Winter is Coming

🚦 THE Philly Sports Newsletter

AuthorAuthor

Philip Keidel & John Foley
October 24, 2024

Winter is coming, and it may be a long one.

  • The Sixers started their season with a loss Wednesday, will battle health concerns all season long, and may be under investigation by the league.

  • The Flyers are 1-5-1 after losing to the Capitals Wednesday night.

  • The Birds? The jury is out. They are 1.5-point underdogs in Cincinnati this weekend, taking on a team they haven’t beat since the year 2000.

Let’s talk about it all.

In the email today:

😮 Eagles Haven’t Defeated the Bengals in 24 Years

The Bengals own the Birds in the 21st century.

Since a 16-7 Eagles victory over Cincinnati on Christmas Eve, 2000, the Bengals have blown the Eagles out three times. The teams tied twice(!) but the Eagles haven’t come through with a victory.

Even wilder? The Birds have NEVER won a game in Cincinnati.

Here’s a look back in time before the Eagles try again this Sunday:

January 2, 2005: Bengals 38 - Eagles 10 in Philadelphia

In the final game of the 2005 season, the Eagles (13-2) rested Donovan McNabb and most other starters against a 7-8 Bengals team. Rudi Johnson ran for three touchdowns and the Eagles turned the ball over five times. “We were going to win regardless of who they played,” said Johnson after the game. The Eagles played in the Super Bowl a month later.

November 16, 2008: Bengals 13 - Eagles 13 in Cincinnati

You probably remember this one. The tie was a huge disappointment for a 5-4 Eagles squad facing a 1-8 Bengals team. McNabb completed 28 of 58 pass attempts and was intercepted three times. He also fumbled. After the game, McNabb said he didn’t realize NFL games could end in ties. “I never even knew it was in the rule book,” said the QB. “I was looking forward to getting the opportunity to get out there and try to drive to win the game.”

December 13, 2012: Bengals 34 - Eagles 13 in Philadelphia

Rookie Nick Foles made his fifth straight start in place of injured starting QB Mike Vick, throwing for 182 yards, one TD, and one INT. The Birds led 13-10 at the half but never scored again. The Eagles fell to 4-10. Andy Reid was fired at the end of the year.

December 4, 2016: Bengals 32 - Eagles 14 in Cincinnati

Rookie Carson Wentz went 36 for 60 for 308 yards, 1 TD and 3 INTs. Wendell Smallwood somehow led the Birds with just 19 rushing yards. Andy Dalton shredded the Birds’ defense.

September 27, 2020: Bengals 23 - Eagles 23 in Philadelphia

Which tie is your favorite? I think I enjoyed this one the most. Jake Elliot lined up for a 59-yard field goal attempt in OT, but after a false start penalty the Eagles decided to punt instead. Both teams fell to 0-2-1.

What horrors await the Eagles in their next Bengals game??? Stay tuned.

👓️ Sixers Under Investigation by NBA, Underwhelming in Loss to Bucks

Opening night for the Sixers doesn’t always happen at home, on ESPN, against Giannis Antetokounmpo. This should have been special.

When the Sixers announced that Joel Embiid and Paul George would be out last night, most of the juice was lost. The Sixers were an underdog on their home floor to a team coached by Doc Rivers. It doesn’t get much lower.

Well, maybe we spoke too soon.

The details of this story are about what you would expect:

  • The NBA is likely launching an investigation into the 76ers' handling of Joel Embiid's "player participation" due to his left knee management.

  • Embiid is expected to miss at least the first three games of the season.

  • The 76ers stated Embiid is "responding well" to his individualized plan and will scrimmage this week.

  • The team aims to manage Embiid's health by giving him periodic time off during the regular season to keep him healthy for the playoffs.

  • This news follows 76ers president Daryl Morey's comments that he prefers not to play Embiid or George in back-to-back games.

  • Embiid has hinted recently that he may never play in back-to-back games again.

Investigation, eh? The NBA has issued a lot of big talk about punishing teams for sitting nominally healthy players. To our recollection, there hasn’t been a high-profile penalty against any team for doing so. We know more or less what Adam Silver is apt to say.

Oh, and the Zombie Sixers got their doors blown off. Last night’s game was eerily similar to the days of the bad Iverson teams — Tyrese Maxey scored 25 points on 31 shots.

We’re a long way from “Together We Build.” And the structure is unsound.

🏒 Flyers Comeback Effort Falls Short Against Capitals, But Michkov Shines

Unless you’re watching these Flyers games — and we’ll totally understand if you aren’t watching — it’s difficult to fully describe how bad they are for really long stretches.

Final scores tell a lot.

But so does being down 4-0 after 27:16 played despite giving up only 10 shots on goal in that time.

You want to make an excuse for the goaltender every game because the team in front of him is so limited. Ivan Fedotov did not lose the game last night, but he didn’t do all that much to help his team win it, either.

There are no moral victories in professional sports. We’re not going to overpraise the Flyers for not quitting down 4-0 midway through the game and losing anyway. We will concede that the last two goals were empty-netters.

And there was one bright spot.

Michkov had a goal and an assist in the second half of the game. It’s chicken and egg — did the Flyers play better because Michkov found something on the power play or did Michkov find his offensive game because, really, any pressure was off?

For one game, it’s irrelevant. As the Flyers face what is shaping up to be a very long season, they’ll have to find their bright spots where they can.

Today, the only real bright spot for the Flyers is wearing #39.

📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

On October 24, 1959, Philly native Wilt Chamberlain made his NBA debut with the Philadelphia Warriors. He dropped 43 points on the Knicks and grabbed 28 rebounds

📊 Poll

What do you expect from the Sixers this season?

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Results from Wednesday:

📺 Coming Up

No games before our next send.

Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.

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