This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Goooood morning, Winners! Hope you had an amazing weekend! Thanks so much for reading the Morning Win today. We appreciate you. Cheers, folks! It’s NFL playoff season!
For most of you, that’s a joyous time. If your team has made it this far, it means it actually has a legitimate shot at getting to the Super Bowl. This is the first step. That’s if you’re not an Eagles fan. If you are? Whew, boy. The torturous season from the depths of football hades continues.
I’ve never seen anything like this, folks. After a (reasonably questionable!) 10-1 start, finishing the season with a 1-5 record over the last six games was not something I thought was possible.
Can you blame me? The season’s final three games were against the Giants, Cardinals and Giants again. Still, the defense couldn’t get stops. The offense stopped working. It was pitting a moveable force against a stoppable object. I’m unsure which side one won, but I am certain the results were depressing.
To make matters worse, the team is limping into the playoffs after playing its starters against the Giants. A.J. Brown has a knee injury (that thankfully shouldn’t be season-ending), Jalen Hurts has a dislocated finger, and Sydney Brown tore his ACL. It’s bad. All bad.
And, look, to be real? It’s just one more week. The season probably ends in Tampa Bay. Philadelphia is a playoff team in name only. The defense can’t stop anyone. The offense is predictable. It’s quite a shame to watch. It’s hard to believe that this team went from being one of the NFL’s darlings to … this.
Could Philly win next week? Sure. But it feels more likely that Baker Mayfield will come out looking like the second coming of Dan Marino instead. We’ll see.
Regardless of the result, changes are coming to Philly. Nick Sirianni is on the clock. Never thought we’d be here, but here we are. Happy playoffs, folks.
READ MORE: Jordan Love’s ascent, the Eagles sorrow and more on Week 18 from Christian D’Andrea
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What in the world is Bob Myers doing?
So, we know former Golden State Warriors lead executive and current ESPN talking head Bob Myers is going to Washington, D.C. to work for the Commanders.
We just … have no idea what he’s doing? On one side, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that Myers is working in tandem with former Vikings GM Rick Spielman to help the Commanders identify a new lead football executive and a new head coach.
On the other side, the NFL’s Ian Rapoport is reporting that Myers is coming over as less of an advisor and more of a decision-maker. It’s quite the opposite of what Woj has reported.
In the middle, fans are just … kind of confused. We have no idea what’s going on. I’m more inclined to believe this is more of an advisory role given the details in the reporting from Wojnarowski. Plus, he got Myers on the record for this one. But still, it feels possible there’s more to it.
Regardless, good on the Commanders for doing the work in setting the ship straight — or at least trying to, anyway. Myers should help with that regardless of the role he’s in.
READ MORE: Fans are confused about what in the world Bob Myers is doing.
Is there too much offense in the NBA?
We posed that question to you last week in a poll and we have answers today! Thanks to the 20 of you who responded to the poll. Most of you thought the answer was no, which was surprising! Only four of the 20 respondents said there was too much offense. Here’s a detailed response from one reader who made the point that close games with high offense lead to great highlights:
“To be honest, I don’t watch the NBA live games too much until football season is over. But I always enjoy seeing the countless highlight-reel plays after the games. For games I do catch while they’re happening, it’s always really exciting to see close games in the final minutes, and if they’re high-scoring, it becomes a game of ‘who’s going to miss a shot first?’ So, I do not think there is too much scoring in the NBA.”
I get that, too. I feel the officiating complaints might be a bit overblown. But the official reviews are certainly annoying. Even if it just feels like the officials are in the way, it’s probably not a great thing for the product. Regardless, though, it seems we like offense. And that’s probably a good thing for the NBA.
Quick hits: The Black Monday tracker … The NFL Playoff schedule … and more
— Here’s Christian D’Andrea with your Black Monday tracker. Lots of coaches and execs are already out the door.
— Here’s the playoff schedule from Charles Curtis, starting with a very interesting Super Wild Card slate.
— Arthur Smith had to have the worst day on Sunday starting with this late troll touchdown from the Saints. Mary Clarke has more.
— Jo Koy gave us one of the worst opening monologues to the Golden Globes. This is impressively bad. Cory Woodruff has more.
— Five quarterbacks in the first 11 picks of the NFL draft would be excessive. That’s where we’re at though. Here’s Charles with more.
— Speaking of the draft, here’s the order of the first round.
That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks for reading! We appreciate you. Have an amazing Monday. Watch the Natty tonight! It’s sure to be a good one. Let’s chat again tomorrow. Until then, peace. We out.
-Sykes ✌️
