🦅 Sunshine State | Sports Daily Newsletter

Every Eagles game turns into an adventure, but the bottom line is that they are 4-0. And now they have gotten the pesky Buccaneers off their backs, thanks to a 31-25 victory Sunday in Tampa.

The Eagles offense looked great in one half and lousy in the other. Jalen Hurts completed 15 of 16 passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns before halftime. Then he completed zero passes in the second half.

In the last two quarters, the Eagles had minus-1 yard of offense. Lucky for them, the defense held when it needed to against Baker Mayfield and the Bucs. Rookie Jihaad Campbell picked off a fourth-quarter Mayfield pass in the end zone and Moro Ojomo delivered a crucial sack in the closing minutes.

The Eagles are undefeated, somehow, Mike Sielski writes, but they ought not let that perfect record fool them. Nick Sirianni, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, and the rest of the coaching staff have a healthy amount of work ahead of them. At least they acknowledged as much.

“I say to these guys: We’re 4-and-0. That’s good,” Sirianni said. “But don’t let good get in the way of great. We’ve got to clean up some of this stuff.”

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

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Saquon Barkley rushed 19 times for 43 yards on Sunday. He has 237 rushing yards through four games, a per-game average of 59.3. This marked the second straight game Barkley was held under 50 yards. He had just one such contest last season.

Barkley isn’t going to run for 2,000 yards again. The Bucs were like every Eagles opponent so far this season, especially in the second half, stacking the box to take him out of the game. “The running game always starts with me,” Barkley says. “I’m a big believer in that. When the running game is going bad, I got to own it. [I’ve] just got to be better.”

The Eagles defense sealed this victory by stopping Tampa Bay when it mattered most. Jeff McLane handed out the best grades to the linebackers and the cornerbacks.

After the Eagles stopped the Bucs on fourth down in their first drive of the second half, Fox’s cameras caught Sirianni jawing at Mayfield from the sideline. Here are some other observations from the broadcast.

You can find more coverage of Sunday’s game here.

The Phillies closed the regular season in style with a 2-1 victory against the Twins in 10 innings. Cristopher Sánchez threw 21 consecutive strikes to begin the game and left in the sixth inning. He finished with a 2.50 ERA and 212 strikeouts in 202 innings in a season when he became the team’s ace.

After a first-round bye, the Phillies will open the playoffs Saturday with Sánchez on the mound against the winner of the Reds-Dodgers wild-card series.

Trea Turner returned to the lineup, three weeks after straining his right hamstring. The shortstop played five innings, went 0-for-2, and finished with a .304 average to win the NL batting crown. He’s the first Phillies batting champ in 67 years, since Richie Ashburn in 1958.

Guard VJ Edgecombe looks like a wide-eyed rookie at times in 76ers camp, but the first-round pick is opening some eyes himself. “I like him a lot,” Joel Embiid says of Edgecombe. “I’ve talked to him a lot. … As soon as we drafted him, I just knew I would like him.”

Edgecombe has been a sponge, routinely seeking advice from the Sixers’ veterans. And Embiid has been willing to help the 20-year-old.

The Sixers left Sunday afternoon on a 13-hour flight for Abu Dhabi, where they’ll play two preseason games against the New York Knicks. “The goal for me is to get there and get to work,” coach Nick Nurse says.

No. 3 Penn State’s struggles against Associated Press top-10 teams in the James Franklin era continued Saturday night in a 30-24 double-overtime loss to No. 6 Oregon at Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions coach did not shy away from the issue.

“I get that narrative, and it’s really not a narrative. It’s factual,” Franklin said. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to find a way to win those games. I totally get [the frustration]. I take ownership and I take responsibility.”

The Ducks moved up to No. 2 in the AP poll on Sunday while the Nittany Lions dropped to seventh.

Sept. 29, 1968: Dick Allen hit three home runs, the first off Tom Seaver, as the Phillies flattened the New York Mets, 10-3, at Shea Stadium.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Olivia Reiner, Jeff McLane, Jeff Neiburg, Mike Sielski, Lochlahn March, Scott Lauber, Keith Pompey, Gina Mizell, Jackie Spiegel, Dylan Johnson, Jonathan Tannenwald, and Greg Finberg.

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 a crying shame how things ended up for the Mets, isn’t it? Thanks for reading. I’ll see you in Tuesday’s newsletter. — Jim