🦅 That’s six straight | Sports Daily Newsletter

It’s a bit cruel of the NFL, really, to expect the players to endure Thursday Night Football on three days of rest. In a fight for first place in the NFC East, the Eagles and Commanders showed the wear and tear for most of three quarters before the Birds somehow found another gear.

They roared to three touchdowns in the final quarter, coming back to post a 26-18 victory, their sixth win in a row. Both teams were flatter than Jason Kelce on the Eagles’ annual Christmas album, Marcus Hayes writes. But Saquon Barkley (who else?) brought his team to life in the fourth quarter with a pair of touchdown runs and the Birds pulled out the Commanders’ hearts.

On a night when kicker Jake Elliott missed a pair of field-goal attempts and an extra point, the Eagles defense delivered another snarling performance. The Eagles held Washington to 264 total yards and kept rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels in check.

David Murphy’s take: The real mark of a good football team is the end result of games like this. Winning ugly isn’t a skill. It’s an identity. The Eagles have it — for the first time in years.

More coverage of the Eagles’ victory can be found here.

— Jim Swan, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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The 76ers are off to a 2-9 start that hasn’t offered many positive storylines. Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey have all missed time to injury. And while Embiid and George have progressed in their left knee injury plans, they still aren’t full participants. But Sixers rookie Jared McCain has been the rare “super bright spot” for this franchise, in the words of coach Nick Nurse.

McCain has been offered more opportunity because of the Sixers’ injuries and has seized the moment. He hasn’t been gun-shy, shooting 35-of-77 in the Sixers’ last four games and averaging 25.5 points and making all 15 of his foul shots. He’s only the fourth rookie in franchise history to score more than 100 points in a four-game span. Asked what is behind his early-season rise, McCain pointed to his preparation and hard work. But he made sure to take in the moment a bit, too. “And it’s just cool people that I admired for a long time, [for them] to say stuff about me and speak positively about me.”

The Flyers roared back from a 4-2 deficit in the third period Thursday against the Ottawa Senators and relied on their rookie phenom in overtime. Matvei Michkov scored the winning goal in a 5-4 triumph. The Flyers are 3-0-1 in their last four games.

Coach John Tortorella has seen some improvement in the Flyers’ play but says they aren’t quite there yet.

Point Loma Nazarene University is not exactly a baseball hotbed, but the college in San Diego is where Otto Kemp got his start. The infielder signed a minor league deal with the Phillies in 2022 and began a quick climb this year. Kemp began his 2024 season on a rehab assignment with low-A Clearwater and jumped three more levels to finish his year in triple A at Lehigh Valley. Along the way he hit 16 home runs. Now he’s coming off a solid showing in the Arizona Fall League.

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We asked you: Watching the Eagles on Thursday night. Love it or lose it? Among your responses:

Of course I’ll watch the Eagles play Washington Thursday night, especially since the Commanders are such a plucky opponent. But the NFL having players compete on 3 days rest is insane. It’s a joke that they’ll change kickoff rules and outlaw certain types of tackling because of their “concern” for players’ safety, yet think nothing of having them perform on Thursday nights. It’s hypocritical, callous, and rapacious. — Stephen T.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Olivia Reiner, Marcus Hayes, Jeff McLane, David Murphy, Gina Mizell, Jackie Spiegel, Alex Coffey, Owen Hewitt, Isabella DiAmore, Jonathan Tannenwald, Paulie Loscalzo, and Avery Hill.

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.

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend. Bella will be at the newsletter controls on Monday. — Jim