🦅 Defense never rests | Sports Daily Newsletter

There’s one thing we know about playoff football: It is physical. The Green Bay Packers surely know that after one player after another got knocked out of Sunday’s wild-card playoff game against the Eagles.

The Birds emerged with a 22-10 victory at Lincoln Financial Field thanks in large part to a hard-hitting defense that bailed out a misfiring offense. The opportunistic Birds picked off Green Bay’s Jordan Love three times and Nolan Smith notched a pair of sacks. The reward will be a divisional-round game on Sunday at home against the winner of tonight’s Rams-Vikings game.

The offense? Saquon Barkley had to work for it but wound up with 119 rushing yards and reveled in the playoff atmosphere at the Linc.

Coach Nick Sirianni acknowledged that the offense needs to get in gear but was left in awe of the linebacker Smith: "He has fun out there, he has fun with his teammates, his teammates love him, and he plays as hard as I’ve seen anybody play. And this dude is a physical, physical guy."

There’s that word again.

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

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The 76ers are going to stay in South Philly after all.

According to City Council members and a major labor leader, the Sixers have struck a deal with Comcast Spectacor to remain in the South Philadelphia stadium complex, after more than two years of debate over a potential new arena on East Market Street. The Sixers and Comcast Spectacor, which owns the Flyers and the Wells Fargo Center, will be working together to build a new arena in South Philly.

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, among those who championed the $1.3 billion Center City arena proposal, is expected to speak about the new plans this morning. Even with the change in sites, the Sixers still plan to bid for a WNBA team.

Shorthanded again, the Sixers lost for the fifth time in seven games Sunday as they simply ran out of gas against the Orlando Magic.

The Eagles’ saving grace in this game, as it has been since mid-October, was their defense, Mike Sielski writes. All of the news was not great on that front, though, as linebacker Nakobe Dean left the game with a knee injury. His fellow linebacker, the newly minted All-Pro Zack Baun, helped the Birds nail down the win with seven tackles and a timely interception.

“By no means was it a clean game by any of us,” Baun said, “but to hold a team like that to 10 points gives us confidence.”

The Fox cameras caught A.J. Brown reading a book on the sideline during the game, something the Eagles receiver does to give himself “a sense of peace.” The book is Inner Excellence, and our Jeff Neiburg tracked down its author in Snohomish, Wash. “This is crazy,” Jim Murphy said. “This is amazing.”

The playoff victory capped a glorious weekend in Philadelphia. Marcus Hayes explains.

Of course, after a game like this, Eagles fans are flying high.

More coverage of the Eagles' playoff victory can be found here.

With Cutter Gauthier visiting the Flyers on Saturday night, the Wells Fargo Center was rocking and the team responded. The 6-0 rout of the Ducks might have been fueled a bit by the appearance of Gauthier, a former first-round pick who demanded a trade before he ever played here. But coach John Tortorella wants to see this kind of effort — and fired-up crowd — more often, especially when it really matters.

“I hope we can play in front of a crowd like that about something meaningful. Not the [stuff], whatever you guys [the media] are talking about,” Tortorella said. “... I want it to be that we’re a team to be reckoned with in a playoff series, or whatever it may be. Not this [stuff].”

The fans did not hold back on Gauthier, from expletive-filled chants to confiscated signs.

It’s worth wondering where the Villanova Wildcats go from here. After an upset of Connecticut last week, the Wildcats went quietly Saturday in an 80-68 loss to St. John’s.

“Every game is a chance to get better,” said Eric Dixon, who made only 6 of 19 shots for 18 points against the Red Storm. The Wildcats will get another opportunity Tuesday at Xavier.

The St. Joseph’s Hawks, meanwhile, are on the upswing after a 93-57 destruction of Loyola Chicago on Saturday at Hagan Arena.

Jan. 13, 2007: Jeff Garcia connected with Donte’ Stallworth for a 75-yard touchdown, but the Eagles got bounced from the playoffs, 27-24, in New Orleans. Deuce McAllister rushed for 143 yards and a touchdown for the Saints.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Marcus Hayes, Mike Sielski, EJ Smith, Olivia Reiner, Jeff McLane, Jeff Neiburg, Gabriela Carroll, Ariel Simpson, Keith Pompey, Gina Mizell, Jackie Spiegel, Jonathan Tannenwald, Jake Blumgart, Sean Collins Walsh, Owen Hewitt, and Mia Messina.

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Thanks for reading. See you in Tuesday’s Sports Daily. — Jim