🦅 De-fense! | Sports Daily Newsletter

Eagles fans have been wringing their hands this week over Jalen Hurts’ status for the playoff opener against the Packers, but they can take solace in this fact: The team’s defense is way better than the one that beat Green Bay in the opener.

On Sept. 6 in São Paulo, Brazil, the Birds gave up 414 yards as the Packers averaged 7.8 yards per rushing attempt. Still learning the ropes, rookie Cooper DeJean was a nonfactor then, but the Eagles hung on, 34-29.

By Week 6, new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio had figured things out and so had his players. Now the Eagles have the top-ranked defense in the league. They’ve come a long way since the opener.

“The things we did best after that game were eliminate the plays that made us want to throw up,” linebacker Nakobe Dean says. “We stopped them, but we kept making big plays.”

The Packers rank fifth in the NFL in total offense, so something’s got to give on Sunday afternoon. “They have guys at every position,” Dean says. “It’s definitely going to be a test, but we’re just focusing on ourselves.”

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

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The Eagles open the playoffs Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from Lincoln Financial Field.

Penn State was on the verge of reaching the College Football Playoff championship game on Thursday night, leading by a touchdown in the fourth quarter before things went south against Notre Dame.

With the score tied in the final minute, Drew Allar threw a crucial interception to Christian Gray and the Fighting Irish pounced. Mitch Jeter kicked a 41-yard field goal with seven seconds left as Notre Dame captured the Orange Bowl in a 27-24 thriller.

Former Penn State star Tony Sacca was rooting for the Fighting Irish in this one. Here’s why.

Wide receiver A.J. Brown sat out Eagles practice on Thursday, one day after he left practice early with a trainer and was listed as a limited participant because of a knee injury and rest. The expectation, however, is that Brown is trending toward playing Sunday. Jalen Hurts was upgraded from a limited participant Wednesday to a full participant Thursday as he continues progressing through the concussion protocol.

After the way last season ended for the Eagles, they turned things around and finished 14-3 for the second time in three years. Nick Sirianni deserves credit for how good the Eagles have become, David Murphy writes.

Packers safety Xavier McKinney welcomes the chance to face the Eagles again. McKinney has picked off Hurts three times in his career.

On the lighter side, here’s an Eagles fan for the ages: Eloise Brown of North Philadelphia is still tuning in at age 102.

Here’s another lighter story: John Rodio told it like it was regarding the Eagles as the famous Sign Man at the Vet, often drawing the ire of the team’s owners.

The Flyers started Sam Ersson in goal for the first time since he was injured against the San Jose Sharks on New Year’s Eve. Ersson did not get much support. Morgan Frost scored the only goal in a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars at the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers have lost four straight and nine of their last 12.

An hour before the 76ers’ win over the Washington Wizards, Reggie Jackson sat in the 76ers locker room with multiple cell phones in his hand as he checked on friends in Los Angeles. He was aware that at least five people died and many more were injured as several wildfires broke out across Southern California. On top of that, at least 180,000 were evacuated as thousands of firefighters stayed behind to combat five fires across Los Angeles.

Jackson was one of several players with ties to Los Angeles, including natives Paul George, Jared McCain, and KJ Martin. Like Jackson, Eric Gordon has played for the L.A. Clippers, while Adem Bona was drafted this summer out of UCLA.

“It’s scary, especially living out there, understanding the scale of it,” Jackson said. “The [dry] conditions are always set for it. It’s very unfortunate, but I’m just praying, praying for the city, for all of the [Southern California] cities that are affected right now. I’m praying for everybody, for their safety.”

The Sixers said Thursday night that standout rookie Jared McCain will miss the rest of the season to rehab his knee injury.

For Max Kepler, who spent the first 10 seasons of his career with the Minnesota Twins, signing a one-year deal with the Phillies marks a new chapter in more ways than one. For starters, he feels healthy again. Offseason surgery finally helped him overcome several injuries that limited his 2024 season to 105 games after he had tried to play through them for months. It’s also a fresh start in terms of position, as Kepler is expected to be the Phillies’ everyday left fielder despite never playing there in his 10-year major league career. But Kepler has no concerns.

The Phillies agreed to contracts with six players by the deadline to avoid arbitration.

We asked you: What is your biggest concern about the Eagles in their matchup with Green Bay?

If Eagles’ quarterback Jalen Hurts — who has two of the league’s top receivers — feared throwing an interception before he was sidelined with a concussion for the last two weeks, he’ll probably be paralyzed by panic in his first game back. Saquon please save us. — Bill I.

Defensive penalties + loss of temper by anyone on the defense + Jake Elliott could equal a DC style outing. — David B.

If both teams perform as expected, the Eagles are slightly favored. Odd things can happen, like special teams failures, but both teams drop that ball. If the Eagles do not win, the most likely cause will be an early game injury to a key player, or turnovers, with the most likely Eagles culprit being Jalen Hurts. An injury to Hurts or Barkley would hurt, but is out of anybody’s control and impossible to predict. So, my biggest concern is TURNOVERS; Hurts fumbling or throwing interceptions. He has been very good at ball security since the early season games, but it could reemerge, given his inactivity for 3 weeks, which could affect his performance in one game when returning. — John W.

My biggest concern for the Eagles is Hurts. If Jalen is not sharp in his return from the protocol it could be a long day if the offense has to depend on Saquon and the running game. — Everett S.

The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane spoke with nearly every member of the Eagles’ revolving 53-man roster for his annual year-in-review player survey. Listen here for the latest episode of unCovering the Birds.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Alex Coffey, Avery Hill, Matt Breen, EJ Smith, David Murphy, Jeff Neiburg, Olivia Reiner, Jeff McLane, Keith Pompey, Jonathan Tannenwald, Jackie Spiegel, DeAntae Prince, and Aaron Carter.

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 good weekend. I’ll see you in Monday’s Sports Daily. — Jim