December 25, 2025
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
No one was catching Saquon Barkley on Sunday in the snow.
Over the last calendar year, sports in Philly were dominated by two division-winning teams — the Eagles and Phillies. The Eagles championship run also occurred less than 12 months ago, providing memories to last a lifetime in one epic-five week stretch.
Which sports moments will be remembered the most from 2025?
We broke it down, giving at least one highlight to each of the local teams in the city. Because the No. 1 moment — the Super Bowl title in February — was such an obvious number 1, we decided not to put them in any particular order, but if we did, it would be hard not to rank all of the Eagles playoff moments in the top three.
Before we watch the Mummers and start to hope for another parade in February, and for many more Schwar-bombs in 2026, let's take one last look at one of the most important sports years in Philadelphia history:
Cooper DeJean's Super Bowl pick-six
No lead is ever safe against Patrick Mahomes. Well, no feasibly surmountable lead that is. When Cooper DeJean, on his birthday, got his first NFL interception and returned it to the house in the second quarter of Super Bowl LIX, it's the first time most Eagles fans actually let themselves believe the Eagles would win. The three-possession lead seemed big enough. And it was.
Leading at one point, 40-6, before garbage time, the party on Broad Street was massive, and epic, and started before the final buzzer. Jalen Hurts was Super Bowl MVP, the Eagles won their second championship and the party continued with a parade on Valentine's Day.
The highlight real for Eagles fans was packed, with two plays — the DeJean pick-six and the clinching bomb to DeVonta Smith later — as the ones that will really last in Philly fan's minds.
IT'S LOUD IN NOLA! #SBLIX pic.twitter.com/5ai8lrSAtE
— NFL (@NFL) February 10, 2025
Saquon Barkley's 78-yard snowy touchdown run
My personal favorite play from the playoff run, and maybe my favorite Eagles play of all time, came a few weeks earlier. In an epic setting, with snow piling up in South Philly and the Eagles in a dog fight against the Rams — the only team that had a realistic chance of beating Philly in the postseason — NFL offensive player of the year Saquon Barkley was so enthusiastic as he scored this incredible touchdown he almost knocked his own helmet off:
SAQUON BARKLEY 78 YARDS GOOOOODBYE!
— NFL (@NFL) January 19, 2025
📺: #LARvsPHI on NBC
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/88LvtJoEFa
The entire NFC Championship game
A surprising Commanders playoff run put the Eagles in the NFC title game against their NFC East rivals. Seven rushing touchdowns later (three apiece for Barkley and Hurts and one for Will Shipley) and the Eagles were packing for New Orleans. In the game, Philly out-rushed D.C. by 130 yards, forced five takeaways without turning the ball over, and trolled the Commanders with the "tush push."
Apparently, referees can award a touchdown to a team if the other team is being obnoxious:
When LB Frankie Luvu tried to disrupt the @Eagles tush push in the NFC Championship, officials warned the @Commanders that they may invoke the rarely used, but long-standing, @NFL Rule 12.3.2 on "Palpably Unfair Acts."
— NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) January 27, 2025
Learn more bout the rule: https://t.co/cxM5ZPtutG pic.twitter.com/KHS4ilHh1f
Jordan Davis walks off the Eagles
The Eagles are back-to-back NFC East champs for the first time in two decades and they have done it by walking a tight rope in several games during the 2025 regular season. Here's the most memorable of these — as the Eagles went on a kick blocking spree (and would go on to block a kick next week against the Buccaneers as well):
EAGLES BLOCK THE KICK AND JORDAN DAVIS SCORES A TOUCHDOWN BECAUSE WHY NOT pic.twitter.com/XNcYthVUMm
— NFL (@NFL) September 21, 2025
Kyle Schwarber hits 4 homers
The Phillies season was a little strange, in that the regular season was among the best in team history, and the postseason outcome was among the worst.
But before the team's nightmare against the Dodgers in October, Schwarber was padding his stats on a run toward an NL MVP runner-up performance in August. On the 28th of that month, he smashed four home runs and a team record nine RBI.
KYLE SCHWARBER FOUR HOME RUN GAME ARE YOU KIDDING pic.twitter.com/GY7JA2x721
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 29, 2025
Schwarber also owns All-Star Weekend
The Phillies' slugger was also All-Star MVP, mashing the ball in the first ever "swing off" to decide the tied exhibition game.
#AllStarGame Swing-off
— MLB (@MLB) July 16, 2025
AL - 3
NL - 4
Kyle Schwarber GIVES THE NL THE LEAD! pic.twitter.com/NPZJciVTYn
Phillies hit 8 home runs, clinch bye
With honorable mentions to Zack Wheeler's incredible season prior to his injury shutting him down, and Cris Sánchez breaking out as one of the best pitchers in the majors, and Jhoan Duran's epic stadium entrance, the third moment we will have lingering memories of is the eight home run game.
The 11-1 win over the Marlins gave the Phillies a direct path to the NLDS, and it was as emphatic as it gets:
THREE HOMERS FOR EDMUNDO SOSA!
— MLB (@MLB) September 25, 2025
The @Phillies have set a new franchise record with EIGHT homers tonight! pic.twitter.com/01dOX6b660
VJ Edgecomb is the real deal
The entire Edgecomb experience this year — from the Sixers unexpectedly falling into the third overall pick, to his historic NBA debut, to him becoming a near untouchable part of the Sixers' future — has been a joy for basketball fans in the city desperate for something to feel good about.
The end of the 2024-25 season was ugly, but the start to 2025-26 was pretty special, and the Sixers' rookie guard is one of the reasons the team is back on track with a playoff trajectory.
He would have 34 points in his first NBA game as the Sixers bested the Celtics back in October.
30 POINTS FOR VJ EDGECOMBE.
— NBA (@NBA) October 23, 2025
MOST IN AN NBA DEBUT THIS CENTURY. pic.twitter.com/MJqips61l1
Flyers score 3 goals in 26 seconds
The Flyers are in a spectacular spot as the year comes to a close. They are young, playing well, and in one of the Metro Division's three playoff positions as the calendar flips to 2026. And though injuries have been biting the team hard, it seems to have enough depth to be a realistic playoff team come next spring.
The rebuild has progressed into an optimistic place, and the highlight of that was a game back in October that saw the team score three goals in less than 30 seconds.
THE FLYERS SCORE THREE IN 26 SECONDS! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/eJQytbwnn0
— NHL (@NHL) November 23, 2025
Union win Supporter's Shield
Much like fellow regular season beasts the Phillies, the Union won the MLS' Supporters' Shield in October, clinching the most points in the entire league for the second time in team history.
Philadelphia Union celebrate winning the Supporters' Shield 🏆
— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 5, 2025
It's their second in club history.
(via @MLS)pic.twitter.com/YJp32MRsiN
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