What a time it is to be a Philadelphia Eagles fan. They took down the reigning Super Bowl Champions in the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 last night to deny a three-peat from happening. The parade will take place on Broad Street this Friday, Feb. 14. A parade happening on Valentine’s Day? There’s nothing better.
Now that the Eagles season is over until next fall, can another Philadelphia team keep the success coming and follow suit? The Flyers are off for the next two weeks due to the Four Nations tournament break and aren’t in the best position playoff-wise right now.
Through 57 games played, the Flyers are 24-26-7 with 55 points and tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins for last place in the Metropolitan Division. In the wildcard race, they are six points out of the last spot and will have to leapfrog seven teams to get there. Is it possible? Yes. However, the Flyers can’t afford to lose too many more games. To bring things back to reality, they’re most likely not going to win a spot. They can always try, though.
One thing is for sure: the Flyers need to stay healthy. The team was very slim when it came to the lineup for multiple games straight due to injuries to Owen Tippett, Ryan Poehling, Egor Zamula, and Rasmus Ristolainen. Ristolainen was set to play for Team Finland in the tournament but had to pull himself out due to still dealing with an upper-body issue.
The Flyers will be back in action Feb 22. in Philadelphia against the Edmonton Oilers. Hopefully, Tippett, Poehling, Zamula, and Ristolainen will all be healthy, and newly acquired Jakob Pelletier will get to make his Flyers debut.
In my opinion, I think it’s safe to say that the Flyers and 76ers aren’t going to follow suit and keep the parties coming down Broad Street. The 76ers are currently 20-32 on the season and are 1.5 games out of a spot to play in a play-in tournament at the end of the regular season. With Embiid battling injuries all season, I just don’t see them bringing a championship home this season. How about the Phillies?
I know, I know, the Phillies are trending in the wrong direction. They lost in the World Series in 2022, lost in the Championship Series in 2023, and lost in the Divison Series in 2024. If this pattern continues, it’ll be a loss in the Wild Card series in 2025. No fan wants to continue experiencing losses year after year.
To bring my opinion in, I have hope for the Phillies this year. They have one, if not the best, starting rotation in all of baseball. With the trade for starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo, they no longer have to have a bullpen game every fifth day. What does this mean for Taijuan Walker? I’m not sure. However, this trade probably means he’ll be either in the bullpen or traded before the season starts.
The Phillies also brought in a few good bullpen pieces in Joe Ross and Jordan Romano. With the departures of Carlos Estevez, Jeff Hoffman, and Spencer Turnbull, they needed to find some sort of replacement. Max Kepler was also brought in to help out with the outfield. He’ll be the everyday left fielder for the team. There’s a risk here, however. Kepler has never played left field in his career. Fans can only hope that he and the other additions pay off.
Pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater, Florida in a few days with the team to follow soon after. Can the Phillies be the next team to bring a championship to Philly?
Enjoy the good times while you can, Philly fans!
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