Snow Possible For Sunday's Eagles Game

Happy Friday! We made it through another week.

Whether our hearts will make it through the weekend intact, of course, depends on what the Philadelphia Eagles do on Sunday. There’s a chance for snow before and/or during the game. We’ll talk about why that would be great news for the Birds.

We also have a Flyers win to discuss, and we sound yet another alarm related to the Sixers.

In the email today:

• ❄ Snow Possible For Sunday's Eagles Game

• 🗽 Flyers Respond to Isles' Cheap Shot the Best Possible Way, by Winning

• 🚨 Tyrese Maxey's Words Should Sound Sixers' Alarm

  • 📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

  • 📊 Poll

  • 🔗 Links

  • 📺 Coming Up

As of Friday morning, here’s what the Apple weather app says about Sunday in Philadelphia:

Oh man. Can you even imagine the scene?

We can. Would look a little something like this, as a matter of fact:

On one hand, wild weather conditions could benefit the underdog Rams. With the Eagles favored by nearly a touchdown, your instinct may be to avoid a brand new variable.

On the other hand, the Birds are built for this. They’re solid all around, but the identity of the team is rooted in its defense and a dominating running attack.

On some third (?), slightly deformed (?), hand, there are Matthew Stafford’s numbers in inclement weather:

Stafford was born in Tampa, went to high school in Texas, and played college ball at Georgia. Before joining LA, he played his home games in a comfortable Detroit dome.

Could Stafford’s bad-weather numbers be a coincidence? Maybe. But some people really are not built for the cold and snow. Predicted “feels like” temperatures as low as 12 degrees?

And with nine games to assess Stafford’s performance, the awful numbers look like something more than a fluke.

Oh, and on the other side of the ball?

Please, Weather Gods, please. Do us a solid on Sunday.

Then immediately warm things up on Monday, if that’s not too much to ask.

The New York Islanders are in last place in the Metropolitan Division. Last place teams have to find the available points on the schedule and grab them whenever possible.

A visit from the basically .500 Flyers is the sort of game the Islanders should be circling on the calendar as a chance to take points. The last thing the Isles should have done last night was give the Flyers a specific reason to play hard.

Which is exactly what happened.

You read that right. This clear head hunt was not only not a major penalty and a game misconduct…it wasn’t even a minor for roughing.

Poehling left the ice with assistance and did not return to the game. His condition will doubtlessly be updated in the coming days, but it isn’t irresponsible to suggest that the concussion protocols might come into play.

John Tortorella was angry, even for him.

Down a goal after the first period, the Flyers answered for the Tsyplakov hit with three unanswered tallies from Sean Couturier, Garnet Hathaway and Morgan Frost. Hathaway’s goal, his third in four games, came on an Islanders’ power play.

The Islanders got within a goal twice in the third period before Noah Cates put the game away with an empty-net goal at 18:48.

The Flyers’ intra-division road trip continues with a Saturday afternoon matinee against the New Jersey Devils in Newark.

We got here sooner than anyone would want to accept, but there is only one Sixer whose health and wellbeing (physically and emotionally) really matters.

It is NOT Joel Embiid.

Paul George is 34 years old and is showing signs of being cooked. Embiid will turn 31 in two months. You’d say he’s cooked, but he doesn’t play enough games for anyone to know what he has left.

Tyrese Maxey is 24 years old and in his prime. He made his first All-Star Game appearance last season. He’s shooting a lower percentage this year than last, but that’s at least partially due to both fewer open looks and higher usage because, you know.

So hearing Maxey say this — all this — Wednesday night after the disappointing loss to the Knicks where Maxey tried but couldn’t will his depleted team to a win…it’s a five alarm bell.

Before Jared McCain was lost for the season, it was tempting to envision a future with Maxey and McCain torturing defenses like Steph and Klay. It’s harder to rely on that now, though it’s still in play.

If it can ever happen, it’s dependent on Maxey not losing hope and asking out of Philadelphia. Or worse, happily staying and cashing huge checks while playing 40 games a year. Ahem.

The Sixers’ immediate future is broken and sad. But it’s a league where teams turn things around with sound planning and whenever possible, appropriate loss cutting.

Maxey is the only Sixer who really matters today. The franchise’s imperative has to be keeping him from looking so beaten at a January press conference.

No matter who they have to sacrifice in…wait for it…the process.

📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

On January 17, 1989, the Expos signed 20-year-old Matt Stairs as an amateur free agent.

7,209 days later, Stairs hit a home run that you may be familiar with.

📊 Poll

Results from yesterday:

🔗 Links

• 🦉Temple took down #18 Memphis for their first win against a top 20 team in nearly two years.

• ♀️Women’s tennis can always use a heel, and in Danielle Collins, they have one.

• 🎾 Hall of Fame tennis player Pam Shriver became a looting victim.

• 🏒 Connor McDavid is now (a very distant) second on the all-time Edmonton Oilers points list.

• ⚾️ The worlds of baseball and entertainment lost a legend with the passing of Bob Uecker.

📺 Coming Up

Games before our next send.

Saturday, January 18, 2025

• Flyers at Devils, 12:30 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia)

• Sixers at Pacers, 7:00 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia)

Sunday, January 19, 2025

• Rams at Eagles, 3:00 p.m. (NBC)

• Sixers at Bucks, 7:00 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia)

Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.

Be sure to follow On Pattison on social media:

• Follow on X

• Follow on Instagram

• Follow on Facebook