Good morning sports fans, it's Wajih AlBaroudi here with everything you need to know this hump day. We'll get into the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams securing comfortable victories, plus more.
First, let's start with Philadelphia's old-school, ground-and-pound win.
Good morning to everyone but especially to...
THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
A slow start to Tuesday's game drew plenty of boos at Lincoln Financial Field, but the Eagles steamrolled the Washington Football Team the rest of the way in a 27-17 victory. The win brought the Eagles to 7-7, keeping them firmly in the NFC playoff race.
The Eagles adopted a run-first identity over their recent hot stretch -- four wins in their last five games -- and beat Washington with it as well. Here's what happened in Tuesday's game:
- RB Miles Sanders, who rushed for a career high 131 yards, became the first Eagles rusher to clear 100 yards in consecutive games since LeSean McCoy in 2014
- The Eagles ran for 238 yards, their fourth 200-yard rushing performance in their last five games
- Philadelphia posted its fifth 200-yard rushing game of the season, its most since former head coach Chip Kelly's first year in 2013
Philly now has the same record as the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints -- fellow NFC Wild Card hopefuls. The San Francisco 49ers currently own the sixth seed at 8-6. While the box score indicated a wire-to-wire Eagles victory, the reality was far different. Let our NFL expert Cody Benjamin explain:
- Benjamin: "Things were ugly out of the gate ... but they never panicked and leaned deeper into the ground game as the night wore on, with Hurts, Miles Sanders and Jordan Howard teaming up to gash Washington with both speed and power. A killer showing from the Eagles' offensive line helped ... and Hurts really settled in after his sloppy first quarter ... Defensively, Fletcher Cox came alive with 1.5 sacks and additional pressures, while the unit stuffed a banged-up Antonio Gibson all night."
A win is a win, though, and it brought Philadelphia a step closer to the playoffs. It should be noted that Washington started Garrett Gilbert -- who signed off the New England Patriots' practice squad on Friday -- at quarterback after its top-two signal callers, Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen, remained in COVID protocols.
The Eagles close the season against all its NFC East rivals: home to the New York Giants, at Washington and home to the Dallas Cowboys.
Honorable mentions:
- Manu Ginobili and Chauncey Billups are among the nominees for the Basketball Hall of Fame's 2022 class
- Isaiah Thomas, Lance Stephenson and Tyler Johnson are among the many NBA veterans who've earned 10-day contracts thanks to the league's new replacement-player rule.
And not such a good morning for...
THE SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
The Russell Wilson-Pete Carroll era seems to be coming to a messy end. Seattle posted a season-low 214 yards in Tuesday's 20-10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams -- its lowest total since 2017.
Wilson had arguably his worst game of the season, going 17-31 for 156 yards, a touchdown and an interception. His running game didn't provide much help either, as DeeJay Dallas' 41 yards was a team-high.
The loss assured Seattle of what's become an extreme rarity: a losing season. Since Carroll took over, the Seahawks:
- Haven't had losing seasons since his first two years at the helm in 2010 and '11.
- Have lost seven or more games only once (2017) since Wilson became the starter in 2012.
Seattle (7-9) will next play home games against the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions before traveling to the Arizona Cardinals for its season finale.
Trade talk surrounding Wilson, 33, will likely grow deafeningly loud this offseason after whispers last year. The Seahawks don't own their 2021 first-round draft pick because of the Jamal Adams trade, so it wouldn't be shocking to see them trade Wilson for valuable draft capital to give the roster a reset.
Not so honorable mentions:
- As COVID-19 has swept the NBA, the league has reportedly begun making contingency plans for its Christmas Day slate
- A New Jersey man admitted to impersonating a New England Patriots player to acquire and sell "family and friends" Super Bowl rings
Grading first-year college football coaches 🏈
The 2021 college football season is approaching its end, so it's time to grade the first-year coaches. Our college football scribe Barrett Sallee broke it all down, from Josh Heupel making Tennessee relevant again to Jedd Fisch joining a sinking ship at Arizona.
South Carolina's Frank Beamer ranked highest on Sallee's list with an A after leading the Gamecocks to bowl eligibility for the first time since 2018. Here's why Sallee is enthusiastic about the son of Virginia Tech coaching legend Frank Beamer:
- Sallee: "The Gamecocks destroyed Florida, handled Auburn and made a bowl game in a season that began with Beamer bringing graduate assistant coach Zeb Noland back onto the roster to start at quarterback. It was a tremendous debut for the first-time head coach."
It was a different story in Austin, where Steve Sarkisian led Texas to its worst season since 2016. Under the former Alabama offensive coordinator, the Longhorns failed to earn bowl eligibility and fell to a Kansas team with no other FBS victories over the last two seasons.
Sallee did not mince words about how dire the Longhorns' situation has become.
- Sallee: "Texas is back ... to being below .500 for the first time since the Charlie Strong era. What's more, Sarkisian's Longhorns lost to Kansas at home in the middle of a historic six-game losing streak. What an abject disaster in Austin."
To check out the rest of Sallee's list, click here.
MLB teams with the most post-lockout work to do ⚾
MLB news has been virtually nonexistent since the owners' lockout started earlier this month. But while the league's first work stoppage since 1994-1995 is preventing any real transactions, we can still deal in hypotheticals.
Our MLB scribe Mike Axisa did exactly that, listing his top teams with the most work to do post-lockout. The first team on Axisa's list is not a shocker. It's the New York Yankees. Fresh off a loss to the Boston Red Sox in the AL Wild Card game, the Bronx Bombers need reinforcements fast.
Axisa is suggesting a two-time All-Star and World Series champion shortstop should be priority No. 1.:
- Axisa: "Given their financial might, the Yankees should just sign Carlos Correa, a 27-year-old who is one of the 2-3 best players in the world at his position. If not Correa, then Trevor Story. The shortstop options beyond those two are unappealing glove-first stopgap types who would not move the needle much for a team that ranked 10th in the American League in runs scored in 2021."
On the opposite coast, the Los Angeles Dodgers are coming off a six-game NLCS defeat to the eventual World Series-winning Atlanta Braves. Axisa lists rotation depth as the 2020 World Series champions' biggest need, naming Carlos Rodón as a top option. Why rotation depth? Because Clayton Kershaw is coming off his worst ERA since his rookie season (3.55) and worst win-loss percentage since his sophomore season (0.556).
What we're watching Wednesday 📺
🏀No. 6 Arizona at No. 19 Tennessee, 7 p.m. ESPN2
🏈Armed Forces Bowl: Missouri vs. Army (-6.5), 8 p.m. on ESPN
