Philly Sports Today

Vancouver’s Kevin Bieksa injured Simon Gagne just fifteen seconds into the game, but the Flyers still managed to out-slug the Canucks for a 3-2 win. With the victory, the Flyers extended their unbeaten streak in Vancouver to 14 games, in which the Flyers have 10 wins and 4 ties. The last time Philly lost to the Canucks on the road was January 17, 1989.

The Flyers took the lead early in the first period when Jeff Carter scored his NHL-leading 27th goal of the year on a nifty move after some fantastic puck movement and passing by Matt Carle and Claude Giroux. The assist by Giroux was his first NHL point. After a hooking penalty by Darroll Powe, Vancouver didn’t waste any time on the power play as Henrik Sedin set up his twin brother Daniel Sedin for an unstoppable shot just 13 seconds into their man-advantage as the Canucks tied the game at 1-1. However, it didn’t stay that way for long as, less than two minutes later, Scott Hartnell fired a laser past Curtis Sanford to put Philly back on top.

After a shaky first period, Sanford was replaced in net by Cory Schneider. However, Philly’s offense jumped on him early. The Flyers extended their lead less than three minutes into the second period as Jon Kalinski scored his first NHL goal. Later in the period, the Canucks clawed back on a nice redirection by Ryan Kesler that cut Vancouver’s deficit to 3-2. From that point forward, it was all about the goalies as Schneider and Martin Biron stood on their heads for the rest of the game an made some outstanding saves. Neither team scored again in the second period and the Flyers held off a late rush in the third period, including Vancouver’s 6-on-4 advantage in the final 20 seconds, to escape with a 3-2 win.

In goal, Biron made 29 saves, while Schneider stopped 19 shots in his two periods of work. Sanford turned away seven of the nine shots he faced in the first period.

On the injury front, Gagne has been diagnosed with an undisclosed upper body injury. It could be another huge loss for the Flyers, who already have Danny Briere and Scotty Upshall on the shelf.

The Flyers are off for a couple of days, but return to the ice on Friday when they travel to Anaheim.

Let’s Go Flyers!

Just like the Flyers, the Sixers have gotten off to a terrible start on their road trip. Philly was thoroughly outplayed by a Utah Jazz team that was missing big men Carlos Boozer and Paul Millsap and had a very limited Mehmet Okur, yet still managed to crush the Sixers for a 112-95 win. With the win, the Jazz swept the season series for the second straight season and have won seven of eight and 13 of their last 16 games against the Sixers.

The usually unselfish Deron Williams paced Utah with 27 points and 6 assists. Despite playing with a sore back, Okur still managed to get a double-double (19 points and 10 rebounds), while Andrei “AK-47″ Kirilenko, who was filling in for Boozer and Millsap, had 16 points, 13 boards, and 3 blocks. C.J. Miles added 14 points and former Sixers legend Kyle Korver poured in 12 points off the bench.

Thaddeus Young (17 points and 7 rebounds) and Andre Iguodala (17 points and 6 rebounds) led the way for the Sixers, while Andre Miller had 13 points and 8 dimes before fouling out. Philly also received a strong performance from their bench. Louis Williams (14 points) and Marreese Speights (10 points) provided an offensive lift, while Reggie Evans (6 points and 12 boards) put forth a yeoman effort on the glass. However, the Sixers still need to figure out how to start winning.

The Sixers return to action tomorrow night when they travel to Los Angeles to take on the Clippers on New Year’s Eve. If the Sixers are going to get a win on this road trip, this is their best chance.

Go Sixers.

It’s pretty pointless to recap Week 17, but I want to write a little somethin’ somethin’ about the Philadelphia Eagles.

A Hanukkah miracle landed the Philadelphia Eagles in the playoffs. After last week’s debacle in Washington (i.e. the first night of Hanukkah), it looked like the Birds would once again miss the playoffs because they would need to beat the Cowboys plus have Tampa to lose at home to Oakland and have Chicago lose to Houston or have Minnesota lose to the Giants. At best, it was a long shot (i.e. only having enough oil to burn in the menorah for one night when the oil needed to burn every night). Then a crazy thing happened in Week 17 (i.e. the eight night of Hanukkah). Michael Bush and the Raiders rolled over the Bucs and the Texans stampeded over the Bears during the early games. The stage was set for what was essentially a playoff game between the Eagles and Cowboys, with the winner claiming the #6 seed and the loser going home. Philly stepped up and played their most dominating game of the year and rolled to a 44-6 win.

Donovan McNabb and the offense looked energized. Andy Reid called a balanced offensive attack until the game was out of reach. While the offense was good, the defense was incredible. The Birds forced five turnovers (four fumble recoveries and an interception). Chris Clemons and Joselio Hanson returned both fumbles that were forced by Brian Dawkins for touchdowns. During the second and third quarters, the Eagles scored 41 unanswered points. Why the Eagles can’t play with that type of intensity every week, I have no idea. However, what I do know is that everything broke the right way for the Eagles, who had 25-1 odds of making the playoffs when the day started, and now they have a winnable road game against the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the playoffs on Sunday (i.e. one night of oil burning for eight nights). Hopefully the Birds have more miracles left in them.

AFC Playoff teams:
1. South: Tennessee (Last Week’s Projection: Tennessee)
2. North: Pittsburgh (Last Week’s Projection: Pittsburgh)
3. East: Miami (Last Week’s Projection: Miami)
4. West: San Diego (Last Week’s Projection: San Diego)
5. Wild Card: Indianapolis (Last Week’s Projection: Indianapolis)
6. Wild Card: Baltimore (Last Week’s Projection: Baltimore)

NFC Playoff teams:
1. East: New York Giants (Last Week’s Projection: New York Giants)
2. South: Carolina (Last Week’s Projection: Atlanta)
3. North: Minnesota (Last Week’s Projection: Minnesota)
4. West: Arizona (Last Week’s Projection: Arizona)
5. Wild Card: Atlanta (Last Week’s Projection: Carolina)
6. Wild Card: Philadelphia (Last Week’s Projection: Dallas)

Neither the Flyers nor the Sixers got off to stellar starts on their long road trips. The Flyers were absolutely embarrassed on back-to-back nights, while the Sixers completely imploded in the fourth quarter in Denver.

Let’s start with the Flyers, who were straight up outworked in Chicago and in Columbus. On Friday night in Chicago, the Flyers got down early and never recovered. Martin Biron made his first start back after missing five games and it was not pretty. Andrew Ladd put the Blackhawks up 1-0 a little over a minute into the first period and former Flyer Patrick Sharp lit the lamp 82 seconds later to make it 2-0 Chicago. About five minutes later, Mike Richards found the net and sliced Philly’s deficit in half, but it was all down hill from there.

The second period was dominated by the Blackhawks as the Flyers only mustered one shot on goal, and it didn’t come until very late in the period. The one shot, which was fired by Arron Asham, tied a franchise low for a period. Luckily, Biron stood on his head in the second and Chicago didn’t increase their lead. However, things fell apart in the third period, as Brian Campbell and Kris Versteeg each scored 5-on-3 power play goals and Dave Bolland also found the net in the first 5:07 of the period. The Flyers once again couldn’t get anything going in the third period as the Blackhawks rolled to a 5-1 win.

As if things couldn’t get any worse, the Flyers not only lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets for the first time in franchise history (i.e. 8 games) on Saturday night, but were also shutout for the first time in 76 games, including the playoffs. The Flyers found themselves in an early hole when Jan Hejda scored a little over three minutes into the first period. Andrew Murray increased Columbus’s lead with a power play goal late in the first and just like that, it was 2-0 Blue Jackets. It wasn’t the fact that the Flyers were losing that was disturbing, but it was that they were badly out-shot by a team was shutout in their previous two games.

Columbus pushed its lead to 3-0 on Manny Malhotra’s goal in the second period, while the Flyers’ offensive woes continued. Philly put up 11 shots in the second, but couldn’t find the net. Although neither team scored in the third, the Blue Jackets were in total control as they cruised to a 3-0 win. Steve Mason was outstanding in net for Columbus, making 20 saves and lowering his NHL-best GAA to 1.87.

Travel may have had some effect on the Flyers’ performance in the past two games as they were delayed landing in Chicago and missed the morning skate before losing to the Blackhawks. Then, fog prevented the Flyers’ plane from taking off and the team didn’t arrive in Columbus until mid-afternoon Saturday. Oh yeah, defensemen Matt Carle and Kimmo Timonen also missed the Columbus game with injuries, while Scott Hartnell played with a broken big toe. I guess when things go wrong for the Flyers, they really go wrong. Hopefully, the Flyers will be ready to go on Tuesday night in Vancouver.

Let’s Go Flyers!

Now, onto the Sixers, who led by as many as 17 points midway through the third, but wound up losing 105-101 to the Nuggets. That is unacceptable and totally disgusting. Oh, Carmelo Anthony didn’t play either. How can they dominate the game for three quarters and then just fall apart? It makes no sense. In fact, they lost when Kenyon Martin took a bounce pass from Chauncey Billups at the top of the key, drove to the hoop, and dunked hard over over Samuel Dalembert. Andre Iguodala paced the Sixers with 24 points, while Andre Miller added 19 points and 8 assists. Off the bench, Louis Williams poured in 16 points and Marreese Speights contributed 12 points. J.R. Smith led the way for Denver with 27 points, while Billups had 26 points to go with his 10 dimes. Nene had 13 points, 12 boards, and 3 blocks.

The Sixers return to action tomorrow night when they visit the Utah Jazz. Should be another loss.

Go Sixers.

It’s the final week of the regular season and playoff spots and seeds are still up for grabs. After being mediocre in the picks department last week, I need to close out 2008 with a bang. Home teams in CAPS:

SAN DIEGO (-8) over Denver
Rationale: It’s the perfect revenge for San Diego after getting screwed over by Referee Ed Hochuli during their Week 2 game in Denver. The Broncos have imploded down the stretch, while the Chargers have resurrected their season. This one should be a shootout with Philip Rivers and Co. getting the last laugh and the AFC West title.

Oakland (+13) over TAMPA BAY
Rationale: The Bucs have lost their last three games. If Nnamdi Asomugha can shut down Antonio Bryant, the Raiders can keep it close.

PITTSBURGH (-11) over Cleveland
Rationale: The Browns haven’t scored an offensive touchdown in their last 20 quarters (i.e. five full games). The Steelers have the best defense in football and can still blow out Cleveland with their back-ups.

Tennessee (-3) over INDIANAPOLIS
Rationale: Both teams are going to be resting their starters, so I’ll take Vince Young over Jim Sorgi.

St. Louis (+14) over ATLANTA
Rationale: The Rams are tough when Steven Jackson is healthy. Will the young Falcons be able to handle the pressure of potentially winning the NFC South? Also, 14 points is a lot of points to have to cover.

New England (-5.5) over BUFFALO
Rationale: Remember when people thought Tom Brady was the best quarterback ever? I think Matt Cassel, who earlier this year started his first game since high school, has proven that Brady is a merely product of Bill Belichick’s system. Cassel and the Pats are on fire.

GREEN BAY (-10.5) over Detroit
Rationale: The Lions have lost 16 straight in Green Bay and there’s no reason to think the 2008 version of the team will snap the streak. In 2007, we saw a team go 16-0 and now in 2008 we get to see a 0-16 team. The one thing that both had in common is that neither won the Super Bowl.

HOUSTON (-2.5) over Chicago
Rationale: The Texans have played well at home, while the only “impressive” road win for the Bears was Week 1 in Indy. I don’t trust Kyle Orton leading this offense. He has been very shaky in recent weeks.

CINCINNATI (-2.5) over Kansas City
Rationale: In the game that nobody wants to see, I’ll take the Bungals mainly because they’re at home and playing slightly better overall.

MINNESOTA (-7) over New York Giants
Rationale: The Vikings need a win to get into the playoffs, while many of the key Giants will get most of the game off.

NEW ORLEANS (+2.5) over Carolina
Rationale: In NFC South match-ups, the home team is 11-0.

Washington (+3) over SAN FRANCISCO
Rationale: If Frank Gore doesn’t play, I have no reason to believe that the 49ers will be able to consistently move the ball or score a lot of points. I’m not saying the Redskins are going to explode offensively, but they have a little more fire power. The Niners 0-3 against the NFC East, while the Skins are 2-1 against the NFC West.

BALTIMORE (-12.5) over Jacksonville
Rationale: Baltimore’s superb D will wreak havoc on Jacksonville’s mediocre O.

ARIZONA (-6.5) over Seattle
Rationale: Beginning in Week 7, the Cardinals are 4-0 against the NFC West and 0-5 against the rest of the NFL. Even though Arizona has struggled, they should get back on track against the Seahawks.

PHILADELPHIA (-1.5) over Dallas
Rationale: When was the last time that Tony Romo won a meaningful game late in the season or in the playoffs? That would be never.

Miami (+3) over NEW YORK JETS
Rationale: It would be a story book ending to see Chad Pennington return to the Meadowlands and lead the Dolphins to the AFC East title.

Last Week: 8-8
Season: 141-98-4