Eagles to rest some starters in finale with No. 2 seed in NFC playoffs at stake

Washington (4-12) at Philadelphia (11-5)

Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EST, CBS

BetMGM NFL Odds: Eagles by 3 1/2.

Against the Spread: Commanders 6-10; Eagles 10-6

Series record: Commanders lead 89-85-5

Last meeting: Saquon Barkley ran for 132 yards and a touchdown, Jalen Hurts passed for 185 yards and two scores and the Eagles clinched the NFC East with a 29-18 win at Washington on Dec. 20.

Last week: Commanders lost Cowboys 30-23; Eagles beat 13-12.

Commanders offense: overall (21), rush (4), pass (24), scoring (24).

Commanders defense: overall (31), rush (31), pass (28), scoring (27).

Eagles offense: overall (24), rush (18), pass (23), scoring (19).

Eagles defense: overall (13), rush (T-20), pass (9), scoring (3).

Turnover differential: Commanders minus-12; Eagles plus-5.

Commanders players to watch

QB Josh Johnson. The 39-year-old third-stringer will start for the Commanders, who are eliminated from the playoffs. The veteran has played for 14 NFL teams but will be making just his 11th career start on Sunday. He replaced injured Marcus Mariota in the first meeting between the teams and completed 5 of 9 passes for 43 yards with a key interception. With Mariota sidelined, Johnson started in the Commanders' 30-23 loss to Dallas on Christmas and went 15 for 23 for 198 yards. Jayden Daniels was shut down by Washington after a series of injuries.

Eagles player to watch

QB Tanner McKee. With Philadelphia set on resting many starters while looking ahead to the playoffs, McKee likely will be under center in place of Jalen Hurts. A sixth-round pick in 2023 out of Stanford, McKee has thrown for 356 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in limited action in his two-year career.

Key matchup

Washington coach Dan Quinn vs. the Eagles

Quinn was not happy following the first meeting between the teams after the Eagles converted a 2-point conversion with 4:26 remaining to take a 29-10 lead. "If that's how they want to get down, all good," Quinn said when asked whether Eagles coach Nick Sirianni's choice to try to add on those two points instead of kicking for one was disrespectful. "We'll play them again in two weeks." The game got chippy after Philadelphia's conversion, with three players getting ejected following a brawl. Sirianni has downplayed any retribution when asked this week about the situation, mentioning the respect he has for Quinn and the Commanders.

Key injuries

Commanders: Mariota (quad) and LT Laremy Tunsil (oblique) are out.

Eagles: LB Nakobe Dean (hamstring) did not play in Sunday's 13-12 win at Buffalo and is out. Also out are defensive lineman Jalen Carter, tight end Dallas Goedert and offensive lineman Lane Johnson.

Series notes

The teams met last season in the NFC championship game, with Barkley rushing for 118 yards and three touchdowns in the Eagles' 55-23 win in Philadelphia.

Stats and stuff

Commanders: Mariota has made eight starts and 11 appearances this season because of injuries to starting QB Jayden Daniels and has thrown for 1,695 yards and 10 touchdowns. Daniels, the AP's 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year, started just seven games but left three early and was shut down for the final four games of the season. … Washington has lost 10 of its past 11 games, including five by at least 20 points. … Rookie RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries against Dallas last week, upping his team-leading rushing totals to 776 yards and eight touchdowns. … Deebo Samuel tops Washington's receivers, with 707 yards and five TDs, with Terry McLaurin just behind at 525 yards and three scores. … CB Mike Sainristill had a team-best four interceptions and Von Miller a team-leading eight sacks. DT Jer'Zhan Newton sacked the Cowboys' Dak Prescott three times last week, bringing the second-year player's total to five sacks on the season.

Eagles: Philadelphia could get the No. 2 seed with a win and a Bears loss to Detroit on Sunday, which would result in the Eagles hosting Green Bay in the wild-card round. The Eagles can finish no worse than the No. 3 seed, via either a loss to the Commanders or a Chicago victory over the Lions, in which case they would host either the Rams or 49ers. … Philadelphia will be making its fifth straight postseason appearance, tying the club record set between 2000–04. … Philadelphia is tied for sixth in the league in turnover margin (plus-5) and is 42-2 under Sirianni, including 8-0 this season, when winning the turnover battle. … Philadelphia's defense has been strong of late and leads the NFL in both opponent passing completion rate (56.5 percent) and opponent passing touchdowns (13). … LB Zack Baun has a team-best 123 tackles, along with 3 1/2 sacks and three takeaways. … OLB Jalyx Hunt has a team-best 6 1/2 sacks, with DT Moro Ojomo just behind at six sacks. … After slow starts, Barkley has rushed for 1,140 yards and WR A.J. Brown has 1,003 receiving yards. Brown is the only player in club history with at least 1,000 receiving yards in four consecutive seasons. … Dallas Goedert set a club record for tight ends last week against the Bills when he made his 11th touchdown reception of the season. … WR DeVonta Smith has 956 receiving yards and four touchdowns. … Philadelphia's offense leads the league in red zone touchdown rate at 70.7 percent. … Hurts most likely will be watching from the sideline after a regular season in which he passed for 3,224 yards and 25 touchdowns. His 33 total touchdowns rank fifth in the NFL.

Fantasy tip

McKee has shown to be an adequate backup when given opportunities, and the Eagles' backups likely will be hungry to show they belong in the NFL, especially with a chance to earn the No. 2 seed in the NFC.

AP NFL:https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

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January 02, 2026

Eagles to rest some starters in finale with No. 2 seed in NFC playoffs at stake

Washington (4-12) at Philadelphia (11-5) Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EST, CBS BetMGM NFL Odds: Eagles by 3 1/2. Agains...

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Parachutist Has Rough Landing After Seemingly Getting Caught by a Wire During Armed Forces Bowl Pre-Game

NEED TO KNOW

• The Armed Forces Bowl between Rice University and Texas State took place on Friday, Jan. 2

• During the preshow, there was a mishap involving the parachuting team called the All Veteran Group (AVG)

• The AVG said everyone was okay following the incident

Spectators at the Armed Forces Bowl at Amon G. Carter Stadium on Friday, Jan. 2, were expecting to see a game between Rice University and Texas State. The game did take place, but after a shocking incident involving a parachutist.

According to avideo posted on Xby Keff Ciardello of theSan Antonio Express-News, a pre-show involving five parachutists ended with one landing outside the stadium while another, as captured in the clip, landed behind the end zone and onto the portion of the field that separates the stands from the field.

The person's parachute seemed to be caught by a wire, which ultimately left them suspended in the air for about a half-second before falling, theAustin American-StatesmanandCleveland.comreported, citing officials at the game.

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A spokesperson for the Armed Forces Bowl toldUSA TODAY Sportsthat "the parachutist immediately got up and off the field on his own power and no one on the ground was injured."

Information about the parachuter, including their name and age, was not immediately available, Drew Harris, the media director for the bowl game, told theAustin American-Statesman.

No injuries were reported among the fans or players on the ground, and the game started without a delay, Cleveland.com reported.

The parachutists were part of the All Veteran Group (AVG), which has been operating since 2011, according to itswebsite.

Mike Elliott, the AVG's team president, filmed a video onFacebookexplaining what happened, noting that "today the winds were a little tricky and one of the jumpers kind of got behind the power curve."

"He did the best that he could do," said Elliott. "He did not land in the crowd. He did land behind the goal post, but without a scratch, he walked away."

Elliott said that he wanted to let everyone know that the All Veteran Group is "100% no injuries and were just happy to be here supporting the Armed Forces Bowl."

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE's free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The team reiterated the same sentiments in the caption of the post, writing, "If you haven't seen it yet, one of our jumpers had a hard landing today. He is ok. Hard as nails. And he did NOT land in the crowd. No one was hurt."

PEOPLE has reached out to a representative of the Armed Forces Bowl for comment.

Read the original article onPeople

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January 02, 2026

Parachutist Has Rough Landing After Seemingly Getting Caught by a Wire During Armed Forces Bowl Pre-Game

NEED TO KNOW The Armed Forces Bowl between Rice University and Texas State took place on Friday, Jan. 2 During the preshow, there was a m...

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Anthony Joshua's driver faces 4 charges for fatal crash in Nigeria

Kayode Adeniyi, the driver involved in the crash that injured two-time world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua and killed two members of his training team, was charged with four counts related to the Dec. 29 incident in Ogun State, Nigeria, on Friday.

Adeniyi was charged at Sagamu Magistrates' Court with counts of dangerous driving causing death, reckless and negligent driving, driving without due care or attention causing bodily harm and damage to property and driving without a valid national driver's license.

He pleaded not guilty to all four charges and was released on bail of 5,000,000 Naira ($3,480) ahead of his Jan. 20 trial date.

Joshua was briefly hospitalized after the incident before he was released on Wednesday. Personal trainer Latif Ayodele and strength coach Sini Ghami were the two members of Joshua's party who were killed.

A preliminary investigation indicated that Joshua's car, which was being driven by Adeniyi, was "over-speeding" when a tire burst, leading to loss of control of the SUV, which crashed into a stationary vehicle.

The incident occurred while Joshua was on vacation after his sixth-round knockout victory over Jake Paul on Netflix on Dec. 19.

--Field Level Media

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January 02, 2026

Anthony Joshua's driver faces 4 charges for fatal crash in Nigeria

Kayode Adeniyi, the driver involved in the crash that injured two-time world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Jos...

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Could Michael Porter Jr. be on the move ahead of the 2026 NBA trade deadline?

Since the unofficial start of the NBA's trade season on Dec. 15, much of the discussion surrounding which players might be on the move has focused on perennial All-Star and All-NBA-caliber performers with marquee names: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis, Trae Young, Ja Morant, et al. But with the Feb. 5 trade deadline now just over a month away, it seems like there's an increasing level of interest around the league in the availability of — and the potential market for — Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr.

Justsix months ago, the Nuggets sent the Nets an unprotected 2032 first-round draft pick to take on the final two years and $79.1 million of the five-year rookie-scale-maximum contract thatPorter signed in the summer of 2021. After an excellent start to his tenure in Brooklyn, though — one that has seen him play his way intopotential All-Star consideration— Porter may well have gone from distressed asset into in-demand target.

Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reports that the Nets have shown a willingness to"listen to pitches"on their veteran players, including Porter, but they haven't been"actively shopping"the 27-year-old swingman. It's entirely possible that, asESPN's Shams Charaniaand others have reported, the Nets eschew a big move in favor of just continuing to serve as a cap-space-renting waystation for other teams looking to get off money and willing to pay with draft picks to do so.

If and when conversations begin to perk up over the next few weeks, though,Fischer highlighted several teams to keep an eye onin the potential running for Porter's services: the Milwaukee Bucks, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors and Chicago Bulls. All four prospective suitors make at least some sense.

[Get more Nets news: Brooklyn team feed]

According to multiple reports, despite a dismal 14-20 start that currently has them outside the East's play-in spots, the Bucks' braintrust continues to signal an intent to try to add talent at the deadline rather than detonating their build through any much-rumored-but-never-actually-consummated blockbuster that sends Antetokounmpo away from Milwaukee. While the Pistons sit atop the Eastern standings, they're a middling 10-7 since their scorching 15-2 start, ranking 25th or worse in theshare of their shots that come from 3-point range,team 3-point accuracyandhalf-court scoring efficiencyin that span, according to Cleaning the Glass.

The Warriors, similarly, have struggled mightily to find a consistent secondary source of offense beyond the seemingly ageless Stephen Curry. And while attempting to discern the motivations behind the machinations in Chicago has long been a mug's game,Fischer notes that the Bulls and Nuggets had "serious discussions"about a swap that would've landed Porter in the Windy City before pivoting and shipping Zach LaVine to Sacramento; it's at least possible a fresh round of discussions could be struck up with Brooklyn brass, if Chicago's decision-makers are still fond of Porter's talent.

And judging by what he's put on film this season, they — and plenty of other front offices around the league — should be.

Porter's averaging a career-high 25.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, shooting 58% on 2-pointers, 41% from 3-point land on more than nine attempts per game, and 81.2% from the free-throw line. There are only 14 NBA players this season averaging at least 25 points per game on .600 true shooting, according toStathead— a list that includes five MVPs (Curry, Nikola Jokić, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kevin Durant, James Harden), three multi-time All-NBA selections (Luka Dončić, Anthony Edwards, Donovan Mitchell) and two former All-Stars (Lauri Markkanen, Tyrese Maxey). Porter is on that list.

That'sthe kind of company Porter's been keeping offensively this season — the cream of the crop of high-volume, high-efficiency point producers. He has also more than doubled his previous career-best assist rate, dishing the helper on nearly 20% of his teammates' baskets during his floor time, and is clearing the defensive boards more consistently than he has since his rookie season. And while he's not a top-flight defender on an individual basis, Porterhasshown a capacity to play his part in a defense playing at a top-flight level. Sinceshifting to supersized long-ball lineupsfeaturing Porter at small forward alongside the 6-foot-11 Nic Claxton and 6-10 Noah Clowney up front with 6-8 rookie Egor Dёmin and 6-6 vet Terance Mann in the backcourt, with plenty of size coming off the bench, Brooklyn ownsthe NBA's No. 3 defense since the start of December— all with Porterleading the team in minutes.

Add it all up, and by a handful of metrics —estimated plus-minus,value over replacement player,box plus-minusandplayer efficiency rating, among others — Porter has performed like a top-20-to-30 player in the NBA this season. A 6-10 sharpshooter who can contribute in a smaller role, can scale up his usage without a drop in efficiency, can cook with the ball in his handsandopen up both your playbook and the rest of the floor for his teammateswith his off-ball activity and gravitywould seem to have a lot of value around the league if he actually hits the market. Whether the fact that Porter's under contract for$40.8 million next seasonmakes him more attractive (not a rental!) or less attractive (big chunk of money on the books for a guy with persistent back problems and adrop-footissue!) likely lies in the eye of the would-be suitor.

The question the Nets have to answer between now and Feb. 5: Is this as good (and as healthy) as Porter's likely to be, making it the ideal time to sell high and try to getmoredraft capital and/or young talent for him in the perpetual game of asset arbitrage that rebuilding teams must play? Or is this really who Porter is, and what he can consistently be in Jordi Fernández's system — and, thus, maybe an ideal play-finishing building block for the upwardly mobile team that Sean Marks and Co. are trying to build with all those big, young playmakers?

The answer will likely depend on a number of factors: how Porter plays over the next month; how many teams think of themselves as just one moderately sized swing from playing more meaningful basketball come springtime; how motivated Brooklyn's front office is to do whatever it can to improve the chances of landing as high in the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery, given the fact that the Netsdocontrol their own first-round pick this summer, anddon'tcontrol it in 2027. (Though, asBrian Lewis of the New York Post notes, there could be other paths to dropping in the standings that don't include re-routing MPJ before February.)

Ultimately, though, it likely depends primarily on just how hefty a price other teams signal they'd be willing to pay for Porter.Fischer reports that"re-tradable salary and a future first-round pick … might not be enough" to pry him away mid-season, given the possibility that the Nets might have their sights set on making bigger, more aggressive additions to their roster come the summer — moves that might require a significant salary like Porter's as a financial make-weight. If someone ponies up a Mikal Bridges/Desmond Bane-style package of several legit first-round picks, then Porter will likely finish the season in a different uniform.

If not? Well, continuing to employ a top-25-to-35 player who fits what you want to do, and whoalreadynetted you an unprotected future first, doesn't seem like too bad a deal — even if it means one fewer potential deal for NBA observers to obsess over.

byAdministrator

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January 02, 2026

Could Michael Porter Jr. be on the move ahead of the 2026 NBA trade deadline?

Since the unofficial start of the NBA's trade season on Dec. 15, much of the discussion surrounding which players mi...

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Steelers LB TJ Watt calls dry needling mishap a 'fluke' and hopes to play against Baltimore

PITTSBURGH (AP) —T.J. Wattis ready to take a break from dry needling and get back to work on the football field.

The Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker is hopeful to play on Sunday night when the Baltimore Ravens visit with the AFC North title on the line. The perennial Pro Bowler has missed each of Pittsburgh's past three games following a dry needling treatment mishap that led to surgery torepair a partially collapsed lung.

Watt called the accident, which was administered by a member of the club's athletic/medical staff, a "fluke." The 31-year-old,like many NFL players, has used the treatment — in which needles are inserted under the skin to target trigger points such as knotted or tender areas in muscles — for some time.

While Watt didn't rule out turning to it down the road, he added with a grin that it won't be a part of his recovery regimen in the short term.

Watt experienced discomfort after having treatment at the facility on Dec. 10. He went to the hospital, where the 2021 AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year was told he needed surgery to fix his lung.

"Obviously very scary," Watt said. "Just a significant amount of pain at the same time you're going to work, and then all of a sudden you need surgery. It sucks. Just a lot of unknown."

Watt sat out three critical games while recovering. The Steelers went 2-1 during that stretch — doubling the win total the club had without Watt in the lineup during the first eight seasons of his career — and can win the division for the first time since 2020 by beating the Ravens on Sunday night.

Watt called the rehab process "unique" but felt really good after practice on Friday at Acrisure Stadium.

"I have no limitations," Watt said. "I tried to simulate as much as I could with shoulder pads and stuff like that. But you can only simulate so much. So I feel really good right now. Hopefully that's the case on Sunday as well."

Watt declined to get into specifics about how he was affected physically, instead focusing on what he can do to help Pittsburgh get into the playoffs. The Steelers have reached the postseason five times during Watt's career, but have yet to advance.

"Everyone knows the magnitude of this game," Watt said. "It's just a matter of going out and getting it done. That's kind of the key. Everybody knows how important these games are. Everybody knows this is what you train all offseason, your whole career for games like this."

Watt, who receives a significant amount of attention from opposing linemen, tight end and running backs, has just seven sacks this season, his lowest total in a year in which he's played at least 13 games since his rookie year in 2017.

Longtime teammate Cam Heyward said the Steelers need Watt to do "T.J. Watt" things against the Ravens. Watt has 17 of his 115 sacks against Pittsburgh's longtime rival.

While Watt is well aware of the one major hole on his resume, he's also simply happy that he may have a chance to make an impact instead of watching from afar or on the sideline as he's been forced to do while he recovers.

"I'm glad to have the doctors that we had, the surgeon that I had," Watt said. "(And) to be able to be here playing football games this weekend."

AP NFL:https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

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January 02, 2026

Steelers LB TJ Watt calls dry needling mishap a 'fluke' and hopes to play against Baltimore

PITTSBURGH (AP) —T.J. Wattis ready to take a break from dry needling and get back to work on the football field. ...

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