By Pete Thompson
It’s hard to believe that Fall doesn’t officially begin until September 23rd. After all, high school football is back, college football is back, the NFL has returned, it sure feels like Fall, doesn’t it?
Since I last wrote, the Eagles start slow, but finish strong in their season opener against the Redskins, The Phillies (somehow) keep their playoff hopes alive. The Sixers only news came from an Eagles tailgate ironically. The Flyers host rookie camp and training camp is right around the corner. Local college football continues, and high school football is well underway.
From the entertainment world, l can’t wait to see a new Brad Pitt movie that’s based in space. Plus, have you heard about the “Friends” pop-up in New York? As always though, we begin with sports, and my thoughts for the week that was:
The Eagles fell behind 17-0 and then 20-7 to the lightly regarded Redskins before turning on the offense in the second half and winning 32-27. This felt like déjà vu to me as in 2018, the Eagles were the NFL’s lowest scoring team in the 1st quarter. Thankfully, the Birds now have #10 back. DeSean Jackson was on the receiving end of a 51-yard touchdown pass from Carson Wentz and then a 53-yard touchdown pass as well. Jackson “lit up” the Linc and certainly helped turn the game around, welcome back #10…!!!
After not playing the entire preseason, Carson Wentz looked a little “checkdown happy” to start the game, but he finished with respectable numbers. 28-for-39, for 319 yards and three touchdowns isn’t awful. A 121 passing rating is pretty good too. Let’s hope this is the start of good things for Wentz.
As good as the passing game was to see, it was the running attack that won the Eagles the football game. 36-year-old Darren Sproles got the most work as he finished with nine carries for 47 yards and caught three passes for 16 more. Starter Jordan Howard had six carries for 44 yards, two catches for 11 yards, while rookie Miles Sanders finished with 11 carries for 25 yards and one catch for two. That three-pronged attack helped the Eagles win the time of possession battle and ultimately the ballgame.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Eagles secondary looked a little lost early as they gave up touchdowns to Vernon Davis and Terry McLaurin. I’m not sure Ronald Darby is back at 100%. Avante Maddox left for a bit with cramps. Sidney Jones seemed a step slow, but perhaps you can chalk it up to Week One jitters. The problem there is the Falcons lost and got embarrassed by the Vikings, so don’t expect Julio Jones to be an easy assignment for the Birds defense in Week Two.
One last item from the other side of the matchup as Washington coach Jay Gruden chose to make running back Adrian Peterson a healthy scratch for the game. The Redskins are going to go with Derrius Guice moving forward, and former Eagle Wendell Smallwood’s ability to play on special teams apparently won him a spot on the active 47 instead of A.P. Pretty amazing to think about a guy that was Washington’s offensive MVP last season, out as a healthy scratch in game one of the 2019 season…!
Time for some Phillies discussion now as they SOMEHOW have kept their playoff hopes alive. As I write this column, they’re coming off winning two out of three against the Mets in New York, including a marathon game to close things out. They are two games out of a playoff spot with 20 games left to play. It will be interesting to see what I write in my NEXT column two weeks from now about this team, but either way, you have to tip your cap to the fact that they haven’t packed it up and quit. Gabe Kapler said they were going to “scratch and claw” in every game and they have. I still get frustrated by them, but I have to admit they haven’t given up.
In my mind, the Phillies MVP this season has been catcher JT Realmuto. Catchers don’t generally get votes for the league MVP award, but I hope Realmuto gets a least a couple. He’s had career highs in doubles, home runs, RBI and slugging percentage with his bat. He’s thrown out nearly half the runners who have tried to steal against him. To me, losing Jorge Alfaro & top prospect Sixto Sanchez for an established guy like Realmuto has been totally worth it.
Not much from the Sixers, but there was some off the court news on the Sunday of the Eagles home opener. Apparently Mike Scott is a Washington Redskins fan, and some Eagles fan decided to give him some grief in Lot-F of the Wells Fargo Center prior to kickoff. Video obtained by “Barstool Sports” shows Scott didn’t take to kindly to getting picked on. The Sixers say they are aware of the incident and are investigating. I think Mike Scott was probably treated unfairly. I also think he shouldn’t “fan the flames” and wear the opposing team’s jersey to an Eagles tailgate…!!!
The surface has been painted for hockey at the Wells Fargo Center and in a change, the Flyers have gone with ONE single Flyers logo in the center, rather than a pair of logos. I like this change and hope it signifies big things for the season. The rookies had training camp last week in Voorhees. Actual training camp is right around the corner for the veterans.
In college football, Rutgers had a tough day and lost at ranked Iowa. Penn State beat up on Buffalo. But the story of the weekend was how Michigan paid Army $1.5 million to come to play in Ann Arbor and the Golden Knights almost pulled off the upset of the ages…! I have to admit I was rooting for Army to win that one. I like upsets as much as anyone and that would’ve qualified as a real doozy…!
Finally, in high school football, Ocean City, Mainland, Pleasantville and Hammonton were all winners. Cedar Creek won on Saturday too, so Week Zero is now in the books and things can move on to Week One next.
A “shout-out” to Bill Walsh, the former Holy Spirit coach who is battling A.L.S. I’ve been told he is struggling, but I sent him a text the other day to let him know we are ALL thinking of him. Keep fighting Walshy…!!!
From the entertainment world, “Ad Astra” looks good with Brad Pitt. It was supposed to be a summer movie, but with Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones & Donald Sutherland in the cast, I’m okay that it’s coming out in late September. Gives me something to go watch for “date night” with my girl.
Lastly, have you seen or heard about the “Friends” pop-up in New York City…? It’s there through October 6th and even though tickets are already sold out, you can still visit the museum’s gift shop & get yourself some “Friends” merchandise. The comedy premiered on NBC on September 22nd, 1994, so it’s the 25th anniversary of the debut of an iconic NBC show.
Don’t forget, you can listen to me on the radio each Saturday morning on 97.3 ESPN from 8-10 a.m. It’s the “Pete Thompson Show”, and I’ve been calling it “Breakfast with the PT”, so I hope you’ll tune in and interact with me on the air.
Pete has been the local “sports guy” at the Jersey Shore since 2004. After a decade with TV 40, he joined 97.3 ESPN radio to talk Eagles, Phillies, Sixers & Flyers with Mike Gill on “The SportsBash” each day from 2-6 p.m.
Pete is proud to be a “voice” for the annual ShopRite LPGA Classic each June, and does emcee work for groups like the National Football Foundation, The Old Grad Awards, and The 200 Club of Atlantic County. You can hear Pete each Tuesday on 97.3 ESPN at 5:30p, and if you see him out & about in the community, he requests that you please say “Hi”. Send comments to PBrooksT@aol.com
