Weekend Thoughts To Challenge You This Monday
100 Days to wait
Friday, June 2nd marked 100 days until the Eagles will kick off their 2023 season. Last week I aligned with Jamie Lynch in stating the a “Super Bowl or Bust” expectation is logical and fair. There was a great discussion on Cuz Radio between Anthony and Choonis where they chided that mentality. I don’t understand how you can have anything BUT that expectation. Here’s why;
– You have the top returning QB in the conference. A strong MVP candidate that hasn’t even entered his prime. A born leader that is on top of every analysts list. Other than Dak Prescott I can’t think of a QB that could even be logically discussed as a true option to supplant him. If QB is the most important position in the NFL then the Eagles have a huge advantage over everyone else.
– The Eagles have a very favorable early schedule. The success of last season was built on a foundation of the (8-0) start. There is a great opportunity to build up the wins before the gauntlet comes in late November. On the other hand, the Cowboys and the Giants both have many potholes in their path before Halloween. The Cowboys must play 3 of the Eagles hardest home opponents on the road; the 49ers, Bills and Dolphins. The Giants have to face the 49ers on the road on a short week, the Bills and Jets all before mid-October.
– The Eagles defense has to add a lot of new, young faces. They are looking to get a big return on the infusion of talent from the Athens pipeline. A lighter early season schedule allows them to get their feet under them before the stiffer challenges of the back end of the schedule.
– Nick Sirianni is the only coach in NFL history to win 5 more games than the previous season in his first 2 years. He won’t be able to complete that feat again this year, but he has shown a continual ability to tweak and improve. That will be very important as the Eagles now have a target on their back.
Phillies need to set a more intermediate goal
Thankfully despite starting tonight’s home stand 5 games under .500 the Phillies are not buried in the wild card race. Arizona, Pittsburgh and Miami are currently sitting in the wild card spots. That gives you reason for optimism. Being 4.5 games out of a wildcard berth is not ideal, but there is plenty of time to stabilize. I believe that a logical goal would be to climb into third place in the East before the 4th of July. The Marlins are bound to cool off a bit and the Mets are struggling. The time is now to make a statement that the season is far from over. Let’s see if they deliver.
Are we still debating The Process?
After yet another 76ers crash and burn postseason, the one thing I didn’t think would still be debated is whether “The Process” worked. Spoiler Alert, it has been an abject failure. It produced no fruit. It didn’t create any playoff success. Will the last one off this sinking opinion ship please set off a signal flare?
7 Things We Learned About Keith Jones And The Future Of The Philadelphia Flyers
Building the Blue Line
“You have a back end in hockey, your blue line, you’re going to be around a long time. That’s how it ends. So that’s a big focus for us, no doubt about it.”
Jones talked about how strong defensemen can become a foundation for an NHL team, something he learned playing under GM David Poile with the Washington Capitals during the 1990s.
He pointed to the resurgence of the Flyers after a dismal 2006-07 season. They added Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn to help become key contributors on their blue line.
Both defensemen played roles at the top of the lineup when the Flyers reached the Eastern Conference Final in 2008.
The addition of Chris Pronger two years later spring loaded them to an incredible run to the Stanley Cup Final. Jones also emphasized the strength of the blue lines for the Vegas Golden Knights and the Florida Panthers during the 2023 postseason.
However, the Flyers have an expensive group of defensemen locked into long-term money who didn’t perform well enough to help the team toward postseason contention in 2022-23.
The new front office inherits the albatross contract of Ryan Ellis, who likely won’t play another game in his NHL career, the questionable stylistic fit of Tony DeAngelo, and complex issues surrounding Ivan Provorov.
Reshaping the defense will be a major obstacle in bringing the Flyers back into contention. They must develop their most valuable piece, 22-year-old Cam York, and add multiple other defensemen to build a championship-caliber unit.
(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
