Sunday afternoons without the Eagles, especially when they’ve already won, are fantastic. You get to watch other games and don’t have to worry about the Birds ruining your weekend and Monday.

That includes the rest of the mediocre NFC East. Washington defeated Carolina, who looked awful, and Dallas dominated Jacksonville, one of the best defenses in the NFL, at home. The Redskins still lead the division with a 3-2 record thanks to their early bye, while the Birds and ‘Boys are second at 3-3. The Giants we know are trash. That might be our only known quantity at this point in the division.

Or maybe it’s how mediocre the Redskins definitely are. They’re 3-2 and they feel like they’ll be a thorn in the Eagles’ side once again in the quest to win the NFC East. Alex Smith is doing his job without any fanfare, while Adrian Peterson looks like his vintage self when he was with the Vikings.

The Cowboys are 3-3, but they still feel like an unknown at this point. They lost to Carolina by eight, Seattle by 11, and Houston by three, with wins over the Giants, Detroit, and Jacksonville. And their head coach is… probably not on the hot seat?

The blandness in the NFC East is also a synopsis of most of the NFC as a whole. 11 of the 16 teams in the conference have either two or three wins. The teams that suck are the Giants, 49ers, and Cardinals. The Saints are 4-1 and had their bye this week and look like the second-best team in the conference. They just got Mark Ingram back last week and looked strong after falling to Tampa Bay in their season opener. And there’s nobody currently near or around the 6-0 Rams, the last undefeated squad in the league.

Overall, I don’t know what to make of most of the NFC, including the Eagles. Maybe in a few weeks we have a better idea of the division and conference, but it’s still a jumbled mess.

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The Roundup:


More Eagles news, they’re hurt all around. We know that, and you can add Sidney Jones to the list as well. But some guys, even Darren Sproles, could play this week against the Panthers.

The team sounds like they’ll also be active in the trade market again to make sure nobody f**ks with them.

Jake Tapper declined a trip to the Super Bowl with the Saudis. Good man.


The Flyers fell to the Vegas Golden Knights at home in a 1-0 shutout Saturday afternoon. Marc-Andre Fleury looked like his old Penguins self in the Vegas win. The team is back in action on Tuesday against the Florida Panthers.

One player that’s looked really well has been Scott Laughton. And he’s been rewarded with more ice time because of it:

Laughton’s three even strength goals leads the Flyers through five games. Starting the season on the fourth line, Laughton has also seen an increase in ice time as he’s jumped up to play with Mikhail Vorobyev and Wayne Simmonds. The left winger has also proven to be an invaluable contributor on the Flyers’ penalty kill leading all forwards in PK minutes. Saturday against the Golden Knights, Laughton’s aggressiveness led to a shorthanded breakaway. If Oskar Lindblom misses significant time, Laughton may even jump up to the Flyers’ second line once Nolan Patrick returns.


The Sixers released their opening night roster ahead of Tuesday’s season opener against the Celtics. It shouldn’t be surprising:

As for off-court stuff, the Sixers apologized for comments made by Mike Muscala’s dad via a burner Twitter account. We’re back to that again.

Ben Simmons appeared on LeBron James’ HBO show “The Shop.”


In other sports news, the Red Sox tied their ALCS series with the Astros last night in a 7-5 win. Game 3 is Tuesday.

Justin Turner helped the Dodgers tie their NLCS series with the Brewers on Saturday in a 4-3 win. Game 3 is tonight in LA.


In the news, Sears declared bankruptcy:

CNN doesn’t know the difference between Scott Wagner and Michael Barkann.