It was a year of hope, heartbreak, the indescribable, and the unbelievable.
The past 12 months in Philadelphia sports may have brought on some of its wildest moments yet, and now that 2023 is nearing its end, we wanted to look back on some of those moments – the year's 10 best plays in particular.
There were a lot of worthy nominees to choose from. Inevitably, we probably left one of your favorites out, so feel free to sound off about them in the comments or on social media.
But in the end, we feel these were the 10 plays that best paint the picture of the year that was in Philly sports.
Without further ado...
10. Couturier puts away the Pens
On a play that couldn't have been drawn up more perfectly, Sean Couturier won back a crucial defensive zone faceoff against Pittsburgh in overtime and Travis Sanheim picked the puck up to wrap it around the boards to a Travis Konecny already streaking through the neutral zone.
Konecny carried the puck in on the rush, Couturier hustled to meet him down there on the 2-on-1, then buried the one-time pass to put away Sidney Crosby and the rival Penguins.
It was the sixth goal of the season for Couturier, who looked like his old self again after nearly two years away from back issues, the completion of a home-and-home sweep of a bitter rival, and the 13th win on the year for a rebuilding Flyers team that was suddenly holding up within the early playoff picture.
9. Maxey to 50
The Sixers' success post-James Harden was heavily reliant on Tyrese Maxey taking another step as a scorer, and on November 12 against the Indiana Pacers, the 23-year-old guard showed that he's taking that leap, putting up career-high 50 points in a 137-126 win.
The moment to top it all off: A late three-pointer off the dribble from way, way out. No chance was he missing.
Maxey has been producing at a career-best rate of 25.8 points per game so far this season, and has had the Sixers outright dominant when he and reigning MVP Joel Embiid are both on the court while still being a lot to deal with when it's just him running the floor.
He has a strong All-Star case building and has been a big reason why fans are believing in the Sixers again.
8. Harden ices Game 4
It all feels so far in the rearview now, but James Harden put in two monster performances against the Celtics in the second round of last season's playoffs.
The first was the dominant 45-point showing without Embiid to take Game 1. Then came the 42-point performance in Game 4, marked by the clutch three for the lead with only seconds remaining in overtime – and at a point when it was well known that Harden and "clutch" were far from synonymous.
The Sixers held on, the series was tied, and coming back for Game 5, the big three of Harden, Embiid, and Maxey pushed Philly to a 3-2 series lead.
The Sixers were on the brink of finally breaking down that second-round playoff wall that had stood in their way for years.
This was it. The Sixers, at long last, were going to reach the Conference Finals. Things were finally going to be different.
Until they weren't.
7. Always Open on the big stage
Tied with the Chiefs 7-7 early into Super Bowl LVII, Jalen Hurts dropped back into a clean pocket to start the second quarter, and with all kinds of time, launched the ball to the corner of the end zone looking for A.J. Brown.
Tracking the ball all the way with Kansas City cornerback Trent McDuffie on him in coverage, Brown was able to get the better angle over his defender and stretched out for the pass to come down with it.
Touchdown Eagles, a 14-7 lead after the extra point, and a huge 45-yard play to really get Philadelphia going on the biggest stage of them all.
6. DeVonta's one-hander
You could take your pick of plays from the Eagles' NFC Championship thrashing of the 49ers as the true standout, but DeVonta Smith's one-handed grab set the tone from the jump along with the Birds' opening score.
Any other receiver and that ball is probably out of reach, but Smith and A.J. Brown had been unreal all season. If the pass was anywhere remotely close, odds were they were coming down with it.
Now, there is the debate of whether the ball popped loose and therefore fell incomplete as Smith hit the ground, but I think credit is due there from the fact that Smith to call the offense in quick to get the playoff before San Francisco could even decide if they wanted to challenge.
Athletic play, high football IQ, and a momentum setter all wrapped into one, sending the Eagles on their way to the Super Bowl.
5. Harper's inside the parker
On August 21 against the Giants, Bryce Harper launched one to that notorious center-field corner at Citizens Bank Park. The ball took the awkward bounce off the State Farm sign, flying past center fielder Wade Meckler, who could nothing else but give chase.
And for Harper, it was off to the races. He rounded third and slid home way ahead of the throw, popping back up to his feet with a shrug and a sly smirk.
Yeah, he just did that. 5-2, Phils on the way to a 10-4 win in the march back to October. And for Harper, a step closer to career home run No. 300, a milestone he would reach just over a week later.
4. Castellanos says bye bye, Braves
Coming back to Philly for Games 3 and 4 of the NLDS, Nick Castellanos absolutely punished the Braves.
He tagged them twice in Game 3 on the way to a massive 10-2 win for the 2-1 series lead, then in Game 4, with Spencer Strider on the mound, hit a solo shot in the fourth to get the Phillies on the board.
In the sixth, with the Phillies holding on to a slim one-run lead but with Strider's pitch count climbing...
Citizens Bank Park erupted. Castellanos, with the hot hand, had his fourth home run in two straight, pivotal postseason games. And Strider, his night was done.
Bye bye, Strider.
And soon enough, bye bye, Braves.
3. Rojas saves the series
Though not without cause for everyone in the Delaware Valley to hold their breath first.
Immediately after in the seventh, José Alvarado got the first two outs but then walked the next two. Craig Kimbrel was brought in to face Travis d'Arnaud, but walked him too to load the bases, bringing Ronald Acuña Jr. to the plate for a potentially series-altering at-bat.
He launched a 96 mph heater inside to left-center. The entire ballpark went silent. Johan Rojas, who was called up midseason from Double-A to man center field, ran after the fly ball as it carried for what felt like forever. He lept off the grass and stretched out his glove, crashing into the wall on the landing but only after coming down with the ball to the elated roar of nearly 46,000.
Rojas caught it. Acuña was out. The Phillies were out of the jam still up 3-1 and with only six more outs separating them from another trip back to the NLCS.
They got them, and another celebration was on.
2. Hurts barrels through
The Chiefs took an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LVII, but on the ensuing drive that perfectly encapsulated the identity of the 2022 team, the Eagles drove right back down and scored with a deep pass from Jalen Hurts to a wide-open DeVonta Smith, which set up the signature "tush push" for the touchdown after the ball was spotted at the Kansas City two-yard line.
The Eagles still needed two to tie it at 35 late though.
Lined up in the in the gun, Hurts took the ball and rolled left on a designed run, following the blocks, then somehow barreling through a mass of Chiefs defenders to break the plane.
Tie game. The Birds were still in it.
It all fell short in the end, but toe-to-toe against the NFL's very best, the Eagles stayed with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs and gave them all they could handle – with belief that they were going to make it back. They had the core to do it, and they were on a mission to now.
"The beautiful part about it is, everyone experiences different pains," Hurts said in the bitter quiet of the losing end postgame. "Everyone experiences different agonies of life, but you decide if you want to learn from it. You decide if you want to use that to be a teachable moment.
"I know what I'll do."
1. Atta boy, Harper!
Game 2 of the NLDS down in Atlanta ended with a Bryce Harper baserunning misread and a Phillies defeat. The best-of-five series was tied 1-1 heading back to South Philly, and the Braves had momentum.
Feeling themselves, shortstop Orlando Arcia went around yelling "Ha-ha, atta-boy, Harper!" in the Atlanta clubhouse postgame with media in the room.
Word spread quick, and it definitely reached Harper and the Phils.
Game 3 at Citizens Bank Park was a massacre. The Phillies crushed the Braves, 10-2, hitting a franchise record six home runs in a single postseason game to take a 2-1 series lead.
Harper launched two of those himself, and with each turn around second base, stared Arcia straight down on the way to third.
Everyone in the ballpark and watching at home knew exactly what it was about.
"He wasn't supposed to hear," Arcia tried to plead through a translator afterward. "We were talking in the clubhouse."
But it didn't matter, everyone in baseball did, and Arcia and the Braves went on to pay dearly for it.
It was Philly Sports' ultimate example of a motto where the first half of which can't be published here.
The second half though, that can.
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