Humble Hays: Sixers stay unbeaten at home, Eagles barely hanging on

By Griff Hays
December 2, 2019

Copy of Humble Hays 10_7_19

November has come and gone, and now postseasons are looming while other seasons are hitting their stride. The last week for Philly-area teams featured explosive highs and devastating lows, as reality set in for some teams while two others continued their recent success.

Eagles

The good news is that with the Cowboys loss on Thanksgiving Day, the Eagles had a chance to tie Dallas for first in the NFC East.

The bad news is that they turned around and lost to the 3-9 Dolphins, who have been the laughingstock of the NFL for much of the season. The result is that a lot of Eagles fans are disgruntled with the state of their team, to say the least.

However, while there are many reasons to be concerned, the blame should not fall on Carson Wentz. Even with the loss on Sunday, he had a very respectable day, throwing for 310 yards and three touchdowns and a single interception.

Instead the blame should fall on the running game, which only put up 92 total rushing yards on the day, the receiving corps, which has struggled with creating separation all year (among other things), and the defense. There is still time and the Eagles still have a chance at the playoffs, but it’s a slim one.

Up next: 12/9 vs. Giants, 8:15/ESPN

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Penn State

The Nittany Lions rebounded from a tough loss to Ohio State with a win over Rutgers on Saturday, finishing the regular season with a 10-2 record. Here are my biggest takeaways from the season.

  1. The defense was as good as any in the conference, maybe the country.

They finished the regular season seventh in the country in points allowed per game, only behind Ohio State and Iowa in the Big Ten. However, while they had the eighth best run defense in the country, they were in the bottom half of the nation in pass defense. Their youth in the secondary was the main reason for that gap, but they will only lose two defensive backs this year so expect them to improve in that aspect.

  1. While the quarterback play was underwhelming, they may have the answer in house already.

Freshmen Ta’Quan Roberson and Michael Johnson Jr. redshirted this year and both were four-star recruits coming out of high school. Sean Clifford will likely be the favorite to win the job next year as the incumbent, but don’t be surprised if one of those two or redshirt freshman Will Levis take over at some point in the season.

That doesn’t mean they will have a quick fix, though; replacing someone like Trace McSorley rarely happens overnight.

Up next: TBD

Sixers

The 76ers had a great week last week, winning three straight to keep themselves in the thick of the Eastern Conference race. It is worth noting, however, that while they are 9-0 at home, they are 5-6 in road games this season. Injuries and suspensions have played a part in that discrepancy, but they will need to get more consistent to make a serious run this season.

They will put their home streak on the line this week with tough home games against the Jazz, which they won 103-94, and Raptors, with a trip to DC and another home tilt with the Cavaliers in between.

Up next: 12/5 @ Washington, 7:00 p.m.

12/7 vs. Cleveland, 7:30 p.m./NBATV

12/8 vs. Toronto, 6:00 p.m.

Flyers

The Flyers quietly had a great month of November, going 10-6. While the record isn’t impressive, overtime losses in the NHL still count for a point in the standings, and four of those six losses came as such.

At present they sit in third in the division, one point behind the Islanders for second, and ride a four-game winning streak into a three game homestand, which they started with a dominant 6-1 performance over Toronto.

Up next: 12/5 vs. Arizona, 7:00 p.m.

12/7 vs. Ottawa, 1:00 p.m.

Temple

The Owls finished the season with a dominant win over Connecticut, just a week after a furious comeback fell just short at Cincinnati. Now they get a week to rest and get healthy before turning their attention to whatever bowl game they end up in.

Up next: TBD

Phillies

The Phillies avoided arbitration with their backup catcher Andrew Knapp, agreeing on a one-year $710,000 deal. While some fans are irked by this because of his lack of offensive prowess, Knapp is a very solid defensive catcher and with J.T. Realmuto entrenched as the starter he probably won’t play a whole lot anyway.

They also made their first big splash of the offseason, reportedly signing RHP Zack Wheeler to a five-year deal worth upwards of $100 million. This should prove optimistic for fans that they recognize their need of quality pitching and are working on finding a solution.

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Griff Hays

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