🦅 NFC East champs | Sports Daily Newsletter

There were lots of good storylines Sunday as the Eagles wrapped up the NFC East title and the No. 2 playoff seeding with a 41-7 thumping of the hated Dallas Cowboys.

C.J. Gardner-Johnson, a bit of a goat last week as he got tossed during the loss to the Commanders, made amends with two interceptions, one of which he returned 69 yards for a touchdown. The Eagles defense racked up four more takeaways in this one.

Still in the concussion protocol, Jalen Hurts sat out, but backup Kenny Pickett filled in admirably. Pickett gutted through the pain of a lingering injury to his ribs and passed for 143 yards and a touchdown before a nasty hit knocked him out of the game.

So Tanner McKee, the third-string quarterback, stepped in and threw two touchdown passes himself. The Eagles have a long history of surviving, even thriving, after losing their starting quarterback to injury, Mike Sielski writes. This game showed that the Birds might be good enough without Hurts.

And then, of course, there was Saquon Barkley. More about him below.

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

If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

❓ Should Saquon Barkley pursue the rushing record Sunday against the Giants or rest up for the playoffs? Email us back for a chance to be featured in the newsletter.

Sports Daily is taking a break to ring out the old and ring in the new. There will be no newsletter on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. We’ll return to your inbox on Friday. Happy new year!

Saquon Barkley entered an elite group of NFL running backs Sunday by surpassing 2,000 yards in a season. He ran for 167 yards on a workmanlike 31 carries against the Cowboys, pulling him within 101 yards of breaking Eric Dickerson’s record for rushing yards in a season. Only eight other running backs in NFL history have reached 2,000 yards.

Sunday’s season finale against the Giants will be meaningless to the Eagles, who are locked into the No. 2 seed. Should Barkley go for the record or rest for the playoffs? That’s up to Nick Sirianni, of course. “Whatever his decision is, I’m all for it,” Barkley said. “... Breaking a record is special, but I want to be part of … I want a banner up there. I think we all do."

Sunday was special as well for McKee, who fired his first NFL touchdown pass — and then A.J. Brown tossed the ball into the stands. Here’s what happened next.

Not every NBA victory will be as pretty as the one the 76ers earned on Christmas Day in Boston. Case in point: a 114-111 win over the rebuilding Jazz on Saturday that coach Nick Nurse described as “weird-good.” Still, the Sixers improved to 12-17 with their ninth win in 12 games, and this road trip includes three more winnable games.

So far, this has been a lost season for Joel Embiid, but the All-Star center has played in three straight games for the Sixers and says he’s “feeling pretty good.”

If Penn State is going to advance in the College Football Playoff on Tuesday, it will have to contain Boise State’s Heisman Trophy runner-up, Ashton Jeanty. The junior running back has rushed for 2,497 yards and is 132 away from breaking Barry Sanders' single-season record.

“You better wrap that sucker up,” Penn State coach James Franklin says. “You better gang tackle as well. We have built this guy up [this week], but you also don’t want to build him up too much. You know that our guys feel like we’re playing Superman.”

Noah Cates has found success for the Flyers on a line with Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster. In the 15 games they had skated together entering last night’s late game against the L.A. Kings, they had a combined 25 points. Foerster led the way with 10 points, but Cates is clearly the driver on that line.

“We’re just doing the right things and playing hockey the right way and just supporting each other,” Cates said after he scored for the fifth straight game in a 3-1 win against Anaheim on Saturday.

Point guard Mataya Gayle took the Ivy League by storm last season on the way to Rookie of the Year honors. This season, freshman center Katie Collins is the Quakers' star newcomer. A native of Manasquan, N.J., Collins is averaging 8.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, and a league-high 2.1 blocks per game. She has been named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week three times.

In Sunday’s action:

Dec. 30, 1995: The Eagles buried the Detroit Lions, 58-37, in a wild-card playoff game at Veterans Stadium. Rodney Peete passed for 270 yards and three touchdowns.

The Eagles experienced a disappointing collapse against the Washington Commanders, impacting their playoff chances. In the latest episode of unCovering the Birds, Jeff McLane dives into the costly mental errors and Jalen Hurts’ early exit, breaking down what Eagles fans should take to heart — and what they can still feel confident about — after their impressive 10-game winning streak came to an end. Listen now.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Jeff McLane, Olivia Reiner, EJ Smith, Jeff Neiburg, Jackie Spiegel, Gina Mizell, Mike Sielski, Marcus Hayes, Devin Jackson, Avery Hill, Mia Messina, Johnny Zawislak, and Conor Smith.

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.

Happy new year! Thanks for reading. We’ll see you when Sports Daily resumes on Friday. — Jim