👋 Good morning! I would not be opposed to the Tush Push being the first play tonight.

Once the NFL season starts, you tend to focus on the next opponent and nothing else. And sure, the Eagles are playing for some crucial playoff positioning tonight at Lambeau Field. 6-2 vs. 5-2-1, a big game regardless of the recently history between these teams.

But, my friends, some things are still bigger than football. Mark Murphy watched his team get bullied by the Eagles in last year’s postseason, complained about it on his team’s website, proposed a rule change (that is definitely passing next time), and then amended that rule change to be voted on at a much-less attended event.

And sure, Roger Goodell also deserves some of our scorn. But because Jeffrey Lurie dreamed a dream, this was the city of Philadelphia to Mark Murphy and the Packers back in May.

Hopefully we can do it again later tonight. But if Green Bay does win, maybe they can actually take some satisfaction in doing so the old-fashioned way, on the field, without shady back-room maneuvering. Some real Midwestern values.

And on the subject of cowardly NFL franchises obsessed with the Eagles, can you believe Jerry Jones?

Adam Schefter likes to have One Big Story every Sunday morning. Why is that? I think it is because he can talk about it on NFL Countdown, but the reasoning does not matter. These “stories” can be a little hit or miss, because frankly, it’s hard to find something juicy every single week. But this Sunday’s story, concerning the lengths that Jerry Jones and the Cowboys took to keep Micah Parsons out of Philadelphia, oh baby.

Schefty! Apparently that poison pill provision lasts until 2027. For the last 2+ years of this newsletter, I have joked about Micah Parsons batting his eyes at the Eagles. You cannot convince me that if the Harrisburg native had his druthers, and the money was equal everywhere around the NFL (and in his case, it honestly might be), that he would not choose to play for the Eagles. The Cowboys seemed to understand that as well, and went to extraordinary lengths to prevent it coming to fruition.

It’s fitting that Green Bay and Dallas tied an actual game this year. They are also tied for first with being obsessed with the Eagles. Jerry, you are so obsessed with where a guy might end up, maybe you just, I dunno, keep him?

Jerry Jones and Mark Murphy, man. Howie has these boys runnin’ scared!

And you know what I am always runnin’ to? My Righteous Felon Craft Jerky. I did a couple of late-night Sixers post-game shows this weekend, and was hungry in the second half. Both times, Righteous Felon was the perfect snack. High protein, but low fat. Order here with our promo code!

As always, you can reach me at [email protected]

I know it was balmy in Philly this weekend, but The Frozen Tundra will very much be frozen tonight. 28 degrees at kickoff!

The Eagles were delayed a few hours getting out to Green Bay, which was not uncommon around the country over the weekend. It’s alright, they got a whole day to get ready for this one.

I put Micah Parsons in the photo above, because I do respect him. The man is a game-wrecker, who at the very least, you have to account for at all times. Have you seen the Cowboys try to play defense without him this year? Man, it’s not pretty. 52.5 sacks in Micah’s first four seasons, and now 6.5 halfway through this one. Pretty consistent stuff. And while Parsons did not do much last week, he had a sack against Pittsburgh a few weeks ago where he split three blockers to bring Aaron Rodgers down. I was watching it live, it was pretty sick.

While I do respect Parsons, I also very much think he can be dealt with. We have seen Lane Johnson handle him before. I will always go back to the 2022 Sunday Night Football game at The Linc, when the Eagles basically did not block Micah all game and fooled him with RPOs. That was a Shane Steichen masterclass. So, maybe they brought the RPO chapter of the playbook on the charter for this one in Green Bay. One schematic look that I am little worried about, which Fran described here on Friday’s Eagles show: The Packers will play three down linemen and basically stand Parsons up as a linebacker, then having him blitz on either side of the nose tackle. That will be a big test for Brett Toth, Tyler Steen and Landon Dickerson.

Looking back at the playoff game from last year, the Eagles offense did not play all that well. There was the opening play off the turnover when the offensive line gave Jalen five minutes of protection in the pocket to find Jahan Dotson. And there was the play when Dallas Goedert stiff-armed Carrington Valentine five times en route to the end zone. In fact, Goedert still might be stiff-arming Valentine as of this writing. Outside of that, though, not much to speak of.

One other thought, especially factoring in the cold weather, a fresh offensive line coming off the bye week and a good performance on the ground their last time out: Could this be a #RunTheBall Game? I think it might, particularly from under-center.

In that wild-card playoff game, the defense was nothing short of awesome. The picked off Jordan Love three times and were just the more physical team. If Carrington Valentine is having nightmares about this game, so is Elgton Jenkins. Nolan Smith knocked Jenkins clean out of the game.

On defense, I am super curious of the personnel usage at all three levels:

No Tucker Kraft for Green Bay, after he tore his ACL a week ago. That is a huge loss, he was basically playing at the level of the best tight end in the NFL. But Green Bay still has a deep group of pass-catchers. No injury excuses this time, Jordan Love.

I understand why the Eagles are slight underdogs in this game — Packers are good and at home, and the line is just 1.5, suggesting Vegas thinks the Birds are slightly better — but I love them getting a rare chance to play the underdog role. Has not happened yet this season. They were 4-0 as underdogs a season ago. Get out the masks!

Stephen is one of our Diehards, and his wife Helen is a 33-year-old math teacher who unfortunately suffered a serious brain injury.

A little over a year ago, Helen was just living her life when she felt the worst headache imaginable. She had suffered a brain aneurysm. Helen then had a surgery that did not go as planned and spent a month in the ICU followed by nine months in various hospitals and inpatient rehabilitation facilities.

Helen is home now, but her right leg is largely paralyzed and right arm is fully paralyzed. She able to understand things that are said to her but it is difficult for her respond with more than a single word. She is unable to read or write and her memory has been damaged.

Now, Helen is home but has to go to all sorts of therapy (physical, occupational, speech). Those sessions are crucial. Brain injuries are extremely hard to predict, but Helen has been told that it is realistic for her to hope to be able to walk again with continued work. Since her injury, therapy has helped Helen progress from being totally bed bound and uncommunicative to now being able to stand with help, transfer between beds and wheelchairs, and communicate her needs.

The link to donate to Helen’s recovery is here, where you can learn more about her story. Anything helps.

Ottawa 3, Flyers 2 (OT): A point against the Girouxs, but a slightly disappointing one. Post-game pod is here, Charlie’s in-depth observations are here.

Basically, the story of this game is that the Flyers were dreadful in the first 30 minutes. And then they were absolutely stifling in the second half. Makes sense that regulation was tied 2-2. Trevor Zegras made a small mistake on the game-winning goal, not committing fully to a change and then getting caught in no-man’s land. Oh well, happens. But these also aren’t your slightly older brother’s Flyers. with the combination of how lethal Zegras is at the shootout and how good Sam Ersson is at stopping pucks in the shootout, defensive breakdowns in overtimes hurt this team more than past iterations.

The more important news: After a nine-game goalless drought for Matvei Michkov, and zero non-garbage time goals on the season, Matty Meech is finally looking like himself. Two goals in two games, and this one was a beaut.

That shoulder he gives the defenseman to create space, when they are both chasing after the puck, is beautiful. Rick Tocchet was loving that.

Michkov just got 14 minutes of ice time, eighth among Flyers forwards. I do not love that, but Charlie has some pretty interesting context on why Tocchet might slower to hand Michkov more ice time. I cannot get all the way there, but I also understand it. Read here.

Some fun Porter Martone stuff this weekend, too. No. 1 Michigan State swept Gavin McKenna and No. 3 Penn State, and Martone has 11 points in eight games to lead Sparty. Speaking of Penn State…

No. 2 Indiana 27, Penn State 24: Tough one for the Nits, as they lost on one of the greatest catches you will ever see. When you combine the sheer physics of this thing with the timing — 3rd and goal, undefeated season on the line — it’s really as good as it gets. Shoutout to the ref for getting it right on the field, too. Good officiating should be celebrated!

All that said, Penn State’s clock management drove me crazy.

Let’s set the scene: Indiana gave Penn State a gift by taking their final timeout with 2:09 left. Penn State had a 3rd and 10, and all they needed was a first down to win the game and get the upset. In that spot, an incomplete pass would not have cost the Nittany Lions that much time. Think about it, there are two clock stoppages even if you play it safe: two-minute warning, and then after you punt on the change of possession. They should have thrown past the sticks, unafraid of an incompletion. Those stoppages then would have happened on the same play! You might lose 5-10 seconds by throwing, that’s it.

What happens? Two-yard pass. Framed as “the safe” play, but was actually just dumb.

It’s wild to me that these schools pay tens of millions for these rosters and put zero thought into basic game management. Penn State could have came up with the funniest outcome of the year — Terry Smith and Ethan Grunkemeyer beating a Top-5 team, after James Franklin and Drew Allar were 0 for a million in that spot — but they did not even try to win the game when they should have.

Rob Manfred as Henry Hill? So, we already knew that Rob Manfred’s visit to the Phillies clubhouse this summer did not go over so well. It was pretty contentious. But most of the details that we knew were one-sided. Basically, we knew what the Phillies had said to Manfred, and how they essentially told him to get to steppin’.

But did we know what was being fired back at the Phillies? This comes secondhand from sports agent Allan Walsh, who said that a deputy of Manfred told the following to Bryce Harper. Emphasis mine.

WHATTTT?????

Look, I have no idea if that story is true or not. But it’s funny to think about the MLB Commissioners Office operating like a legitimate gangster. If Manfred is Henry Hill in this scenario, this unnamed deputy is the equivalent of Tommy. And after I have that good laugh, I get sad again thinking about the looming 2027 lockout.

Dustin Lind: One of the Phillies assistant hitting coaches got hired as the lead hitting coach for the Bal’more Orioles. Lind seems like he was a well-liked guy.

The Sixers get a split: I thought it was a pretty solid back-to-back, all things considered.

Derek wrote about Watford here. He and Tyrese Maxey have been buddies since high school, and they already have excellent rapport in the two-man game. I broke that down here on Saturday night’s podcast. Not only was Watford a complete steal for two years and $5.3 million, he is legitimately fun to watch. One lesson I have learned in recent years: You can never have enough playmaking.

One negative from this week is that Jared McCain looks extremely rusty playing with that bulky knee brace. And Kyle wrote about the Paul George and Dominick Barlow injury situations here. A laceration making a player wear this is the most Sixers outcome imaginable.

The next round is set: NYCFC on 11-23 at 7:30 p.m. We will be there.

Eagles-Packers got the night all to themselves. I am not listing the television network out of disgust. I will see everyone at the bar later tonight.

Your tentative Monday schedule at PHLY:

Let's make it a good one.

Rich Hofmann
Daily Newsletter Editor
PHLY SPORTS