NOTES FROM THE NOSEBLEEDS: Roughening up with dirty tactics

The Eagles finally clinch a win | The Flyers beat Vancouver, lose to L.A. in Richards' return | The Philadelphia Union | Temple Owls | Bernard Hopkins

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NOTES FROM THE NOSEBLEEDS: Roughening up with dirty tactics

POSTED: Tuesday, October 18, 2011, 3:00 PM

Sports nut Massimo Pulcini rounds up a week of everything Philly sports. Pivot!

FINALLY, A PHILLY WIN!

After experiencing the worst start for an Eagles team in Andy Reid’s tenure as head coach, the Birds finally pulled through and got what their city wanted — and what their head coach needed — a win.

The Birds traveled to FedEx Field, home of the division leading Washington Redskins on Sunday for an afternoon divisional tussle. The Eagles entered with opportunity to end a four-game losing streak, while the rival ‘Skins aimed to increase their lead in the so far uninspired NFC East.

Like they have in past weeks, the Birds started strong, racing to a 20-0 second-quarter lead. What set this fast start apart from the others is that the Eagles didn't implode on themselves. The defense played strong for the entire game, intercepting Redskins’ signal-caller Rex Grossman four times, including three picks by safety Kurt Coleman. The Eagles also made adjustments to their defense’s alignment that helped them stop the run effectively, holding Washington to a pedestrian 42 yards on the ground.

Plays that could've had terrible consequences actually worked out in the Birds’ favor this week — especially tight end Brent Celek’s (pictured above) circus catch where he tipped the ball to himself twice before falling on his back and hauling in the pigskin for a clutch grab. It was little gifts like these from the football gods, along with good play from Mike Vick (237 yards passing, 54 yards rushing, one touchdown and one interception) and another exceptional performance from the eye-catching Shady McCoy (126 yards and a score) that helped put the Eagles on top.

The Birds now enter their bye week, returning to the field again in two weeks when they host the much-hated Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. Here’s a little stat to make Philly fans feel a bit better about the Eagles upcoming Primetime showdown: in Andy Reid’s tenure as the Eagles head coach, he has never lost a game following the bye week.

FLYERS BEAT VANCOUVER, LOSE TO L.A. IN RICHARDS’ RETURN

Last Wednesday, Claude Giroux, Chris Pronger and company won a back-and-forth shootout against the defending Western Conference Champion Canucks in the Flyers first home game of the season. New goal tender Ilya Bryzgalov had 36 saves on 40 shots, and Andrej Meszaros delivered the game-winning goal at 4:40 into the fourth period, just 59 seconds after Vancouver tied the game. Also scoring for the Flyers was Giroux, Pronger, James van Riemsdyk, and Jakub Voracek.

On Saturday night, the Flyers met a familiar face for the first time this season as former captain Mike Richards (pictured) made his return to Philly, this time with his new team the Los Angeles Kings.

The Flyers opened up scoring with Danny Briere’s goal in the first. This was matched by an L.A. goal just under ten minutes later. A scoreless second period was followed by a third period that saw both the Flyers and Kings score a goal, sending the game into overtime. In overtime, Richards, just like he had done with the Flyers countless times before, came up big and assisted Jack Johnson with the final goal, lifting the Kings in the 3-2 victory.

Richards, who was the Flyers captain until he was traded over the summer in a shocking, blockbuster deal, was well received by the Philadelphia crowd before the game. But those supportive cheers became angry boos once the puck dropped.

The Flyers travel to Ottawa tonight to play the Senators, and then play three straight home games against Washington on Thursday, Saint Louis on Saturday, and Toronto on Monday.

IN OTHER PHILLY SPORTS NEWS

➤ The Philadelphia Union of the MLS have already clinched a playoff berth and are now in the hunt for a first-round bye. The Union, who will be entering post-season play for the first time in team history, need to win Thursday's 8 p.m. game against the New York Red Bulls in order to earn a first-round bye ➤ The Temple Owls football team won in another blowout, this time shutting out Buffalo 34-0. Owls star running back Bernard Pierce rushed for 152 yards and made two scores, tying Paul Palmer's all-time school record of 264 points ➤ Philly native and professional light-heavy-weight boxer Bernard Hopkins (pictured) lost due to a TKO in a Saturday night showdown against Chad Dawson in Los Angeles. The 46-year old Hopkins relinquished his championship belt to Dawson after he lifted Hopkins and threw him to the floor in the second round of their 12-round bout. Referee Pat Russell ruled that Dawson hadn't fouled Hopkins and called the match, much to the dismay of Hopkins who believes that boxing authorities are out to get him. "They want me out of boxing, and this is one way to do it," Hopkins stated after the match. "Chad Dawson came in the ring tonight, and he just wanted to rough me up with dirty tactics. He wanted to get me out of there, and that was the only way he could."

(massimo.pulcini@citypaper.net) (@massimopulcini)

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