🦅 A perfect 10 | Sports Daily Newsletter

There was nothing at all wrong with the Eagles’ passing game, as it turns out.

A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith complained about it a week ago, but that seems like ancient history now. After a week of high drama over the subject, Jalen Hurts found Brown and Smith repeatedly on Sunday en route to 290 passing yards, with a touchdown for each. Eagles 27, Steelers 13.

Nick Sirianni said the passing game panic was blown out of proportion. “There’s only so many yards you’re going to get in a game,” the Eagles’ coach said. “You can’t have all the yards rushing and have all the yards in the passing game, too. I think we’ve been super efficient. Today we needed our passing game even more.”

Brown wound up with eight catches for 110 yards and the game’s first TD. So after speaking up, he got what he wanted. “Absolutely, absolutely,” Brown said. “I think, you know, I said it for a reason.”

Maybe he should speak up more often. With their 10th straight victory, the 12-2 Eagles pulled even with Detroit for the NFC’s top seed and the playoff bye that goes with it. (The Lions hold the tiebreaker for now.) More coverage of Sunday’s Eagles victory can be found here.

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

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❓ For those of you who doubted him, is your faith restored in Jalen Hurts? Email us back for a chance to be featured in the newsletter.

It was a rough weekend for the Sixers, to say the least. Rookie sensation Jared McCain will require surgery to repair a meniscus tear to his left knee. And Joel Embiid suffered a sinus fracture Friday in the loss to the Indiana Pacers.

The injuries keep piling up, and “we can’t seem to clear the runway and get going right,” coach Nick Nurse says. Because of the constant injuries, the team has utilized 14 starting lineups in the season’s first 23 games.

The Dick Allen memories have been flowing since the late Phillies slugger finally made his way into the Hall of Fame last week. Matt Breen caught up with the son of former senator and Philadelphia District Attorney Arlen Specter, who has his own story to tell. Shanin Specter remembers the summer of 1967, when as a 9-year-old he visited Allen in the hospital. Allen’s hand was cut severely after the slugger said he pushed it through his stalled car’s headlight, which is a part of 1960s Philly sports lore.

“It was such an indelible moment in my life because Richie Allen was a god in our household and such an enormous figure in Philadelphia,” Specter said.

On the Phillies front, it’s a good time to check in on the status of catcher J.T. Realmuto, who is entering the final year of his contract.

The Flyers got a lesson Saturday in a 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild, who rank among the top teams in the Western Conference. It also was a learning experience for goalie Sam Ersson, who was outplayed by Minnesota’s Marc-André Fleury. The 40-year-old Fleury stopped 21 of 22 shots and made a dazzling glove save to rob Travis Konecny.

Rookie Matvei Michkov famously signed a fan’s water bottle last week on the way off the ice after he was ejected from the game. We caught up with the young fan, who speaks Russian.

Temple’s women faced a tough task in No. 15 West Virginia on Sunday at the Liacouras Center and the Owls did not help their cause with their shooting. Temple made only 16 of 66 shots from the field in a 68-46 loss.

Villanova’s women had their own problems with James Madison, dropping a 71-67 decision in their nonconference finale.

Dec. 16, 2009: The Phillies acquired future Hall of Famer Roy Halladay in a trade with the Blue Jays, sending Travis d’Arnaud, Kyle Drabek, and Michael Taylor to Toronto.

From backward hurdles to dazzling touchdown runs, whenever Saquon Barkley makes a big play on the field, people notice. In speaking to more than a dozen members of the Eagles organization in recent weeks, The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane came away with a unanimous consensus: players and coaches love the addition of Barkley, both to the depth chart and in the locker room. Listen here to the latest episode of unCovering the Birds.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Matt Breen, Marcus Hayes, Jeff Neiburg, EJ Smith, Olivia Reiner, Jeff McLane, Keith Pompey, Jackie Spiegel, Scott Lauber, Gabriela Carroll, Ariel Simpson, Katie Lewis, and Johnny Zawislak.

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 happy Monday, Sports Daily fans. I’ll see you in Tuesday’s newsletter. — Jim