PHILLY SPORTS CORNER

EAGLES-

* Analyst Mike Lombardi criticized Eagles coach Doug Pederson in a pod cast this week.

I'm also leery of Pederson, especially his play-calling. He cost the Birds at least two games last season with questionable coaching decisions. But Lombardi, who was once a personnel guy ( working for Philadelphia a tone time) isn't a personnel guy anymore. If he was, why isn't he working for an NFL team now?

To me, his harsh comments- saying that Pederson is unqualified to be a head coach in pro football- smacked of resentment and bitterness. Lombardi has been critical of ex-Eagles coach Andy Reid  and Eagle management overall. Sour grapes?

To me, Pederson needs to prove that he is a good or bad coach. Jeffrey Lurie seems pretty committed to Pederson, so unless the team collapses with a 4-12 season, Pederson is here to stay, at least for a while.

* It's the eve of the season opener vs. Washington. The predictions are mixed and the line remains close to a pick 'em game. My pick is Eagles 34 Redskins 31.  The weather should be great in the nation's capitol Sunday afternoon. I love 1:00 games. I'll check out the Fox pre-game show, watch the game, and then catch the post-game show on Comcast.

it could be a full day of football, as the late game features Seattle at Green Bay, an intriguing , early-season match-up, and a potential preview of the NFC championship game in January. Home field advantage would be key- either playing in freezing and icy Lanbeau Field or playing in noisy, rambunctious Seattle.

I have the Seahawks playing in the championship game, but taking on the New York Giants instead.

The Sunday Night football game is another good one, and effects the Birds. The Giants will be visiting the Dallas Cowboys again for a season opener. New York beat Dallas twice last season. Zeke Elliot will play for the Cowboys; Beckham Jr. is questionable for the G-men.

I'll be rooting for the Giants. I could never cheer for Dallas. Plus the Eagles can take care of New York in the 3rd week of the season, so better for Dallas to get off on a bad note before Elliot serves his six-game suspension.

PHILLIES-

The Phils lost a wild 11-10 game against the Nationals last night. It's an all-Washington weekend for the Eagles and Phillies. It's the second 11-10 game that the Phils came up on the short end of the stick recently. They clubbed three three-run homers last night, hit by Williams, Hoskins and Franco- and they still lost.

The young stars are shining and are giving fans reason for hope down the road. Exciting baseball, finally, is ni Philly. Now the team needs to win some of those 11-10 high-scoring contests.

I can easily see a potential starting line-up of:

1B- Hoskins
2B- Kingery
SS- Crawford
3B- Franco
LF- Williams
CF- Herrera
RF- Altherr
C- Alfaro

Young, power, speed, defense- it's all there. I think Kingery takes over at second base after May 1; Galvis is traded,a s he will be a free agent after the 2018 season, and the organization wants Crawford to play; Franco gets another year. He is only 25. If he fails, the front office will make a serious run for free agent  third baseman Manny Machado  after the season.

Pitching will be the major concern. Stopgaps will fill-in yet another year, as the power arms in the farm system still need a few more years

An interesting off-season looms, as deals involving posibly Hernandez and Herrera will be brewing. Improvement will come from trades, not free agency this time. Let's hope that GM Matt Klentak is up to the task.