👋 Good morning! Just an absolutely bonkers sequence to end the Sixers game.

Devon and I spent the whole first segment of last night’s post-game show breaking down that play, because if there was ever one play that deserved its own segment, it’s that one.

VJ Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey combine to make two monster plays to steal a win. That is the type of play you are gonna look back on in five years, especially if Maxey and Edgecombe are still in the Sixers backcourt like a lot of people hope they are. I cannot believe that Maxey chasedown block. So good.

(I really like De’Anthony Melton as a dude and think he’s a good player. Good Sixer. But he is the single worst layup shooter I have ever seen at the NBA level. Perfectly executed pass and play up to that point, but that layup admittedly had like a 10 percent chance of going in even before Maxey swatted it.)

And yes, it was inexcusable that the Sixers coughed up that 22-point halftime lead. We will get to that. But I think back to the T.J. McConnell shot against the Knicks back in 2016, one that warms every Process Head’s heart. And honestly, gang? I do not remember a single detail from that game besides the shot.

You know what else warms my heart? Righteous Felon Craft Jerky.

OK, let’s get you to the weekend. As always, you can contact me at [email protected]

Daaaaaaaa….. Cowboys lose!

Detroit wins 44-30, a great result for the Birds. The Lions did not punt on their final seven possessions, the type of offensive performance you wish the Eagles were capable of against that very gettable Cowboys defense. But then again, the Eagles defense held that excellent Lions offense to a 9-spot. Alonzo Mourning GIF.

But yes, exactly the result that the Eagles needed in their effort to overcome The All-Powerful Back-To-Back NFC East Champion Curse. Here is what we currently are looking at:

I am not taking anything for granted with how bad the Eagles looked against Chicago last week, but man, this thing is right there for the taking. Win on Monday night, and you still have Las Vegas at home and Washington twice!

Jalen Carter out: Not great, Bob.

Per Adam Schefter, Carter got “procedures” on both(!) of his shoulders and is “week-to-week.” Usually in most sports, “week-to-week” means “about a month.” But it seems like the Eagles are not gonna place Carter on IR in hopes that he can return within that four-game window. Maybe Ty Robinson can relearn where the locker room at The Linc is in the meantime.

“Procedures” makes your mind go to “surgeries.” Les was on yesterday’s Eagles show, and he brought up a perfectly fair question: Are we aware of shoulder surgeries that allow NFL defensive tackles to return within a few weeks? Maybe it was PRP injections, as David Chao suggested.

I will write more about how the Eagles handle Carter’s absence (More Moro!) for Monday, when we have a full game preview. Gotta listen to Fran and The Professor later today first. But when you zoom in on the Carter of it all, I would prefer to look at one storyline from his past and one storyline in his future.

Past Storyline: Is this just the wear-and-tear of playing a million snaps? Even if the surface-level numbers look OK, Carter has had a down season. It feels like he is not getting doubled as much. This dip in form is something Fran has pointed out frequently over the past few months.

But in fairness to the player, it’s also worth pointing out how much ball Carter has played in such a short amount of time.

Should we be annoyed at Uncle Vic for this Nick Nurse-level usage? No, the Eagles won the Super Bowl in no small part because Carter played a million snaps and flags fly forever. But this is obviously a much different philosophy than Jim Schwartz’s “fastballs” philosophy, and the consistent defensive line rotation that came with it. We might be paying the piper a bit here, that is all.

Speaking of payment…

Future storyline: How does this affect Carter’s extension talks? The expectation heading into this season is that Carter would reset the defensive tackle market. Chris Jones is all by himself at a $31 million AAV and then our ol’ BTA-loving buddy Milton Williams is next at $26 million. That is a whole lot of Milt.

Maybe Carter’s number would not have ever gone north of $40 million like we are seeing with the top edge-rushers, but you would think it starts with a 3 and is above what Jones is making. But unfortunately, Carter has two sacks and is not the same down-to-down presence this year.

Carter and Drew Rosenhaus would likely point out that is because he has been injured, and that he has been injured because Uncle Vic is playing him a million snaps. And they might be right, but that is the current state of affairs. I certainly do not think Howie Roseman is inclined to let a Jalen Carter-level talent walk.

EJ and Les had a good discussion about Carter’s contractual situation here. He is eligible for an extension this offseason, and for young homegrown stars of Carter’s caliber, the Eagles do not usually wait around to get those done. But they do have time here, if they want. As a first-round pick, Carter is under team control for two more years on his rookie deal.

That is a fascinating calculus, because there are a bunch of young players on this defense that are about to get paid either in Philadelphia or somewhere else if the Eagles do not step up to the plate.

Darius Slay, contemplating retirement: Now, this was very funny. Per multiple reporters, Slay looked at that JV schedule and told the Buffalo Bills that he was not impressed. Specifically, Slay is now contemplating retirement and will not report to Buffalo after being claimed off waivers.

Hmmm, I thought two days ago that Slay still wanted to play. What could have changed here? 🤔🤔🤔

I have no inside info at all, but looking at this, it sure seems like Slay wanted to come back to the nest. Speaking of Drew Rosenhaus, he is also Slay’s agent. Maybe he can force his way back to Philly somehow?

Injury report: First one of the week. Hope Phillips and Baun can go.

Over in LA, Justin Herbert was a limited participant. Feels like he is gonna play.

Cam York’s injury: One of the Flyers’ top two defenseman left Wednesday night’s game early, which is always cause for concern. This was an “upper-body injury,” one which we have no idea how it happened. But yesterday we got the good-ish news that York is listed as day-to-day. That is better than week-to-week!

Michkov speaks on his struggles: Matvei Michkov is objectively turning his season around. Forget about the #FancyStats for a minute. Let’s get down to brass tacks.

That second category is a lot better! There have been some bumps in the road for Michkov’s sophomore year, no question. He was not playing all that well to start, and then we learned he was in terrible shape after being off the ice for three to four months in the offseason. There was also the Sean Couturier shade about being a more responsible player.

Michkov talked to the press on Wednesday, and he kinda answered both of those issues.

On Coots’ shade, Michov said: "I'm trying to be a universal player. If it will help the team, I’m willing to work on it and get better at it." In this case, “universal” seems to mean “well-rounded.” Of course, there is a balancing act there. Michkov does not have to win a Selke, scoring goals is what he can do to help the Flyers win. Michkov has some A.J. Brown to him in that regard. He just has to avoid making disastrous mistakes.

Michkov also admitted that he was in bad shape to start this season, and that he will look to change that by sticking around the Delaware Valley this offseason.

Seems like the kid gets it.

Matt Campbell, Penn State’s top target: That seems to be the case, via multiple reports. Who is Matt Campbell, you may ask?

The 46-year-old Campbell has been the head ball coach at Iowa State the last 10 years. He has a 107-70 record in Ames and seemed like he was gonna get a bigger job for a long time… until he never did. Did not seem like Campbell became that much worse of a coach in the meantime — 19-7 record in his last two years — but he just never got that job. Now he might. Even if Campbell is Penn State’s Plan Z, he seems like a pretty good fit in State College. Ohio guy.

That is not the most important thing, though, How about this tidbit from ZB?

You cannot escape Nick Sirianni.

Trending in opposite directions: Felt like last night’s win summed up where the Sixers are at right now: better than they probably should be on defense, but worse than they probably should be on offense.

Since the 4-0 start when everyone went crazy offensively, here is where the Sixers rank league-wide on both ends of the floor in their last 17 games:

Add those two together, and you get a perfectly average basketball team. Pure Mid. Which is not a crazy place for these Sixers to be expectations-wise, with all of the injuries they have dealt with. They are 12-9 on the season.

In the first half against Golden State, you saw that improved defense. Maxey and Edgecombe are both committed on that end, and Maxey is starting to jump passing lanes expertly. Dominick Barlow is a shockingly good one-on-one defender, he had Jonathan Kuminga in hell. Paul George, who did not play last night, is still an impact player on that end. There seems to be buy-in from everyone. All of that is great.

But boy, that second-half offense…

The Sixers let the Warriors back into the game with a million turnovers., reenacting the Family Guy scene where everyone starts barfing all over the living room. I was shocked at how poorly the Sixers guards handled the pressure from backups like Pat Spencer and Buddy Hield. Those guys all have to be better.

That said, as someone who is generally not a Coach Guy, Nick Nurse saw all of those turnovers and devolved into all of his worst conservative tendencies. I am not sure the Sixers ran one actual play for the final 10 minutes of the game. It was all isos (mostly for Tyrese Maxey) with zero movement. Most NBA teams are pace-and-space and read-and-react, not exactly running the Princeton Offense out there. But this was absolutely nothing, which is not good enough.

My guess is that Nurse was wary of the turnovers his young guards were committing and just wanted to get low-percentage shots up at the basket. But the answer when your guards are struggling cannot be to put your hands on your hips and turn into 2012 Doug Collins. The Sixers ran a real offense the first few weeks of the season, and they ran it against Washington the other night. They cannot get away from it to that degree.

VJ and Jared: I do think there is an interesting dichotomy between the handling VJ Edgecombe and Jared McCain that is emblematic of this whole offense-defense thing.

On one hand, VJ gets a ton of slack. They have him running backup point guard, even if he is not very good at it. Now, these are developmental reps that are likely gonna help VJ down the road. Rookies are supposed to struggle, and VJ came in as an unpolished one. Not too surprising that there are ups-and-downs. But VJ is allowed to play through his offensive mistakes, and it’s clear why: He makes winning plays without the ball down the stretch, like the steal and putback last night.

One the other hand, McCain plays about 20 minutes and is relegated to off-ball duty. He seems to have more of a backup point guard skill-set than Edgecombe, but they are not giving him those reps. I am not saying McCain has been perfect or is a panacea to the non-Maxey minutes — McCain had two dreadful turnovers himself when he did get the ball last night — but it’s noticeable how he is down the pecking order on this team. And like with Edgecombe, it’s clear why: Even if Jared has defended better this season, he cannot affect the game without the ball like VJ.

I am not even saying it’s wrong how Edgecombe and McCain are being handled. If you think Edgecombe has a higher ceiling, giving him the ball for stretches and letting him work through mistakes is perfectly defensible. It’s just interesting, and something they will have to work through with all of these young guards. Long season, we will keep an eye on it.

Franklin, avoiding infamy: As you can see, Franklin almost ran on the court after VJ’s putback. I get it, too. The shot went in with 0.9 on the clock, Franklin probably thought it was a buzzer-beater. But nice job by Franklin getting back once he saw Melton and Maxey headed 100 miles per hour his way.

Losing on a Franklin The Dog technical would have been quite the Sixers way to lose. The Most Sixers, even. Good boy.

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Big week coming up. Eagles are on Mondee Night Football, and the Winter Meetings are Mondee through Thursdee in Orlando.

Here is a look at your Eagles-less weekend:

Remember, Cuz and VG are at Stateside Live! this morning for the World Cup Draw Party. Check it out!

Your tentative Friday schedule at PHLY:

Have a great weekend. Let’s make it a good one today.

Rich Hofmann
Daily Newsletter Editor
PHLY SPORTS

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