By Matt Szczypiorski, Sports Talk Philly Contributing Writer

Where oh where do I start.

The Eagles (0-1) will play their home opener on Sunday afternoon against the Los Angeles Rams (1-0). The two teams are coming into this one off of vastly different outcomes in week one.

The Rams defeated the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football to open up their crown jewel of a stadium and looked pretty solid all the way around.

The Eagles, meanwhile, blew a 17-point lead to a team that doesn’t even have a real name and had scandal after scandal all offseason.

Like I said, vastly different outcomes. The good news is that was only one game, and the Eagles can make up for it. On a much more pessimistic viewpoint, the Eagles have already been ravaged by the ever-present injury bug.

Just how bad are the Eagles injuries relative to the rest of the NFL? Very bad.

The Eagles lead the NFL with the most players on IR and listed as out in week 1, with 13

Sea was tied with 13. SF has 11. But they are missing 0 and 2 starters respectively. The Eagles are missing 7 pic.twitter.com/NTVaL4b3tO

— Patrick (@EaglesPMC) September 14, 2020

With that being said, it appears as though many Eagles will be making their way back to the game field for Sunday’s game. Derek Barnett, Miles Sanders, and Lane Johnson are all expected to play this weekend after missing last week’s contest. Furthermore, Jason Peters and Brandon Graham are also expected to play after suffering injuries on Sunday. Thank the heavens.

With those guys now in the lineup, does that make me more confident for Sunday? Yes, but that really isn’t saying much, considering where my confidence levels were at around 4 p.m. last Sunday.

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The Stanley Cup Final is set. Two teams remain in the Edmonton bubble with a chance to capture the Stanley Cup.

The Tampa Bay Lightning advanced to the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday night with a 2-1 win in overtime over the New York Islanders in Game 6, claiming the series, 4-2.

More on the Lightning’s Game 6 win, a look at the Stanley Cup Final schedule and news of an interesting trade from this week in our look around the NHL.

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The Flyers offseason is underway and GM Chuck Fletcher wasted little time bringing back one of the team’s rising depth players.

Nicolas Aube-Kubel has re-signed with the Flyers on a two-year deal worth $1.075 million annually, the team announced on Thursday.

By Kevin McCormick, Sports Talk Philly Editor

The accolades continue to rack up for Ben Simmons. After being named to an All-Defensive team a few weeks ago the two-time All-Star has received more league-wide recognition.

Earlier today the NBA announced its All-NBA team. Simmons found himself on the All-NBA third team with Jimmy Butler, Jayson Tatum, Rudy Gobert, and Russell Westbrook. He received nine second-team votes and 34 third-team votes.

In just his third season Simmons averaged 16.4 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 8.0 APG, and a league-leading 2.1 SPG. Simmons also had the fifth most triple-doubles this season with six. He continues to show he is one of the league's brightest young talents, and it looks like the league is finally giving him his due.

At just 24 years of age Simmons has built up quite the resume. He is won Rookie of the Year, is a multi-time All-Star, received All-Defensive honors, and now All-NBA recognition. It's no secret that the future is bright for Ben Simmons.

Joel Embiid received some recognition, but not enough to find himself on an All-NBA team. The All-Star big man got three first-team votes, 14 second-team votes, and 22 third-team votes. As arguably the best center in the league, there is a real case that Embiid was snubbed.

This nod was well deserved for Simmons. There are very few players who impact a game on a nightly basis the way he does. From his defense to his playmaking, Simmons is a special talent. This will likely be the first of many All-NBA selections as Simmons gets ready to enter the prime of his career.

The Phillies have been hobbled by a number of injuries.  Most recently, starter Jake Arrieta hit the 10-day injured list.  But in the outfield the Phillies lost Jay Bruce and only recently got Roman Quinn back, and then losing Kyle Garlick to an oblique injury on Tuesday night.  So could Mickey Moniak be the next man up?

Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports that Moniak is joining the Phillies:

Lots of buzz about Mickey Moniak being called up by Phillies. Hearing it’s true. Outfielder Kyle Garlick was injured last night.

— Jim Salisbury (@JSalisburyNBCS) September 16, 2020

What makes this interesting is that Bruce could be nearing a return.

According to Meghan Montemurro of The Athletic, a roster move will not happen today:

No roster moves yet for the Phillies. Garlick (oblique) and Arrieta (hamstring) awaiting test results. Bruce (quad) will be a couple more day on IL.

— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) September 16, 2020

So what might the other roster move be if Bruce and Moniak both head to Philadelphia? Could Arrieta hit the injured list and the Phillies carry an extra position player for a few days before they need someone to make the start?  Is J.T. Realmuto hitting the injured list after all?   There will probably be another shoe to drop if both Bruce and Moniak appears.

The Phillies have Adam Haseley and Scott Kingery as reserve outfielders at the moment.  Kingery likely will be playing infield much more without first baseman Rhys Hoskins, and Bruce could be spending his time at first base and not the outfield as well.

Should Bruce not be activated yet, Moniak-for-Garlick could be the transaction.  But perhaps both are headed to Philadelphia today to face Jacob deGrom and the New York Mets.

Moniak batted .256 with 11 home runs for Double-A Reading in 2019.  He was added to the alternate site at the end of August.