my mom, she did a great job as a kid of instilling faith in me, belief, but also humility and being humble and understanding that we are all human beings and we have to be grateful for what we have because it can be something as small as blinking, breathing, seeing, touching, tasting that you might take for granted, and the next person doesn’t have it.”

    Bigger tests await in two weeks, when Jackson is slated to suit up for his first playoff game since the 2022 season and just his ninth total. Beyond that lies uncertainty — over the Eagles’ chances at a Super Bowl repeat and Jackson’s next contract.

    But his youthful energy, willingness to learn, and unyielding sense of gratitude seem unlikely to change, no matter what the future holds for Jackson.

    “He loves where he is right now, always,” Altenberg said. “And I think that we could all benefit from that.”

  • Evan Simon became a true starting QB in his final year of college, and it’s a year he won’t forget.

    Evan Simon became a true starting QB in his final year of college, and it’s a year he won’t forget.

    If someone were to ask Evan Simon how the 2025 season went, his answer would be simple — the best of his college football career. Why? He finally had an opportunity.

    The quarterback’s collegiate career started at Rutgers in 2020. He spent four seasons as a backup in New Brunswick, N.J. He transferred to Temple with two years of eligibility remaining — and the chance to be a starter.

    “It’s taken me six years, and for each game I traveled, whether I was at Rutgers [or] Temple and I played or didn’t play, I had one family member there,” Simon said. “My mom drove to Ann Arbor, Michigan, when I was a third string or whatever. This just had to be the year that I gave myself a chance, and it was just a matter of doing whatever it took.”

    Evan Simon wanted to change Temple’s trajectory in football. He’s devoted time to make it happen.

    It wasn’t easy. At Temple, there were quarterback battles and a coaching change that stood in the way of Simon achieving his goal, but he did it. His career ended when Temple lost to North Texas on Nov. 28, and, while the 5-7 Owls fell short of a bowl game, Simon helped usher in a new era of Temple football.

    “I’ve had a shaky career. It’s taken six years for me to start the first game of the year,” said Simon, who threw for 2,097 yards and 25 touchdowns, while throwing just two interceptions this season. “It’s been quite the journey. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.”

    Carving his role

    Simon doesn’t like to talk a lot about what happened at Rutgers.

    The Manheim Central graduate joined the team in 2020. However, much of his time with the Scarlet Knights was spent on the sideline, prompting him to enter the transfer portal in 2023.

    The options were limited, but one school stuck out: Temple, which had lost quarterback EJ Warner, who transferred to Rice.

    “I had two other schools that were pretty interested, but they were lower level than Temple,” Simon said. “I had a great conversation with [former Temple coach Stan Drayton]; he made me laugh. I talked with the offensive coordinator. They both seemed like great people. I just put my trust in Temple as a whole.”

    Temple quarterback Evan Simon (6) threw 25 touchdowns this season.

    He competed with Forrest Brock, Temple’s third-string quarterback in 2023. Brock won the job and started the first two games. The door cracked for Simon when Brock injured his wrist against Navy on Sept. 7. Simon started the next game against Coastal Carolina.

    Temple nearly defeated the Chanticleers, but Simon had his coming out party the following week against Utah State. He threw five touchdowns in a 45-29 comeback win over the Aggies. Simon would start every game but one for the rest of the season.

    Temple, however, finished 3-9, and Drayton was fired before the season ended. Temple then hired K.C. Keeler, who opened up the quarterback position. Simon was considering entering the portal again.

    “That whole transfer portal window was not easy, especially when you know coaches are telling you about guys who they are recruiting,” Simon said. “You’d like to think your position is safe, but it’s never safe. They brought two other senior quarterbacks in during this whole past year. It’s always in the back of your head.”

    Getting a chance

    Former Oregon State quarterback Gevani McCoy joined Temple in April, prompting yet another competition for Simon. This time was different, though. Simon was going to do anything to earn his job back, he said.

    “I would study [McCoy], in a sense,” Simon said. “I’d study how many notes is he taking, how hard is he working in the weight room, how he interacts with teammates. I said this toward the end of the year, but bringing in two other quarterbacks and the competition during camp was by far the best thing that happened to me.”

    He began doing things he had never done before, like sleeping in Edberg-Olson Hall. Simon was becoming a leader on the team.

    Keeler took notice too, and named Simon the starter. He threw a career-high six touchdowns in the season opener against Massachusetts on Aug. 30, while McCoy was the backup.

    “Chance is all we need,” Simon said. “I think Coach Keeler is a big part of it as well. He kind of forced me to be in some of those uncomfortable situations where it’s talking to the team or just things where you’re being forced to talk more.”

    Next steps

    When Simon walked off the field against North Texas, it signified multiple things.

    Temple lost its fourth straight game, missing a chance at a bowl game. But for Simon, it was the final game of his college career.

    But it won’t be the last time he picks up a football.

    The chance of being drafted isn’t high, Simon said, but he hopes to get a camp or workout invite from an NFL team. He signed with an agent at the end of this season and will spend the winter and spring training to prepare for Temple’s pro day.

    “These next couple months are all unknown,” Simon said. “I’m just going to try to stay in the moment and make the most of it when the time comes.”

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    Simon’s journey was filled with twist and turns, and despite getting one year as a true starter at Temple, Simon says he wouldn’t change a thing because he believes that he left an impact on the program.

    “This is a group of guys where they’re harder on themselves than their coaches are on them from a care factor,” Simon said. “We won five games, and we lost two games by a total of two points, and we played five ranked opponents. And, damn, we played hard, even in blowout losses. I think you give Keeler another year, baby, here we go.”

  • The NFL’s stadium greed, the Flyers’ missing component, and other thoughts

    The NFL’s stadium greed, the Flyers’ missing component, and other thoughts

    First and final thoughts …

    Clark Hunt and his family, who own the Kansas City Chiefs and are worth a reported $25 billion, are going to build a new domed stadium for the team in Wyandotte County, Kan. Wait, that’s not quite right. The Hunts aren’t really the ones building it. The construction is projected to take $3 billion to complete, but $1.8 billion — 60% of the cost — will come from Kansas taxpayers.

    That’s OK, though, because once the stadium is finished, it’ll be a gleaming football palace where the Chiefs’ opponents will never have to face harsh Midwest winter conditions during December and January. The teams will play football the way it was meant to be played: inside an aseptic arena where the temperature is always 72.3 degrees Fahrenheit.

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    Best of all, the NFL is sure to hold at least one Super Bowl at the stadium. And by at least one, I mean one, because if there’s anywhere that the celebrities and fat cats and influencers who populate Super Bowl week can’t wait to go, it’s … the Missouri-Kansas border.

    What we’re seeing here, of course, is the privatization of profit and the socialization of cost, a dynamic as old as the modern multibillion-dollar industry of pro sports. What we’re also seeing — and it will accelerate — is the slow death of the un-rich sports crowd. Those with the financial means to go to a game in the Chiefs’ new stadium — or in a new Eagles stadium, if Jeffrey Lurie eventually gets his way — don’t want cold and snow to mar their fun. They don’t want the experience they’re having to be common or accessible.

    Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts kneels in the endzone before a game at the Kansas City Chiefs on Sept 14.

    Attending a major pro sports contest became a luxury buy long ago. Now it’s on its way to becoming a sterile exercise only a select few can afford, and those fans who care the most, who drive interest and revenue in these games boys and girls can play, end up paying anyway, even while they are kept on the other side of the window.

    Still seeking a star

    If the NHL season had ended on Christmas … well, that would be a really short NHL season. Also, the Flyers would have qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2020, and Trevor Zegras would have been considered a brilliant offseason acquisition.

    But the season, of course, isn’t even half-finished yet, and, given the Flyers’ recent history, there’s still plenty of reason to wonder whether they’ll keep up a postseason-worthy pace. That natural skepticism accounts for some of the relative indifference to their relative success so far. People will believe the Flyers are a good team when they see the Flyers be a good team over a full 82 games.

    After falling out of favor in Anaheim, Trevor Zegras has rebounded in Philly, where he has 37 points at Christmas, besting his mark for the entire 2024-25 season.

    There’s another reason, though, why the Flyers haven’t penetrated the broader, more mainstream public conversation about Philly sports so far: They don’t have any stars.

    At his current pace, Zegras would finish with 34 goals and 83 points over 82 games, which would lead the team but place him 31st in the league in points per game. Offense has been up in the NHL for a while. This would be the fifth straight season that the average team has scored at least three goals each game, the first such stretch in the league since the early 1990s.

    Yet the Flyers haven’t been part of that surge in scoring. They have not had a player with 35 goals or more in a season since 2011-12, when Scott Hartnell had 37. They have not had a player with 40 goals or more in a season since 2008-09, when Jeff Carter had 46. And they have not had a player with 50 goals or more in a season since 1997-98, when John LeClair had 51.

    There’s no denying the Flyers’ good vibes. What’s behind this season’s positive shift?

    That recent history also explains part of the frustration and disgruntlement from the fan base over Matvei Michkov’s sluggish sophomore season. Michkov was supposed to be the franchise’s next superstar, and he still can be, but his regression has at least delayed his development into the kind of player who even a hockey neophyte knows and feels compelled to watch. The Flyers haven’t had such a star since Eric Lindros, and, at the moment, they still don’t.

    Casty got one thing right

    A tip of the cap to Mark Whicker, an all-time great Philadelphia sports columnist, for noting that Nick Castellanos delivered the quote of the year in Philly sports.

    After Phillies pitchers Cristopher Sánchez and Ranger Suárez were snubbed for the National League All-Star team in favor of the Milwaukee Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski, who had made just five starts, Castellanos said:

    “This is turning into the Savannah Bananas.”

    Nick Castellanos is likely out in Philly after a couple tough years in the field and at the mound.

    No offense to the Bananas, who make baseball less stuffy and lots more fun for loads of kids in America. But Castellanos’ point about the All-Star Game being more than just a meaningless exhibition — that it is, still, supposed to be an acknowledgment of and accolade for those players who have performed best through a season’s first half — was well taken. Whatever one might think of his performance on the field in 2025, he launched that answer into the upper deck.

    Good stuff, Gramps

    In his two games with the Indianapolis Colts this season, nearly five years after he had retired, Philip Rivers — 44 years old, father of 10, grandfather of one — has completed 41 of 62 passes for 397 yards and three touchdowns.

    How hard can it be to play quarterback in the NFL if Pop-Pop can do it this well?

  • Why waste a Christmas wish on the Eagles? Phillies, Sixers need all the help they can get

    Why waste a Christmas wish on the Eagles? Phillies, Sixers need all the help they can get

    Since you’ll most likely be reading this column on Christmas Day, here’s a question in the spirit of the season for Philly sports fans:

    What would be your Christmas wish?

    Don’t be hasty and just say, “Another Lombardi Trophy.”

    Yes, it’s football season, and yes, the Eagles secured a home playoff game last Saturday, but the rest of the teams, in one manner or another, are making strides and could use your help.

    The Eagles don’t need it.

    They won it all just last season, and they also won seven years ago, and they also went to the Super Bowl three years ago. Their window for winning titles will remain open for at least another two years.

    I ran a X poll from Monday afternoon through Tuesday evening, which was this column’s deadline.

    For me, the Eagles were the last team for whom I’d hope Santa would bring some luck.

    What about the Phillies? They’ve only ever won two World Series, the last in 2008, and none since John Middleton began spending like he’s the love child of Nero and Louis XIV. They’re my choice.

    And whither The Process, now in its 13th fruitless season?

    Finally, no team has tried longer and harder to build a winner than the Flyers, now engaged in an earnest rebuild.

    Let’s investigate them all.

    Zack Wheeler has said he’s retiring after the 2027 season.

    Phillies, 52.3%

    Most folks agreed: This club needs to eat a whole bushel of apples on Christmas night (a Chinese tradition symbolizing safety and peace). Zack Wheeler is 35. Bryce Harper is 33. Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber are 32. Tick, tick, tick.

    Wheeler, perhaps the best pitcher in franchise history, has said he’s retiring after his contract expires in 2027. Harper will then be 35, Turner and Schwarber 34. The only viable replacement for these stars is starter Cristopher Sánchez, who is 29, and who will demand an astronomical contract in 2031 — when he’s 34.

    The realistic window for the Phillies ends when Wheeler walks in two years. As such, Phillies faithful should wish for this:

    • Wheeler returns from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in May and is back to normal by August.
    • Harper outperforms an injury-affected 2025 season that president Dave Dombrowski accurately (if unwisely) said he considered not “elite,” with a .844 OPS, and again produces at an elite level — say, the .937 OPS he averaged in the 10 previous seasons, which was best among all players with at least 5,000 plate appearances.
    • Turner hits .300, as he has since 2024.
    • Schwarber matches his average of 46 homers in his four previous Phillies seasons.
    • Closer Jhoan Duran and setup man José Alvarado are dominant for seven months.
    • Sánchez is, once again, a horse.

    That’s a lot to ask for, but, hey, Christmas comes but once a year.

    Howie Roseman (left), Nick Sirianni, and the Eagles don’t need to rely on Christmas wishes.

    Eagles 36.7%

    A pleasant surprise. I not only thought the Eagles would win the poll with a plurality — say, 45% — I thought that Philly fans wouldn’t be sophisticated enough to accept the logic that makes the Phillies the clear choice.

    Apologies.

    And good job.

    After all, why squander a Christmas wish on a team that doesn’t need it? Thanks to the era of ownership that began with Jeffrey Lurie’s purchase of the team in 1994 — 19 playoff appearances, four Super Bowl appearances, and two titles — the Eagles are, by far, the best team in town. There’s no need for the Birds to put a carp scale in their wallet and carry it around all year (a German/Polish tradition).

    The Birds have given Philadelphia the best seven-year run of any team in the city’s history, and there’s no reason to think that run is anywhere close to ending.

    Howie Roseman has constructed a roster with contracts that ensure at least two more peak years of Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Landon Dickerson, Jordan Mailata, Cam Jurgens, Jalen Carter, Zack Baun, Cooper DeJean, and, last but not least, Quinyon Mitchell, who might be the best of them all.

    Further, head coach Nick Sirianni and his two best assistants, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, aren’t going anywhere. No team in Philadelphia, in the NFC East, or in the entire NFL is better positioned for continued success than the Eagles.

    Don’t waste a wish on them.

    Flyers goaltender Dan Vladař against the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 22.

    Flyers, 8.9%

    This is a great result for a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since the first time Donald Trump was president.

    Dan Vladař has a top-10 2.39 goals-against average, which, if the season ended today, would be the best GAA for a starting Flyers goalie in a decade. Similarly, the Flyers haven’t sent a defenseman to the All-Star game since Kimmo Timonen in 2012.

    These are institutional issues that cannot be undone, no matter how many spider webs you use to decorate the tree (a Ukrainian tradition and the origin of tinsel).

    That said, Vladař, having a career year, is under contract through next season. The team has hovered around the playoff bubble all season. They should lock up Trevor Zegras, a 24-year-old trade gamble who can be a restricted free agent after this season but who leads them in goals and assists.

    The wish: Vladař stays steady, Zegras continues to produce, and error-prone young talent Matvei Michkov eventually prospers under demanding new coach Rick Tocchet. If that happens, the Flyers’ goal to once again be a perennial playoff team is not unreasonable, beginning this spring.

    Joel Embiid (21) shoots against the Indiana Pacers during the second quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

    Sixers, 2.1%

    Like all X polls, mine was unscientific, since it mainly drew from the folks who follow me, who obviously possess high degrees of discernment and taste.

    Maybe that’s why poll respondents seem to have utterly abandoned the Sixers.

    More than any Philly franchise, this bad-luck franchise needs to burn some shoes (a Greek Christmas tradition). I can’t blame the respondents, what with the team’s egregious misevaluations of talent; its mismanagement of the draft, free agency, and player development; not to mention the self-inflicted dramas of Ben Simmons, James Harden, and, of course, Joel Embiid, whose continued entitlement and incredible fragility have exhausted the patience of the populace.

    That said, they’re still ours, and they’re not bad. Tyrese Maxey’s talent and exuberance provide an anchor, the potential of rookie überathlete VJ Edgecombe, the increased presence of Paul George, an energetic supporting cast, and superb coaching from Nick Nurse have made this edition of the Sixers the most watchable team since The Process began in 2013.

    Sixers takeaways: Winless with their Big Three, Joel Embiid injury scare, and more from loss to Nets

    As for the big guy, like him or loathe him, Embiid’s presence makes them markedly better, especially if he is active on the defensive end, which, if you know the game, always has been his greatest value. As of Tuesday, Embiid’s knees had him on pace to play 33 games. The wish:

    By the time the season ends in mid-April, the Sixers can get him to 41 games, which is half the schedule. At that point, if he can play every other day, which is a typical playoff schedule, they not only would have a chance to win a playoff round, but they also would have a template for the next two seasons, the final years of George’s monster contract.

    But 2%?

    Even with a likable young trio, Embiid’s toxic presence has, for most people, ruined the image of the only team I ever cared for (and that, only as a youth).

  • Hey Eagles fans, show some sympathy to Buffalo Bills lifers. You were just like them once.

    Hey Eagles fans, show some sympathy to Buffalo Bills lifers. You were just like them once.

    For a long time when it came to sports, Buffalo was Diet Philadelphia. Similar, but with a little less. A smaller city, yes. Half as many major pro franchises, yes. But those teams — the Bills in the NFL, the Sabres in the NHL — have always occupied an outsized importance within the culture of the region. They mattered to the people of Buffalo as much or more than the Eagles, the Phillies, the Sixers, and the Flyers mattered to the people of Philadelphia.

    Oh, and there was one other common thread for decades: None of those teams ever won a championship.

    Not ever ever, but close enough. The Bills won back-to-back titles in the American Football League in 1964 and ’65, and Philadelphia had that wonderful 10-year stretch, from 1973-83, when the Flyers won two Stanley Cups, the Phillies won a World Series, the Eagles reached a Super Bowl, and the Sixers won an NBA championship. But for 25 years — until the Phillies won the 2008 World Series — then another nine-plus, the towns could bond through being blue-collar bridesmaids.

    Eagles fans cheer after the win against the hapless Raiders at Lincoln Financial Field on Dec. 14.

    Recently, though, the Eagles have altered that dynamic. They won a Super Bowl in 2018, then another earlier this year, and as they prepare to face the Bills this Sunday at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., they have quelled much of the anger and anxiety that once characterized Philadelphia sports fandom. It might not seem that way, with the attention paid to Jalen Hurts’ play and the worry over the Eagles’ chance to repeat as league champs, but it’s true. The atmosphere was much worse during the Buddy Ryan and Andy Reid eras.

    For Buffalo, though, there has been no great expulsion of joy and relief. In their 55 years of existence, the Sabres have never won a Stanley Cup and have reached the Final just twice, losing to the Flyers in 1975 and to the Dallas Stars (on Brett Hull’s disputed triple-overtime goal) in 1999. What’s arguably worse, for a city that loves hockey as much or more than any in the United States, is that the Sabres haven’t even qualified for the playoffs since 2011 and haven’t won a postseason series since 2007, when one of their best players was Danny Brière, now the Flyers’ general manager.

    Let us raise a glass to the Tush Push. It’s dead, and the Eagles have to find an alternative.

    Steve Watson, a friend and former classmate of mine, has lived in the Buffalo region for most of his life. His son, Eli, is 12. Eli has never seen a Sabres playoff game.

    “It’s sad,” Watson, 50, who has been a reporter for the Buffalo News since 2001, said by phone Tuesday. “When the Sabres are good, and they have been good for a lot of their history, you see the little flags people put on their cars. We embrace the team, but they’re losing this current fan generation. They took a great hockey town and tarnished it.”

    The situation with the Bills has, if possible, been even more painful, for all their near misses. Even a casual football fan is familiar with the Bills’ four consecutive Super Bowl losses from 1991 to 1994 and all the tragic heroes from that period — Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, Bruce Smith, Frank Reich — and the comeback from 35-3 against the Houston Oilers, Scott Norwood and wide right against the New York Giants. But the aftermath has been just as rough.

    A Bills fan sits among snow-covered seats before the start a wild-card playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Jan. 15, 2024.

    The Bills went 17 years, from 2000 through 2016, without making the playoffs. Now they have Josh Allen, who was the NFL’s Most Valuable Player last season, who is regarded as the second- or third-best quarterback in the league at worst, and who has led the Bills to the postseason for seven straight seasons … and to no Super Bowls. Either Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow has been in their way, or they’ve had a bad day at the worst time and squandered home-field advantage, or they’ve stood under a ladder staring at a broken mirror while a clowder of black cats strutted past them. They’re 11-4 this season, and Allen has again been outstanding, but now their intradivisional nemeses, the New England Patriots, are back atop the AFC East after a few years of mediocrity. The cycle seems without end.

    This excruciating history wouldn’t generate much sympathy from anyone, let alone from Philly’s famously competitive and insecure sports fans (“Oh, you think you’ve had it rough? Lemme tell ya about the night Joe Carter …”), if we were talking about an area of the country whose lifers didn’t care so much. But that ain’t Buffalo. The people there bleed for their teams just like everyone down here does. After all, sports is their only salvation from spending three-quarters of the year with snowshoes strapped to their feet.

    Here’s how the Eagles have reigned in the NFC East

    “It’s up there with chicken wings,” Watson said. “It’s up there with our lovely weather. It’s our identity. We are blue collar. We are the city of good neighbors. And we’re a big sports town. I used to write more obituaries for the News, and it was always painful for me to write, ‘Lifelong Bills fan … Lifelong Sabres fan.’ They never got that payoff for their years of suffering.”

    Look, if you’re an Eagles fan, you don’t have to root for the Bills — certainly not on Sunday, certainly not if the two teams end up facing each other at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Feb. 8. In many regards, though, you and those fans near Niagara Falls were kindred spirits for years. So if and when the Eagles do bow out of the playoffs, and if Buffalo’s hopes for a Super Bowl victory are still alive, send some good thoughts toward western New York. They’re still waiting for their moment in the warm sun up there, and Lord knows they’ve already suffered enough.

  • Why Harry Kalas’ rendition of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ still resonates: ‘It was like he was reading to his grandkids’

    Why Harry Kalas’ rendition of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ still resonates: ‘It was like he was reading to his grandkids’

    Harry Kalas loved Christmas. The holiday combined two of his favorite things: singing and making people happy. So when Andy Wheeler, a producer at CBS3, approached the broadcaster about reading ’Twas the Night Before Christmas in 2002, Kalas didn’t have to give it much thought.

    “I’ll come right in,” he replied.

    The station was recording a segment of five local broadcasters reciting the poem. Kalas would be featured alongside Marc Zumoff and Tom McGinnis of the 76ers, Merrill Reese of the Eagles, and Jim Jackson of the Flyers.

    It aired Dec. 24, and a few years later, while cleaning out his desk, Wheeler found the unedited Kalas video. He watched it through, and suddenly, an idea popped into his mind.

    They had the footage. Why not use the Kalas version in its entirety?

    Wheeler (no relation to longtime Phillies announcer Chris Wheeler) presented it to producer Paul Pozniak and sports director Beasley Reece, who signed off. Christmas Eve was always a slow news day. This would give them something seasonal that undoubtedly would resonate with their audience.

    A decades-long tradition was born. Barring breaking news (and Eagles games), the station has aired Kalas’ reading of the poem every Dec. 24 since 2005.

    Management has no plans to change that.

    “Obviously, people love Christmas and people love Harry Kalas,” Wheeler said. “And having him read that story, with his voice that everybody is so used to … I think people miss him and miss hearing him.

    “It’s almost like watching a home movie of Christmases past.”

    A broadcaster for all seasons

    To Phillies employees, Kalas’ voice was as synonymous with Christmas as it was with summer. He loved carols and often sang them at the team’s holiday party.

    The broadcaster would do this in a way only he could. Toward the end of the evening’s festivities, Kalas would ask those gathered to join hands to “sing the greatest Christmas song ever.” As they swayed back and forth, he’d belt out “Silent Night” in his baritone voice.

    Dan Stephenson, the Phillies’ longtime video productions manager, compared it to a star gracing a stage.

    “We knew at some point in the evening that Harry was going to be the entertainment,” he said. “And that was good enough for all of us.”

    Harry Kalas in the booth at the Vet in July 2000.

    This wasn’t Kalas’ only December tradition. In the early 2000s, he visited retirement homes in the Philadelphia area to provide seasonal cheer.

    Like the Phillies’ holiday party, these visits inevitably ended with Christmas carols. John Brazer, who worked in the team’s marketing department for 33 years, remembered driving Kalas to a retirement community in Media in 2005.

    On the ride there, Brazer asked the broadcaster if he enjoyed singing to the retirees.

    “John, I tell you what,” Brazer recalled Kalas saying. “I love it. I love Christmastime. But the songs I really love doing are the religious songs — ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ and ‘Silent Night.’”

    He got emotional for a moment, then abruptly changed his tune.

    “But I really don’t like when they do a secular song. I’m not a big fan of ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ and stuff like that.”

    Brazer and Kalas arrived at the retirement home a few minutes later. Kalas began taking requests, as an employee played along on the piano.

    The first four songs were religious in nature. The fifth was not.

    “Someone said, ‘Hey, Harry, can you sing ‘Jingle Bells?’” Brazer said. “And he [turned to] me with this disgusted look.”

    Despite his personal opinions, Kalas launched into an upbeat rendition of the song with a big smile on his face, as if it were his favorite carol of all.

    Harry Kalas was legendary within the community of Phillies fans.

    Brazer relayed the story to Stephenson, who wasn’t surprised. Kalas would sign every autograph with glee. He’d get all sorts of requests — fans asking him to record voicemail greetings, or to read the names of their bridal parties — and would always oblige.

    It was about making people feel like they mattered.

    “There was no way he wasn’t going to sing it,” Stephenson said with a laugh. “That was classic Harry.”

    Harry Kalas couldn’t resist tossing a reference to longtime broadcast partner Richie Ashburn (right) into his Christmas recitation.

    ‘Like he was reading to his grandkids’

    Wheeler had a December tradition, too. When he was a kid, growing up in Aston, his parents would read ’Twas the Night Before Christmas every Dec. 24.

    The idea of having play-by-play announcers recite the poem on air was exciting, but when it came to Kalas, the young producer was nervous.

    He grew up listening to the voice of the Phillies, and was worried about coming off as inexperienced (or worse, clueless). But when Kalas arrived to KYW’s studios at 5th and Market, he brought calm to a chaotic scene.

    The only Christmas tree the producers could find was in the lobby, so they had Kalas do his taping there. Station employees filtered in and out, causing quite a bit of background noise. A gaggle of children with limited attention spans sat in front of him.

    But none of that seemed to faze Kalas. Wheeler handed him the book (bought from a nearby Borders), and the broadcaster began to read.

    His audience was entranced.

    “It was almost like he played the role of Santa Claus,” Pozniak said. “With his voice, and the way he relates to people. He wasn’t too big to be talking to kids he didn’t know. It was like he was reading to his grandkids or something.”

    Kalas sat in front of the tree for about 40 minutes, asking producers for feedback and reciting lines until he was satisfied. He even added his own creative flair.

    Near the end of the poem, the broadcaster realized there was a reference to a pipe. He decided to give a nod to his partner, Richie Ashburn, who famously smoked in the booth.

    “And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow,” Kalas read. “The stump of a pipe — like Whitey’s — he held tight in his teeth …”

    Kalas grinned at Wheeler.

    “Had to get that in there,” he said.

    Harry Kalas and CBS3 producer Andy Wheeler at the 2008 World Series.

    It wasn’t until a few years later, when Wheeler found the old recording, that he realized just how special Kalas’ version was. So KYW, and subsequently CBS3, began running it every Christmas Eve.

    After Kalas died of heart disease in April 2009, the station considered ending the tradition. Wheeler and Pozniak were concerned that it would be in poor taste.

    But Reece insisted they continue.

    “This is a way of keeping him close,” he told the producers.

    Years later, the recitation still has that effect. From start to finish, it captures Kalas perfectly. You can see his humanity, and his humor. You can hear the richness in his voice.

    And if you listen closely enough, you can even catch his favorite carol, softly humming in the background: “Silent Night.”

  • Eagles roundtable: Answering some of the biggest Birds questions as the playoffs approach

    Eagles roundtable: Answering some of the biggest Birds questions as the playoffs approach

    The Eagles have clinched their second straight NFC East title and a return to the postseason, meaning much of the focus in the coming days will center on how far they can advance. With that in mind, we turned to The Inquirer’s Eagles writers, Jeff McLane, Olivia Reiner, and Jeff Neiburg, to discuss some of the biggest issues surrounding the team — including the injury situation, biggest 2025 surprises, and how the staff might look different beyond the postseason:

    Could Jalen Hurts and Co. be looking at an Eagles-Rams rematch in the playoffs?

    Who should the Eagles least want to see in the NFC portion of the playoffs?

    McLane: Honestly, I don’t spend my waking hours caring who the Eagles should least want to face in the playoffs, but I guess for the sake of this exercise I’ll choose the Rams. Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford know what it takes to win a title and have arguably a better offense than when they won the Super Bowl four years ago. The Rams are imperfect, as their overtime loss to the Seahawks last week showed. And the Eagles have had McVay’s number, winning six of seven since he took over in Los Angeles. But the law of averages may finally benefit the coach. I’d also be wary of the peaking 49ers.

    NFL playoff picture: Eagles scenarios, two more teams clinch

    Reiner: The Rams. Yes, the Eagles are 4-0 against them under Nick Sirianni, including last year’s divisional-round game and the Week 3 victory this season. But Stafford has been playing at an MVP level this year. He has one of the NFL’s top receiving duos in Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. Kyren Williams is a top-10 running back. The Rams’ defensive front, led by Jared Verse and Byron Young, is among the best in the league. The Eagles have a chance against any team in the NFC, but the Rams would provide the most difficult test.

    Neiburg: I wanted to say the Rams, because I do believe they are the best team in the NFC, but the Eagles seem to have their number, and, as of right now, a playoff game vs. the Rams would be at Lincoln Financial Field. Instead, I’ll go with the Seahawks. I don’t trust Sam Darnold to win a big game, but the Eagles’ offense having to go up against that defense in front of that home crowd on the other side of the country in what would likely be the NFC title game is a daunting task.

    Jalen Carter is the Eagles’ only Pro Bowl starter. But the team has managed to get by without him at various times in 2025.

    Who’s more important to have fully healthy for the playoffs, Lane Johnson or Jalen Carter?

    Reiner: Yes. Is that an acceptable answer? Thankfully for the Eagles, they won’t have to pick, because both are expected to return in time for the playoffs. But for the sake of the exercise, I’ll pick Johnson. Fred Johnson has been solid in his absence, but the All-Pro right tackle is one of the best in the league at his position. Carter hasn’t been healthy for most of the year and the Eagles’ defensive front has fared well enough without him recently.

    Neiburg: Nothing against Carter, but the clear answer is Johnson. Right tackle is a singular position, and Johnson is a singular player, a future Hall of Famer who is still among the best players at his position. The Eagles’ defensive front has played well without Carter, and while getting him back and at full strength is a big deal, it’s not quite the same as inserting Lane Johnson in over Fred Johnson.

    Jalen Carter returns to practice and the Eagles are ‘hopeful’ that he’ll play against the Bills

    McLane: “Fully healthy” is rare for any player at this stage of the season, but assuming either is cleared to return for the playoffs, close to 90% should be good enough. Johnson has played through worse than his Lisfranc foot injury. He delayed surgery to repair a torn adductor two years ago and didn’t miss a beat. History has shown that when he isn’t in the lineup the Eagles struggle, going 15-27 since 2013. Carter’s absence hurt vs. the Giants in October, but the D-line has done a better job of covering for his loss these last three games. So I guess my answer is Johnson.

    Saquon Barkley came up well short of another 2,000-yard season while working behind a battered line that has struggled at times.

    Based on your observations of this team in training camp, what’s the single biggest surprise about the Eagles from your vantage point here in December?

    Neiburg: That an offense that returned 10 of 11 starters and hired a coordinator who had been on staff for years tailed off the way it has — especially in the running game. I knew Saquon Barkley wasn’t going to run for 2,000 yards again. I knew the Eagles were going to face stacked boxes. I didn’t expect the offensive line to struggle to run block this way and didn’t think moving the ball and getting first downs would be as much of a chore as it has at times this season.

    Reiner: The offensive line’s overall regression. Even with Landon Dickerson’s meniscus injury in camp, it seemed unlikely that the group would struggle so much, especially in the run game. The unit has been better over the last few weeks, as evidenced by Barkley’s recent surge. But for most of the season, the offensive line wasn’t the juggernaut that the Eagles have leaned on in the past.

    Saquon Barkley and the Eagles ran angry in the second half. It’s about time.

    McLane: I kind of saw the offensive regression coming, and certainly Barkley’s struggles, but not to the extent it’s been. That said, that the Eagles would have another first-time offensive coordinator come under fire for most of the season wasn’t a surprise either. So I’ll look at other phases.

    On defense, I thought Carter would be primed to take his game to another level with a contract extension potentially on the table this offseason. I know he was voted to the Pro Bowl and has been dealing with shoulder injuries, but he hasn’t had the desired impact. On special teams, Jake Elliott has hit rough patches before. But he had a great camp and first half of the season. That’s why the kicker’s late-season woes have come out of the blue for me.

    If you don’t yet know DBs coach Christian Parker’s name, you will.

    The NFL coaching carousel is about to start spinning. Which members of the Eagles staff would you expect to garner outside interest for head or assistant roles? Any future head coaches on this staff?

    McLane: Vic Fangio has the best pedigree and should get another chance to be a head coach. But he’s 67 and has said he has no desire to be in that chair again, which is good news for the Eagles. I think special teams coordinator Michael Clay could be a CEO-type head coach some day. Of the assistants, defensive backs coach Christian Parker is likely to get poached to head a defense sooner rather than later.

    Reiner: The 33-year-old Parker has become a rising star in the league, getting the most out of young cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean in their first two seasons in the NFL. He has a long career ahead of him, and it might not be possible for Fangio to keep him around for much longer.

    Neiburg: If I had to guess one coach from this list who gets a promotion next year, it’s Parker. Defensive line coach Clint Hurtt has already been a coordinator (with the Seahawks in 2022-23) and could do it again. Clay has a bright future in this league. And Kevin Patullo — yes, that one — might be a head coach one day. Just not this next coaching cycle.

    Dallas Goedert (88) and DeVonta Smith (6) have both demonstrated their value to an offense that has struggled at times.

    Who would be No. 1 on your ballot for offensive MVP, if the season ended today?

    Neiburg: This one was tough, and it feels like we’re just giving out a participation trophy. You don’t need me to tell you that the Eagles’ offense hasn’t been very good this season, despite the amount of money the team dedicates to offensive players. A few weeks ago, I’d have said DeVonta Smith, but he’s sort of tailed off a little. I’ll go with Dallas Goedert, who has been a major red zone weapon and has more touchdowns (10) than he had in the last three seasons combined.

    Handing out credit for the Eagles’ record playoff run, also what NFL refs got right and DK Metcalf did wrong in Week 16

    McLane: Smith has slipped some since we last had this question at the bye. But that’s more circumstantial than anything related to his performance. Smith’s success in the first half of the season led to defenses clouding him more, which has created space for fellow receiver A.J. Brown. Smith has still delivered when called upon and is on track to have the third 1,000-yard season of his career. He’s also a willing blocker as he showed on Saquon Barkley’s 48-yard run vs. the Commanders.

    Reiner: Goedert. He’s been the star of the Eagles’ top-ranked red zone offense, leading the team with nine touchdowns inside the 20 (10 touchdowns on the season overall). For a player who didn’t look like he was returning to the Eagles this offseason, he’s had one of the better seasons of his eight-year career.

    Quinyon Mitchell (left) and Cooper DeJean (right) have both been vital to the defense’s success.

    How about defensive MVP?

    Reiner: Quinyon Mitchell. In his second season, he earned more responsibility in Fangio’s defense, whether he’s traveling with opposing teams’ top receivers or lining up on the boundary side. He’s risen to the challenge. Mitchell leads the league with 17 pass breakups. He’s also conceded catches on just 42.3% of his targets, the lowest rate among cornerbacks with at least 400 coverage snaps.

    Neiburg: Jordan Davis. Has he been the overall best performer on the defense? Probably not, but we sort of already knew what to expect out of Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Zack Baun, and Co. But with Davis, the talk in the offseason was about a transformed body and how he was ready to take the next step. He walked the walk.

    McLane: This may be controversial, but I’m going with Cooper DeJean. Mitchell is also deserving — quarterbacks have stayed away from testing him and when they have, he’s often answered the bell. But DeJean has a more difficult job in the slot, in my opinion. It’s why Fangio has refused to move him exclusively to the outside. The second-year corner has to match up vs. faster receivers and bigger-bodied tight ends, while also supporting the run defense from an inside position.

  • Forged in Baltimore, Bryce Lindsay has overcome his share of adversity. Now he’s Villanova’s leading scorer.

    Forged in Baltimore, Bryce Lindsay has overcome his share of adversity. Now he’s Villanova’s leading scorer.

    On Nov. 9, 2022, Bryce Lindsay announced his commitment to Texas A&M. It was just three days after his mother, Takisha, died.

    Lindsay, now starting at guard for Villanova, calls his mother his biggest inspiration and the strongest person he knew. He watched her fight through surgeries and life changes and take care of a family during a 10-year battle with Grade 2 astrocytoma, a brain tumor that was diagnosed in September 2012.

    Up and down his left arm and leg are tattoos that are meaningful to Lindsay. On the back of Lindsay’s thigh is a tattoo of his mother and her middle name, Simone. It is a permanent dedication to her.

    “That time when I was at [Texas] A&M, [still dealing with] my mother passing was a very hard time,” Lindsay said.

    It was not the first or last time Lindsay, 20, faced adversity in his young life.

    In 2022, Lindsay was committed to South Carolina out of St. Frances Academy in his native Baltimore. He was determined to play for Gamecocks coach Frank Martin. However, Martin was dismissed from the program in mid-March. Because of the timing of the firing, Lindsay was left with limited options.

    Villanova’s Bryce Lindsay is fouled by Duquesne’s John Hugley as he drives to the basket on Nov. 15.

    He decided to play a prep school year at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

    That’s when Lindsay committed to Texas A&M. Exactly one year after his mother’s death, Lindsay finally played his first college minutes on Nov. 6, 2023.

    ‘Amazed at his strength’

    “It was tough for him,” said Lindsay’s father, Dustin. “It was tough for our entire family. She was the rock. She held everything together, to be honest. So that stretch was really tough for him. Losing his mom could have broken anyone’s spirit. So watching him through it, though, I was honestly amazed at his strength, to be honest with you. He never let it define him.

    “He grieved, he healed, but he also stayed committed to coming back stronger, and I saw it firsthand. That period really showed his resilience and character both on and off the court. He faced more than most people could imagine, but he turned it into fuel to grow mentally and emotionally.”

    Tyler Perkins embraces his many roles at Villanova. This year, it’s about being a leader.

    Then, just eight games into his college career, the 6-foot-3 Lindsay was struck with another setback. He suffered a sports hernia that required surgery on both sides of his abdomen and forced him to redshirt the remainder of his freshman season at Texas A&M.

    Lindsay was without two of the most important things in his life: his mother and basketball.

    “I saw him just put both feet in the sand and just say, ‘It’s my time, right?’” Dustin Lindsay said. “And that’s easier said than done. Because most of us never have to go through a tragedy like that. But, I tell people this all the time, it’s not until you go through a tragedy like that that you realize how strong a human being can really be. I saw an individual who realized that wasn’t making excuses.”

    Guard Bryce Lindsay played at Texas A&M and James Madison before he landed at Villanova.

    After he recovered, Lindsay committed to James Madison in May 2024. He came in thinking he would be a key player, but he was not in the starting lineup for JMU’s season opener against Ohio.

    Despite yet another setback, Lindsay was unfazed.

    “Bryce tells me, ‘Dad, I’m not even worried about it. I’m going to be sixth man of the year,’ Dustin said. “And when he told me that, I mean, it really almost brought tears to my eyes. The maturity that showed in him at that time was just priceless.”

    Lindsay went on to accomplish that goal. He came off the bench for the first 18 games of the season, shooting 45.6% from the field and 42.9% from beyond the arc. His performances pushed him into the starting lineup for the final 12 games of the season and the conference tournament.

    At the end of the season, Lindsay was named the Sun Belt’s Sixth Man of the Year and Rookie of the Year.

    “I believe that true confidence comes with the work you put in behind the scenes,” Lindsay said. “I was always the type of guy who was a gym rat. I would always be in the gym before practice, after practice, and I feel like that gave me my true confidence with me coming up.”

    When Villanova hired coach Kevin Willard last spring, Lindsay had the opportunity to move up from a mid-major program.

    Wildcats center Nico Onyekwere (left) pours water on Bryce Lindsay after Villanova beat Pittsburgh at the Finneran Pavilion on Dec. 13.

    “I absolutely think he’s had such a positive effect on everybody offensively just because of the way he’s playing,” Willard said. “And he never worries about missing a shot. He never worries about a turnover. He’s like, ‘Next play.’ Guys like that who have that confidence, who don’t get down on themselves — and he doesn’t get down on himself at all, which is great — always have a positive impact on his teammates.”

    Baltimore basketball

    When asked about his resilience, Lindsay laughed. “It’s crazy that you use the word ‘resilient,’” he said. “I was about to get that [as my] next tattoo.”

    Much of that comes from where he grew up, in a city known for its basketball culture.

    “I could be kind of biased, but I think we have the best group of guys coming out of not just Baltimore, but the [D.C., Maryland, and Virginia] area as well,” Lindsay said. “Specifically, Baltimore, I just think that we just have that competitive edge and that nitty-gritty to our game and play style. Just because where we come from, we don’t really come from too much.”

    It was not easy to carve out a path in a crowded Baltimore basketball scene.

    “I remember Bryce when he first picked up a basketball,” Dustin Lindsay said. “He was young, and I could already see the love for the game. Seeing him maneuver and again, finding that resilience to overcome a lot of the obstacles that he had to endure, just growing up and playing that sport here that so many people are passionate about.”

    Lindsay’s father put him on teams with older, more experienced players, so he was forced to play more physical basketball.

    Bryce Lindsay is averaging 16.6 points for the Villanova Wildcats.

    “I think it created that part of him, that resilience that I’m going to try my best not to let these obstacles get in my way,” Dustin Lindsay said. “I tried to put him in a lot of difficult situations on purpose. Because I just know how hard life can be sometimes. And so I just wanted him to face obstacles early on in life, and it wasn’t easy. But that kid just never gave up.”

    Lindsay was a part of the Class 3A state title team at Baltimore Polytechnic in his freshman year. Then he transferred to St. Frances, the second of three stops in his high school journey. In 2021-22, Lindsay averaged 19.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists.

    “Being from Baltimore, I think that definitely puts an edge on me,” Lindsay said. “I mean, I just wanted to do extra work because nobody wants to be in Baltimore forever. They always want to get out, so I think I’m super grateful for being from Baltimore. I love my city.”

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

    Now, Lindsay has transitioned from a mid-major to Villanova. He already has set a program record for three-pointers in a game, hitting nine against Sacred Heart on Nov. 11. It broke a record that had stood for 20 years.

    He is averaging a team-high 16.6 points and has four 20-plus point outings in 11 games. Lindsay is also the 10-2 Wildcats’ best three-point shooter at 44.2%, and ranks in the top 40 nationally in threes made per game (3.17).

    “I’m very grateful that I got to mesh with this group of guys,” Lindsay said. “We all came together pretty well in such a short time. So I’m grateful for that. We have a great coaching staff here. That’s why I chose to come here to Villanova. Plus, the culture and what Villanova means.”

    Even after a dominant nonconference performance, Lindsay says there is more work to be done on his game. He believes he has not hit his ceiling.

    “I would say I’m never satisfied with my play,” Lindsay said. “I feel like certain guys they get satisfied, and they stop doing all the little things. I was that type of person. Like during practice, I’m going to keep going hard 110% every day, and I’m never going to cut corners.”

    Bryce Lindsay poses for a portrait on Dec. 3.
  • Temple University Hospital is being investigated by CMS over its care of a homeless patient who died

    Temple University Hospital is being investigated by CMS over its care of a homeless patient who died

    A patient with no home to return to was pushed in a wheelchair to the curb outside Temple University Hospital. Staffers left him sitting on a bench, even though he was considered at a high risk of falling.

    An hour later, a security officer found the man had fallen and was lying on the ground.

    He was shaking when the guard brought him back into the hospital, but didn’t respond to a nurse’s questions. So hospital staff again sent him away — this time leaving him alone in a wheelchair outside the emergency department.

    He was found there five hours later, slumped over, unresponsive, and without a pulse. He died the following week.

    Temple’s treatment of the patient during the Oct. 3 incident prompted state and federal investigations. In a report released earlier this month, the Pennsylvania Department of Health cited Temple for violating state rules that require hospitals to provide emergency care.

    Experts say the hospital’s actions amounted to “patient dumping,” a practice prohibited under a federal law that requires hospital emergency departments to medically screen and stabilize all patients.

    The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which oversees hospital safety nationally, confirmed it is also investigating, but has not released details.

    Hospitals that violate the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, known as EMTALA, risk hefty fines or losing their Medicare license, though such penalties are rare.

    Temple acknowledged that its own protocols were not followed. Health system officials told state investigators the patient should not have been removed from the hospital without being evaluated and cleared by medical staff.

    “The safety of our patients, visitors and staff is Temple’s highest priority,” the hospital said in a statement to The Inquirer. “We believe that everyone deserves high quality care.”

    The hospital declined to say whether any of the staff members involved were disciplined or fired.

    But such incidents are rarely the fault of one individual, legal experts and homelessness advocates said. Rather, they are a sign of systemic problems, such as understaffing that can leave staff overwhelmed, and bias among medical providers that can put vulnerable patients at risk of being dismissed.

    “If you work in an environment where safety is prized and honored and enforced from the top down, everyone feels that’s their mission,” said Eric Weitz, a medical negligence lawyer in Philadelphia. “If that’s not a priority being set by leadership, then it’s no surprise the culture doesn’t reinforce it.”

    Jefferson Abington Hospital was cited for a security guard’s excessive use of force. A patient was told she was to blame.

    Hospital administrators said the triage nurse who turned away the patient should have sought help, if the patient wasn’t responding to questions. The nurse said she was overwhelmed and working without sufficient support in one of the region’s busiest trauma hospitals.

    “I was busy and alone,” she told state inspectors.

    The incident violated Temple’s emergency department protocol, staff told Pennsylvania Department of Health inspectors.

    Pa. Department of Health investigates Temple

    To piece together what went wrong, Pennsylvania Department of Health inspectors watched security camera footage, interviewed staff members, and reviewed internal hospital reports. Their timeline shows a series of mistakes.

    At about 3:15 p.m., an employee brought the patient in a wheelchair to a bench near the curb outside the hospital, and left him there on the mild October day with highs near 70 degrees.

    He was being discharged to “the community” because he was experiencing homelessness, according to the inspection report. (The state report does not say whether staff attempted to place him at a skilled nursing facility, rehabilitation center or homeless shelter.)

    The man sat alone on the bench for an hour before standing unsteadily, taking a few steps, and ultimately falling to the ground.

    He managed to get back up, leaning against a tree for support, only to fall again. He was on the ground for 10 minutes before a security guard found him.

    The guard brought the man back into the emergency department in a wheelchair about two hours after he had been released.

    Back inside the hospital, the man followed orders to raise his arms for a security check at the door. Then he waited in line to be seen by the triage nurse responsible for checking in patients at the emergency department.

    When he reached the front of the line, he did not respond to the nurse’s questions. “He was not answering any questions, just shaking,” according to a Temple incident report reviewed by inspectors. Staff said the patient was “not cooperating” and should be sent to the back of the line.

    After two minutes with the nurse, a security guard moved his wheelchair to a corner of the emergency department near the entrance.

    The man was once again wheeled outside the hospital a few minutes later and left alone.

    He was found by medical staff around 9:30 p.m., slumped over in his wheelchair.

    Staff began CPR, rushing him back inside for trauma care.

    Pennsylvania Department of Health’s inspection report details how a patient in Temple’s emergency department was rolled away in a wheelchair without being evaluated.

    The inspection report does not identify the patient’s name, age, or provide details on the medical condition for which he had been hospitalized. It also does not say what happened after he was found unresponsive. He died five days later, on Oct. 8.

    Temple responds

    Medical screening of every patient who comes to the emergency department is “explicitly required” under Temple’s EMTALA policies, according to the hospital’s response to the state findings.

    “It doesn’t matter if they were just there an hour ago, every time they present, it is a new encounter and should be documented as such,” a Temple staffer said in an interview with inspectors.

    The hospital told the state it would retrain staff on EMTALA rules, making clear that security officers cannot remove patients from the emergency department unless they have been evaluated and cleared for release by a medical professional.

    A week after the incident, hospital staff were instructed to keep a log of patients who are removed from the emergency department and the name of the provider who approved their release. (Temple police may still remove patients from the emergency department if they are threatening the safety of other patients or staff.)

    The hospital also said that it would order mobility evaluations for patients who are being discharged “to the community” if they had a high risk of falling, with a doctor’s sign-off required.

    Temple treats some of Philadelphia’s most vulnerable patients in an emergency room that sees more than 150,000 visits a year, including high numbers of gunshot victims and people experiencing opioid withdrawal. It operates a Level I trauma center in a North Philadelphia community where 87% of patients are covered by publicly funded Medicare or Medicaid.

    The emergency department is so busy that about 8% of patients choose to leave before being seen, according to CMS data, compared to about 2% of patients at hospitals nationally and across Pennsylvania.

    The triage nurse on duty Oct. 3 is not identified in the inspection report.

    The Temple chapter of Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, which represents 1,600 nurses and 1,000 other medical professionals on Temple campuses, declined to comment.

    A Virtua Voorhees nurse reported a baby-switch mistake. Then she was fired.

    Legal experts raise questions

    Two healthcare lawyers who reviewed the state’s inspection report said the entire episode is troubling.

    “It sounds like they violated every part of EMTALA,” said Sara Rosenbaum, professor emerita of health law policy at George Washington University.

    The law does not require specific treatment, but mandates that hospitals evaluate everyone who walks in the door seeking care, and prohibits them from sending them away or transferring them until they are medically stable.

    “They failed to screen him, threw an unstable person back on the street, and didn’t arrange a medically appropriate transfer,” she said.

    What’s more, the hospital could be sued for malpractice over how it initially discharged the patient.

    The incident appears to be “a classic EMTALA violation,” said Weitz, the Philadelphia lawyer who serves on Pennsylvania’s Patient Safety Authority, an independent state agency that monitors hospital errors.

    The health department’s description of what happened is “almost eerily the exact fact pattern the law was passed to prevent,” he said.

    Healthcare challenges for patients experiencing homelessness

    People who are experiencing homelessness often receive subpar treatment when they seek medical care, research shows.

    One study that analyzed thousands of California patient records found that those who were described in their medical records as “homeless” were more likely than patients who have a permanent legal address to be discharged from the emergency department, rather than being admitted for care.

    In the Philadelphia region, caring for this population is increasingly challenging. The number of available shelter beds has declined in recent years, while the number of people who are considered unhoused has risen, according to Philadelphia’s Office of Homeless Services.

    Stephanie Sena, CEO of Breaking Bread Community Shelter in Delaware County, said the colder months also see more people experiencing homelessness coming to hospitals to get off the street.

    “If they say they’re sick, they might get a bed and be able to survive the night,” Sena said.

    The pattern can make doctors and nurses less likely to believe patients when they report real medical needs. Especially when staff are overwhelmed in busy hospitals, patients experiencing homelessness may be at greater risk of getting denied or discharged when they need help, she said.

    Sena said she was disappointed to hear about the Temple incident.

    “It is tragic,” she said, “but also not at all surprising, unfortunately.”