🦅 That’s nine straight | Sports Daily Newsletter

Instant perspective after the Eagles sweated out a 22-16 victory against the three-win Carolina Panthers on Sunday: It was far from pretty, but that’s nine straight wins. They have not lost a game since Sept. 29.

Saquon Barkley is still marvelous and now he holds the Eagles’ record for rushing yards in a season.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” Barkley said. “The most important thing was getting a win, and we got a win.” Bryce Young and the Panthers kept it interesting, though. If Xavier Legette did not mishandle a late pass at the goal line, Carolina might have won this one.

Marcus Hayes writes that Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts will need to be better if the Eagles hope to be a force when the games get bigger.

Still: nine straight wins. The defense held another team under 20 points. The Eagles are 11-2. This team plays to the level of its competition, which means it should come out smokin’ with the Steelers up next.

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

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Forty-seven years after he played his last major league game, the late Dick Allen gained entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Allen hit 351 home runs in his career, including 204 in two stints with the Phillies, but he had been denied Hall of Fame status 20 times in various elections by baseball writers and era committees.

He finally made it Sunday night in voting by the 16-member Classic Era Committee. Scott Lauber has reaction from the winter meetings in Dallas on Allen’s breakthrough.

The Sixers gave us a glimpse of how good they might be if everyone gets healthy. Wearing a bulky brace on his left knee, Joel Embiid returned to the lineup Sunday and scored 31 points in a 108-100 victory over the Chicago Bulls. Embiid had missed the previous seven games and 17 of his team’s first 21 games overall, but he looked like his old self.

Tyrese Maxey compiled his first career triple-double for the Sixers with 25 points and career highs in rebounds (11) and assists (14). Now the Sixers have won four of their last five.

The Flyers got a bit healthier Sunday as goalie Sam Ersson and defenseman Jamie Drysdale returned to the lineup, but John Tortorella’s team could not find its way past the Utah Hockey Club. Ersson allowed four goals on 25 shots in a 4-2 loss at the Wells Fargo Center.

Veteran cornerback Darius Slay covered a familiar foe, Carolina’s Adam Thielen, on a decisive fourth-and-9 play from the Eagles’ 37-yard line in the closing minute Sunday. Panthers quarterback Bryce Young fired a pass to Thielen, but Slay closed late and broke it up. Game over.

“It’s about who’s going to make the plays the most, and who’s going to be the toughest the longest, and I was the toughest the longest,” Slay said.

Penn State dropped a 45-37 decision to Oregon in the Big Ten championship on Saturday night, but the Nittany Lions advanced to their first College Football Playoff. They found out Sunday that they’ll host Southern Methodist in the first round.

Penn State was within one possession of beating Ohio State and Oregon this season. How the Nittany Lions finish games moving forward will determine how deep their first CFP run lasts.

Dec. 9, 1982: The Phillies traded for Von Hayes, an outfielder who came to be known as “Five for One.” They sent Jay Baller, Julio Franco, Manny Trillo, George Vukovich, and Jerry Willard to Cleveland in exchange for Hayes. He batted .272 with 124 homers in nine seasons with the Phils.

We asked you: Have a cool story about an interaction with a notable athlete? Among your responses:

It was 2015, my daughter Danielle was a Senior at Durango High School in Las Vegas, she was on their Volleyball, Basketball and Swim & Dive teams. I am at her away game at Bishop Gorman. All of a sudden the announcer says “and Cunningham with the spike.” Knowing Randall was living in Las Vegas, his wife and him owned Catello Tile, I started scanning the bleachers on the other side. There he was my favorite QB, Randall Cunningham. So I waited until the end of the match went down on the floor. … I down went up to him, stuck my hand out, I said, “Mr. Cunningham, I have been an Eagles fan my whole life, you are my all time favorite player,” He shook my hand and said, “Call me Randall,” Best day ever. — Lori P.

I was in 8th grade at Germantown Friends School in 1961 when one of our high school assistant coaches (a student at Temple U.) brought his friend, Temple U grad and future hall of famer Guy Rodgers, the Philadelphia Warriors point guard, to an open gym at our school. In a 3 on 3 game, Guy got careless with the ball and I stole it from him. He turned me inside out on the next possession. — Theo C.

My two adult kids and I were eating ice cream at a shop near City Hall. It was the night before the Eagles vs Giants 2022 playoff game and a really big guy walked into the ice cream shop for a takeout order. I said to my kids, “That guy looks like an Eagle.” My son quickly responded, “That’s Jordan Mailata.” I said to my son, “Go over to him and ask if we can take a picture.” Jordan replied, “Sure.” — Jack D.

… and here is that photo:

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Olivia Reiner, Marcus Hayes, EJ Smith, Jeff Neiburg, Jackie Spiegel, Gina Mizell, Scott Lauber, Devin Jackson, and Isabella DiAmore.

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.

It’s about time that Dick Allen got into the Hall. Now if we can get Warren Zevon in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, we’re getting somewhere. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in Tuesday’s newsletter. — Jim