The Eagles had a disappointing loss in Week 18 to the Washington Commanders, losing by seven points. The consequence of losing this game is having to play the San Francisco 49ers in the first round. That is not a good matchup for the Eagles because the 49ers’ offense is very hard to prepare for. Let's hope the Eagles defense can shut them down.
On Saturday, the 49ers had a chance to win their division, and the No. 1 seed in the conference, but ended up losing to the Seattle Seahawks. That just shows you how close the NFC was this year. The 49ers are now the No. 6 seed.
The Eagles lost this game to the Commanders mostly because of a below-average performance by their backup secondary players, who gave up a bunch of penalty yards to the Commanders’ wide receivers. It was expected that the Eagles would play their second-team players, but it was very disappointing to see the level of play they brought to that loss. Hopefully, the second-team players will not have to play in this upcoming game.
I still think it was a good decision not to play the starters on offense because of the injury risk. Our second tight end, Grant Calcattera, suffered a significant ankle injury, so that proves the point for the Eagles. This year‘s playoff field is one of the most wide open fields in recent memory. There is no dominant team in either conference, so the Eagles could just as easily lose to any team, or win all their games. Let's lean on the winning option.
In baseball, I’m surprised how many free agents are still available with only five weeks until spring training starts. I would have thought that most players would want to know what side of the country they will be attending spring training on by now because half the teams play in the Grapefruit League in Florida and half play in the Cactus League in Arizona. I’m also wondering what is taking the Phillies so long in deciding whether to keep JT Realmuto as the Phillies’ starting catcher. If they’re not going to keep him, they need to trade for someone soon because I don’t think Rafael Marchan or Garrett Stubbs are good enough options for a championship team.
I am a little concerned that one thing that could be making players pause on the contracts, is the possibility of a strike or lockout starting after this season. I hope this is not the case.
The Philadelphia Flyers are continuing to play well. If the season ended today, they would make the playoffs for the first time in five years. But, the NHL season is about to pause in the next 10 days or so for the Olympics in Italy, which officially start Feb. 6. The Flyers have four players who are going to play for different countries in the Olympics. After the Olympics are over, I hope the Flyers can continue their positive momentum, since their success was not expected to be at this level this year.
Go Eagles!
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A 2002 Cape grad and 2007 UD grad, Lewes resident Sumner Spence is one of the Cape area's biggest sports fans. Although he’s used a wheelchair his entire life, he has lived vicariously through his sports-playing father, brother, and friends, who gave him his love of sports. He hopes to provide new and interesting perspectives on the sports stories and issues of the day. Email Sumner at sumspence@gmail.com.
