It’s hard to even be mad at that loss when there was such an obvious talent gap. The Eagles hung in there, made things entertaining, but at the end of the day they’re just not that good and their suckitude at several positions cost them.

Jordan Matthews, a top 5 worst number one receiver in the league, may be the only guy in the NFL who can’t drag his feet in the end zone.

Two plays later, Carson Wentz, a regressing rookie doing his best with shitty wide receivers, throws a bad pick looking for Zach Ertz in the end zone.

Later – not that this is the Eagles’ fault – Jon Dorenbos injures his wrist, which I would imagine is the worst thing a long snapping magician could injure except for maybe the anonymous rabbit in his hat. His backup, Brent Celek, can’t get a snap down before he gets hurt, and for some reason you wind up with yet another tight end and not, you know, your center snapping on a key field goal attempt.

And then you have fourth stringer Matt Tobin giving up the game-ending strip sack.

You can’t win with dreck. While everyone is CLAMORING for Howie Roseman to chase glory and sign DeSean Jaccson, who earned himself, like, another $20 million yesterday, maybe the Eagles should take notes from the best team in the NFC and focus on offensive line depth before worrying about a guy who won’t be able to get down-field before his quarterback gets obliterated. Because I’m starting to get the sense the Howie Roseman era redux is going to be marked by overpaid skill position players who don’t live up to their potenial because other key positions were ignored.

Anyway, the Eagles stink, but suddenly we have a hockey team.

Let’s hit it!

 

But first, a word from our sponsors:

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Sale. All Process, For The Championship, and Bang t-shirts are now in-stock. Process hoodies are coming in this week and should arrive in time for Christmas but I can’t guarantee it. Shop now.

Amazon. You’re going to shop there anyway– use our link and give your favorite blog a little kickback.

 

The roundup:

https://twitter.com/JoshPaunil/status/808120726209363968

Credit to Trey Burton. I remember seeing an Eagles fluff piece on him a few weeks ago where his high school coach said he would do anything to win. Burton proved that yesterday by outlasting(?) Mychal Kendricks in an impromptu long snapping tryout, earning himself some Philly credit in the process.

Of course – call me crazy – but it seems like Jason Kelce would be sort of an obvious choice to snap the ball because HE MAKES A FUCKING LIVING SNAPPING FOOTBALLS! But this guy on Twitter was there to piss all over common sense, because HE PLAYED FOOTBALL:

Seriously, maybe the most annoying reply thread in history, and I’m a guy who routinely Tweets about the Flyers. I’m sure Jack meant well, but on what planet is shotgun snapping not more similar to long snapping than playing tight end? Like yeah, we get it, bro, it’s not the same. So different. So, so different. But it’s all relative. There’s literally only one other guy on the field who bends over and puts balls between his legs all day, so he’s a logical choice. Mind-boggling that Kelce wasn’t over there practicing. Just mind-boggling. I’m flummoxed. After the game Kelce said he did it in high school(!!!), but apparently he got too big and is no longer flexible enough to get down that low. I’m speechless.

This was vicious and dirty, but I’m not sure it was as bad as everyone thinks. Sproles has to call for a fair catch here. It’s literally the thing that prevents this sort of hit. And though he was hit before the ball got to him, it’s a bang-bang play where just a split second in timing can make all the difference. Sproles’ head is also like four feet off the ground, so it makes avoiding it nearly impossible. I’m not excusing the hit or saying it shouldn’t have been a penalty, but I don’t think it’s as bad as it looked. And it’s not like Sproles has never been on the other end of one of these:

After the game, Sproles confirmed that he is… still lucid…

… while Jason Peters, who just got another false start during the interview, said he would’ve gone after him but he doesn’t have a backup right now:

Also, I can’t imagine why Ertz felt compelled to block in the back that negated a touchdown. Sorry.

 

The Flyers are absolutely raking right now and popping off a win streak around the same time of year as their 17-game unbeaten streak in 1996-1997. Here are the Flyers press notes because I can do the job of a beat reporter:

Brayden Schenn scored 2:44 into overtime to give the Flyers a 1-0 victory over the Red Wings in their final visit to Joe Louis Arena, extending their winning streak to nine games. The teams played a tightly-contested, scoreless affair through 60 minutes, leading to an overtime period in which the Flyers outshot Detroit 6-1. Anthony Stolarz made 28 saves to earn his first NHL shutout in his second NHL appearance. Jimmy Howard delayed the Flyers for nearly 63 minutes with 35 saves. Stars of the Game: 1 – Jimmy Howard, 2 – Anthony Stolarz; 3 – Brayden Schenn.

“A night like tonight, we played a pretty good road game,” said Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol. “There was nothing spectacular about it. We played start to finish. I think the confidence is there within the group that regardless of who it is, at some point in time somebody’s going to make a play that pushes us to the right side. It took 63, 64 minutes tonight, but those guys made that play.”

The Flyers have won nine games in a row for the first time since April 2-22, 1995. They have now matched the fourth-longest winning streak in franchise history. The last time the Flyers won 10 games in a row was en route to their franchise-record 13-game winning streak, which ran from Oct. 19 – Nov. 17, 1985. The Flyers also had a10-game winning streak from Dec. 22, 1982 through Jan. 13, 1983 and an 11- game streak from March 5-24, 1985.

Tonight’s game was the first occasion since the NHL implemented overtime in 1983 that the Flyers won a game 1-0 on a goal scored in the overtime period. They have had two previous occasions where they’ve won a game 1-0 in a shootout.

Anthony Stolarz made 28 saves to earn his first NHL shutout in his second NHL game. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, the only other Flyers goalie to record a shutout that early in his career was Robbie Moore, who had a shutout against the Colorado Rockies in his NHL debut on March 6, 1979.

“Real sound, solid performance start to finish,” Hakstol said. “Great second start for him. In a back to back night on the road, that’s the kind of goaltending you need and he did a good job.”

“He was unbelievable tonight,” Schenn said. “The PK did a great job and he made a lot of saves in the third period. Shutout in the Joe, that’s one he’ll remember.”

Ivan Provorov played 24:56, leading the Flyers and establishing a new season/career high. He assisted on Brayden Schenn’s game winner and was credited with one hit and one blocked shot.

Claude Giroux led the Flyers with six shots on goal and nine total shot attempts.

“Guys are playing hard and having fun,” Hakstol said. “I think that’s enough of a reward for anybody. It’s fun to come to the rink when it’s a busy portion of the schedule and you’re playing pretty well.”

 

Travis Kelce, also an everyman:

 

The slow drumbeat to sign DeSean marches on. Do not want.

 

Villanova will win the Big 5 again after they beat Temple tomorrow. Here’s something:

Perhaps that’s because Villanova has always played a tougher schedule. But what’s impressive about it this time is that Villanova has a winning streak going back to last season and have beaten Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Purdue and Notre Dame over that stretch. And the current senior class will be the first ever in the history of the Big 5 to go completely undefeated. So much dominance.

 

Nope:

 

Fat Kids Deals are jerks, but equal opportunity jerks:

https://twitter.com/FatKidDeals/status/808057142632558592

https://twitter.com/FatKidDeals/status/808167876087582720

 

Darren Sproles is good, and we must protect him:

 

I get that our receivers are bad, but can we please stop asking Ocho Cinco for help?

 

David Murphy has a glass is 3/4ths full look at the whole thing:

They say there are no moral victories, and they are probably correct, but in a season where wins and losses are secondary to the means through which they are achieved, the legacy of Sunday’s loss lies not in the penalties or injuries or turnovers, but in the mean game of quarterback the rookie signal-caller played.

I actually agree.

 

Yeah, that’s not one of those tables that breaks your fall:

 

Basically a Trump rally:

 

How’s Josh Huff doing?

 

Adam “Pacman” Jones is a shitty person, but this is an incredible burn:

pacman

 

You know, this seems like a definitively terrible idea.

 

Who would have guessed the LA Rams would have attendance issues (everyone guessed that).

 

Looks like Molly Sullivan read our post:

 

Here’s Ben Simmons playing Call of Duty with some apparently famous gamers.

 

Matt Gelb sees the Phillies with their eyes set on 2019:

Winning and building at the same time is hard. The Phillies have disparate goals for 2017: They want to improve the product from a season ago, but they do not want to block opportunities for young players. And, with every short-term acquisition, the hidden message has to do with 2019.

The Phillies should be suitors for Bryce Harper or Manny Machado and more; everything is pointing to that as a priority in the 2018-19 offseason. Executives from other organizations who have completed cursory reviews of a complicated collective-bargaining document have concluded that big-market clubs stand to benefit most under the new rules.

Especially big-market clubs with zero financial commitments in 2019, a list that is limited to one team: the Phillies.

 

The Sixers vs. Kings wet floor game has been rescheduled.

 

Podcast:

We talk Joel Embiid’s amazing debut, the recent changes at WIP, Double Bird Man, the “We Matter” shirt controversy, and watching NBA League Pass:

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The Stepover Episode 17 talks winnable games, Brett Brown criticisms (before the Cavs loss), and some fun Joel Embiid stats:

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Number 1 Hockey Podcast Episode 2:

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