Bye, Brian? | Sports Daily Newsletter

Brian Johnson wouldn’t confirm or deny the rumors on Wednesday.

ESPN reported that Johnson was a candidate for the Carolina Panthers’ head coaching job, but the Eagles offensive coordinator and play-caller says he’s focused on the task at hand: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild-card round.

Regardless of whether the Eagles win on Monday, Johnson could interview with Carolina as early as Wednesday. With the Eagles, Johnson’s unit is seventh in the league in scoring and eighth in yards — despite the recent rough stretch.

A lot has changed since the Eagles and Bucs last faced off. And defensive play-caller Matt Patricia knows the Eagles need to return to playing “fast and aggressive” if they want their season to continue.

— Maria McIlwain, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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J.D. Drew, Carson Wentz, Ben Simmons ... Cutter Gauthier?

After making it clear he’d never play for the Flyers, the team traded him to Anaheim. That saga might be over for the highly touted prospect, but he’ll be remembered as a villain in Philly. So how does his tenure (or non-tenure) stack up against the likes of Drew, Wentz, and Simmons?

For their part, Gauthier’s camp was ready “to just go forward.”

On Wednesday, Jamie Drysdale, who the Flyers acquired in the trade, tallied an assist in his first game with the team as they beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2, in a shootout.

Next: The Flyers hit the road for a Friday night matchup with the Minnesota Wild (8, NBCSP+).

True, things haven’t been good for the guys in midnight green lately, but help is coming.

Darius Slay said Wednesday on his podcast that the knee is “feeling good,” and he’ll be on the field Monday night when the Eagles face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild-card round. “Best believe I will be out there,” Slay said.

Will it be enough to help a struggling defense? We shall see.

Speaking of Slay, our David Murphy addressed the veteran cornerback, Nick Sirianni, and more in an AMA on Reddit, and we have all the highlights.

Next: The Eagles will visit the Buccaneers for a wild-card playoff game at 8 p.m. Monday (ESPN, 6ABC).

Joel Embiid is putting up stats worthy of repeating as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, leading the NBA in scoring (34.6 points per game) while also averaging 11.8 rebounds, a career-best six assists and two blocks per game. Yet another figure remains relevant to track — the number of games Embiid has missed.

A new NBA rule requires players to log at least 20 minutes 65 games to be eligible for in-season accolades, including MVP and All-NBA teams. Embiid has now missed nine of the Sixers’ 36 games.

On Wednesday, it was a battle of wounded teams as the Atlanta Hawks, who had six injured players, outlasted the Sixers, 139-132.

Marcus Morris Sr. is Philly through and through. And Philly will show him some love in return today when he receives a key to the city for his contributions on and off the court.

Next: The Sixers begin a three-game homestand Friday against the Kings (7:30 p.m., ESPN, NBCSP).

He’ll always be Brett Brown’s son. But on the court, Penn freshman Sam Brown is just another student-athlete — one who’s off to a good start to his college career.

Brown is making 47.2% of his threes through 12 games, good for eighth in Division I. He’s learned a lot from his dad (who’s currently an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs), but the last few months have opened up a new world for the coach’s son.

Next: The Quakers are in action Monday at Cornell (2 p.m., ESPN+).

Give us your score prediction for Monday night. Who will win the wild-card contest and why?

Tampa 31, Eagles 10. It’s simple … Eagles can’t score, and can’t stop anyone from scoring. Four weeks until spring training!! — Jeff S.

Even though I have bled green all of my entire life since 9 years of age, I cannot be blindsided by how the Eagles’ bad performance all year long has led to this awful season. They may have been 10-1 for a bit, but their actions were not of a 10-1 team that we can glorify. Sadly I think that they will lose the Monday night wild card game, Bucs 27, Eagles 21. I do pray that I’m wrong, but my hunch has been right the last 5 games. — Miriam P.

The Eagles defense can’t stop anybody and the offense is in disarray. My pick — Tampa Bay will win, 28-14. —Tom E.

Would love to predict a strong victory for my Eagles, but thinking logically I can’t. The Bucs played strong football in December and into the New Year, while our Eagles are sadly in a death spiral. The Bucs have the 5th best defense against the rush and overall have a fairly decent D. They have allowed 34 TDs compared to the Eagles’ 51. I will go with Buccaneers 34, Eagles 20, but again, I sure hope not. — Everett S.

Unfortunately I now live in southwest Florida and I get to see all the Tampa games, with that said Baker Mayfield is a scrambling QB and I don’t see J Hurts doing much of that lately. It’s a sad day when I have to go against the spread and pick Tampa in this wild card game. Love the birds but they’re not playing anywhere near their potential and have looked outfoxed all year. Best of luck, Eagles. — Dick F.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Olivia Reiner, David Murphy, Gabriela Carroll, Ed Barkowitz, Jackie Spiegel, Marcus Hayes, Gina Mizell, Keith Pompey, Jeff Neiburg, and Isabella DiAmore.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

Bit of a mea culpa today: Yesterday’s trivia answer was incorrect. It should have been B: Doug Pederson with four postseason wins. Stephen T. was first with the correct answer. Jim will be back tomorrow for the week’s final Sports Daily! — Maria