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NOTES FROM THE NOSEBLEEDS: A proper sacrifice to the football gods
Eagles route Jets, keep things interesting in a tight NFC East | Flyers winning streak snapped at seven | Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollin's new deal
NOTES FROM THE NOSEBLEEDS: A proper sacrifice to the football gods
Sports nut Massimo Pulcini rounds up a week of everything Philly sports. Tackle!
EAGLES ROUTE JETS, KEEP THINGS INTERESTING IN A TIGHT NFC EAST
In many ways, the Eagles and Jets are similar teams — both crowned themselves as Super Bowl favorites in the 
pre-season, both loaded up on talent in the off-season, and 15 weeks into the regular season, both find themselves scrapping to remain relevant in a crowded post-season. While both teams know they should be better, on Sunday it was apparent who takes the cake. In an important inter-conference game with heavy playoff implications, the Eagles stomped the New York Jets, 45-19.
It was hard-nosed, ball-hawking defense that led to the Eagles first two touchdowns in the first quarter. The Birds opened scoring when Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes fumbled the ball and Eagles end Juqua Parker scooped it up and rumbled into the end zone. Another Holmes’ miscue — a drop on a perfect pass that ended up in the mits of Eagles cornerback Asante Samuel — resulted in an Eagles interception. Quarterback Mike Vick would then connect with tight end Brent Celek (pictured) for a 26-yard TD pass to put Philadelphia up 14-0. Celek made a great catch on an overthrow, tipping the ball to himself with his right hand before rounding it up and tumbling into the endzone for the score. Celek would finish with a career-high 153-receiving yard on five catches.
The onslaught continued into the second quarter when Vick found the corner, dashed forward and dove for the pylon and the score. The 11-yard run was Vick’s first rushing touchdown of the season. Once the Jets got the ball back, New York’s Mark Sanchez was stripped by Mike Patterson on a busted play and Philly nickelback Joselio Hanson recovered. LeSean McCoy then scored from nine out to make it 28-0 midway through the second.
The Jets would cut the deficit by halftime, scoring 13 unanswered points to send the game to halftime. Nick Folk kicked a 39-yard field goal, and on the subsequent kickoff, Philly’s Dion Lewis fumbled, and the Jets started at Philadelphia's 24 after recovering the ball. Sanchez then fired a 25-yard touchdown pass to Holmes to cut it to 28-10. Another turnover gave the Jets the ball back when McCoy fumbled at the end of a 12-yard run, and Brodney Pool recovered for the Jets. But Philadelphia's defense held and the Jets settled for another Folk field goal to get within 28-13.
In the third quarter, Jason Babin, registered his third sack of the game, giving him 18 on the year. A sure-fire Pro Bowl selection, Babin is just three sacks shy of breaking Reggie White’s team record for sacks in a single season. Alex Henry scored another field goal for the Birds with 4:21 left in the third, making it 38-13 entering the final quarter.
In the fourth, McCoy ripped off a 33-yard touchdown, extending his record setting touchdown total to 20 on the season. McCoy would finish Sunday’s game with 18 carries for 102 yards and three touchdowns.
After the score, the Eagles put in their reserve players to give their starters some rest. Playing against those backups, the Jets scored one more touchdown, making it 45-19, Eagles, at the final whistle.
The Eagles need some help, but after mediocre play in the NFC East, the Birds still have a shot to make the playoffs. After all the trials, tribulations, turnovers and missed tackles, the Eagles can make the playoffs if they (a) win their remaining games at Dallas and against Washington, (b) The Jets defeat the Giants next week and (c) The Giants defeat Dallas in Week 17. If all of that happens (along with the aligning of the stars and a proper sacrifice to the football gods) then the Eagles can repeat as NFC East Champs and live to play another game come the playoffs.
FLYERS WINNING STREAK SNAPPED AT SEVEN
The Flyers, riding a five-game winning streak, traveled to DC to face off against the Caps last Tuesday. 
Even without their points leader, Claude Giroux, who is out indefinitely with a concussion, the Flyers had no difficultly scoring over the Capitals, as they handily won, 5-1.
Scott Hartnell scored a goal in the first, his sixth straight game with a goal. Also scoring for the Flyers was the 22-year-old Marc-Andre Bourdon, who was playing in only his tenth NHL game. Wayne Simmonds, Max Talbot and Jakub Voracek also scored for the Bullies in the beat down.
On Thursday, the Flyers traveled to the Great White North to play the Canadiens in Montreal. The game was back-and-forth the entire time — whenever one team would score, the other would answer right back with a goal of their own.
It was tied 3-3 in the third period when Andrej Meszaros (pictured) gave Philadelphia its fourth one-goal lead with a slap shot from the point. The goal would seal the game at 4-3, and increase the Flyers winning-streak to a season-high seven games.
While the Flyers won the game, they would learn afterward that their captain and best defenseman, Chris Pronger, would miss the rest of the season with a concussion.
Pronger’s absence was felt more than at any other point in the season on Saturday when the Flyers played the Boston Bruins. Boston snapped the Flyers streak with a 6-0 pounding. The loss was the Flyers' most lopsided shutout loss at home since a 6-0 loss to Tampa Bay in 2006, and it was the first time the Flyers were shut out at home this season.
On Monday night, the Flyers played the Colorado Avalanche. Scott Hartnell got the Flyers on the board first, scoring his 16th goal of the season in the first.
The second period was owned by Colorado, as they put in two goals of their own, making it 2-1.
A third period goal from Simmonds would equalize the match and send the game into overtime. The goal was scored despite heavy traffic on the crease and came after the Flyers pulled their goalie from the net.
The extra period saw no scoring, so the teams were sent into a shootout. Despite Simmonds clutch goal in the third, the Flyers couldn’t muster enough magic to pull off the comeback and lost in the shootout, 3-2. Womp.
IN OTHER PHILLY SPORTS NEWS
The Phillies and long-time shortstop Jimmy Rollin (pictured) agreed to a new three-year deal, with a 
fourth year option, worth $33 million. After the first three years of the contract, the $11 million vesting option for 2015 is based upon Rollins achieving a specific number of plate appearances in 2014. Rollins has been the face of the Phillies franchise for years now, so keeping him on board was important to him and the Phils. "You have to take everything in consideration when you've been somewhere since you were 17," Rollins said in reference to whether he had previously thought about moving to another team. "To go somewhere new at this part of my career, you feel like a rented player because you weren't part of the process of building the team up." Despite being courted by the Milwaukee Brewers, Rollins said, "I wasn't going to make a decision without letting Ruben and the Phillies know. If that was the case, I would be in the Midwest wearing blue and gold right now. But I can never say that it got to the point where myself or Ruben, I felt, thought that we wouldn't get the deal done.”
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