The NFL season starts this week. The NFC is supposed to be the easiest one to win. All of the media are saying the only two teams that can win the conference are the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers. Even after the Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2017, there wasn’t this much expected of them.
I think it is very important for the Eagles to get out to a good start this season because if they don’t, they will get hammered in local sports radio with claims that they have a Super Bowl hangover. It is very awkward to predict how things are going to look in the first one or two games of the season. Because the first-team offensive players almost never play together during the preseason, it is tough predict how the Eagles will do. It will be interesting to see how they play this Sunday against the Patriots. They have the talent to go big and score at will.
The Phillies only have 23 games left in the season. The summer has gone by so fast. They have 14 games remaining at home. Unless they completely collapse, they will make the playoffs. It’s just a matter of where they will finish and who they will play. If the season ended today, they would play the surprising Chicago Cubs at home in a three-game series. If the Phillies want to go far this season, Aaron Nola and Taijuan Walker will have to continue pitching well to back up Zack Wheeler, who has become the ace of the staff.
Also, Kyle Schwarber has to continue hitting the way he has been in the past month. The Phillies’ defense has improved some lately, and that is always important in the playoffs. Relief pitching has been the biggest unknown from game to game, and I think that may remain a problem.
The U.S. Open tennis tournament is coming to a close. Americans are doing well on both sides of the draw. On the women's side, Madison Keys and Coco Gauff are both in the semifinals. I will be rooting for one of them to win the title. The women's side is much more wide open than the men’s, because Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz are likely on a collision course in the finals. In the semis, Alcaraz has to play Danill Medvedev, the 2021 U.S. Open champion. American Ben Shelton, who is only 20, has a small chance to beat Djokovic and deny him his 24th grand slam championship. It will be fun to watch.
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A 2002 Cape grad and 2007 UD grad, Lewes resident Sumner Spence is one of the Cape area's biggest sports fans. Although he’s used a wheelchair his entire life, he has lived vicariously through his sports-playing father, brother, and friends, who gave him his love of sports. He hopes to provide new and interesting perspectives on the sports stories and issues of the day. Email Sumner at sumspence@gmail.com.
