🦅 Case for the defense | Sports Daily Newsletter
The Birds flex their muscles and dominate the Cowboys.
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Granted, the Eagles faced a pretty sad offense on Sunday in Arlington, Texas. Still, you have to come away impressed by Vic Fangio’s defense after a 34-6 throttling of the Cowboys left the Eagles alone in first place in the NFC East.
The defense racked up five turnovers and held Dallas without a touchdown in the unit’s fifth straight solid performance since the bye week. Not surprisingly, the Eagles have won all five games. The Birds held the overmatched Cooper Rush to 45 passing yards. By comparison, A.J. Brown had 44 yards on one catch alone.
“We knew when it came to our defense, what was lacking was takeaways,” linebacker Nakobe Dean said. “We knew when we got one, it was going to get rolling, and that’s what it’s doing. We’re going to just keep the floodgates open. Ain’t no closing.”
They’ll have little time to rest on their laurels, of course. Jayden Daniels and the second-place Washington Commanders await on Thursday night, but the Birds are riding momentum into this one. Especially on defense.
— Jim Swan, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.
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The Sixers had to work overtime to end their five-game losing streak, and they did so with Paul George on the bench. On a minutes restriction, George took a seat in the extra session as the Sixers pulled out a 107-105 victory against the Charlotte Hornets. Rookie Jared McCain came through with 27 points to lead the way. The Sixers are 2-7, but Joel Embiid is expected to return Tuesday when they face the New York Knicks.
A win Thursday would give the Eagles a 1½-game stranglehold on the NFC East with seven games to go, a remarkable thing given how things felt the afternoon of Sept. 29, when the Eagles, under the hot Tampa sun, were dealt an embarrassing 33-16 defeat. But they’ve been perfect since the bye week.
The Eagles have outscored their opponents 147-65 over the last five games. They are forcing takeaways and learning to win offensively in different ways. “There’s a lot of positive things going on right now and the beauty is we still haven’t scratched the surface,” Saquon Barkley said.
More coverage of the Eagles’ fifth straight win and its aftermath can be found here.
After missing the last two games with a lower-body injury he suffered a week earlier, goalie Sam Ersson was back in action for the Flyers on Saturday night. Ersson stopped 28 of 31 shots and looked like he never missed a beat in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers.
“He’s calm. He’s a good dude. You want to play in front of guys like that,” forward Scott Laughton said. “He works at his craft and he’s great. Happy to have him back.”
Jaron Ennis beat Karen Chukhadzhian for the second time in a unanimous decision Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center. Afterward, the IBF welterweight champion pondered his next move. According to his manager, Eddie Hearn, that next move might be to a higher weight class.
Hearn said the Germantown native will either fight another 147-pound champion or vacate his title and move up in weight to challenge Vergil Ortiz, the WBC’s interim junior middleweight champion. That potentially lucrative bout would take place on Feb. 22 in Saudi Arabia.
Worth a look
Opening win: Villanova outlasts Wake Forest, 64-56, in women’s basketball.
College football poll: Penn State moves up to No. 4 in the Associated Press Top 25.
U.S. soccer: There are several ties to the Union on the roster for the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal series.
Drexel’s turnaround: David Castellanos has directed the men’s soccer team into the conference playoffs.
High school volleyball: Setter Maggie Carcillo and Paul VI are on a playoff run.
On this date
Nov. 11, 2018: Carson Wentz passed for 360 yards and two touchdowns, but the Eagles lost to the Dallas Cowboys, 27-20, at Lincoln Financial Field. Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 151 yards and the decisive TD for Dallas.
The schedule
The Sixers host the New York Knicks on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. (TNT).
The Flyers host the San Jose Sharks tonight at 7 (NBCSP).
The Eagles host the Washington Commanders on Thursday at 8:15 p.m. (Prime Video).
Check out a fun game we call Bird Box to test your knowledge of Eagles players past and present.
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from EJ Smith, Olivia Reiner, Jeff Neiburg, Jackie Spiegel, Keith Pompey, Matt Breen, Jonathan Tannenwald, Aaron Carter, and Paulie Loscalzo.
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, Sports Daily fans, I’ll see you in Tuesday’s newsletter. — Jim