The year came and went, and as always with Philly sports, there were some incredible highs, some devastating lows, and then just some outright weird, baffling nonsense. 

This is the appreciation of the best though – the end of a drought, the reach for untouchable milestones, the glimmers of hope, and sights of the athletically impossible. 

You probably know what most of them are – and inevitably, some favorites won't be here, so feel free to sound off down in the comments or on social media. 

Here are the best plays from Philly sports in 2024...

10. Phils win the NL East

The Phillies had already clinched their postseason spot, but they put a hold on the clubhouse celebration for something else. 

Returning home to Citizens Bank Park to face the Cubs in late September, the Phillies were on the brink of clinching their first NL East title in 13 years. 

Aaron Nola, the longest-tenured Phillie and the one who pitched through six stellar innings in Houston to finally break the playoff drought two years ago, did it again here to put another longstanding franchise shortcoming to bed, all while J.T. Realmuto, Nick Castellanos, and Kyle Schwarber did the damage on the scoreboard to hand the ball to Matt Strahm, Jeff Hoffman, and then deadline acquisition Carlos Estévez out of the bullpen with a clear runway. 

The relievers combined for three shutout innings to close the game out, the first white divisional banner Philadelphia had seen in a long, long time went waiving through the cooling air, and finally, the real party was on. 

Of course, there were hopes and ambitions for much, much greater with this club, but as was the trend that lingered from 2023 and on through 2024, they unraveled.

9. Castellanos walks off Game 2

The Phillies were put on their heels just as soon as they opened the NLDS in a fear that many fans were wary of entering the series against a rival and surging New York Mets club.

The Mets had outlasted Zack Wheeler in Game 1 and then laid into the Phils' bullpen, all while the Phillies' own bats failed to take off. 

They needed an answer, but it took a while to find one.

Down 3-0 in the sixth, Bryce Harper took the swing that woke the whole city up, driving a ball into the center-field ivy to suddenly make it a one-run ballgame, then just as quickly a tied one when Nick Castellanos looped one into the left-field seats.

In the eighth, after the Phillies fell back down, Bryson Stott cleared the bases with a triple to send them ahead, but the Mets still had a grip over the Philadelphia bullpen to bring the game into a 6-6 tie in the bottom of the ninth. 

That's when Castellanos, who ended up as the Phillies' most disciplined contact hitter that series, stepped up as the hero. 

The series shifted up to Queens, the Phillies never built any real momentum, and their postseason run, set by World Series or bust expectations, never even got off the runway. 

The Phillies lost the NLDS, 3-1.

8. The Eagles finally win (big) in Dallas

The last time the Eagles won on the road at Dallas was during the Super Bowl run in 2017. 

Seven years flew fast, and so did the landscape of the NFC East. So in a lot of ways, a victory over the Cowboys in AT&T Stadium, could stand as a statement for what the 2024 Eagles were really about. 

And they delivered a blowout. 

The Eagles' defense didn't allow a touchdown and only 146 yards in total offense to Dallas and backup QB Cooper Rush – after they had lost starter Dak Prescott for the season. 

Jalen Hurts shrugged off five sacks to throw for two touchdowns, and rush for two more, and Saquon Barkley, even on what stood as a quiet day by his standards, still powered through Dallas tacklers to make the highlight reel.

By the fourth quarter, the Cowboys' sideline stood dejected, and third-stringer Trey Lance was in the game taking snaps. 

The only smiles in the building were in midnight (or Kelly) green.

The Eagles left with a 34-6 final score, a fifth straight win to improve to 7-2, even footing within the division against a Washington team that got off to a hot start, but moreover, with the message that they were really the ones in the NFC East's driver's seat now.

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7. The mark of a captain

The Flyers were trying to keep up in the playoff race midway through February – a revelation that caught nearly everyone by surprise for what was dubbed a rebuilding team – but on a Saturday night against Seattle, Sean Couturier turned the puck over then flubbed on the chase back after it, which allowed the Kraken to score the tying goal early into the third period. 

Couturier came back to the bench. He got an earful from head coach John Tortorella. He wasn't thrilled about it, but he went back out there. 

The veteran center, who was away for nearly two years from a series of back issues and with tons of doubt over how effective he could still be coming back, won a crucial offensive zone faceoff and then cut to the front of the net to tip in the go-ahead goal. 

The Flyers held on and won, 3-2, Tortorella spoke glowingly of Couturier's drive and professionalism postgame, and behind the scenes, the coach and the organization saw all they needed to see. 

"Oh that was 'F you!' to me, yeah," Tortorella said of Couturier's winning goal from that night. "I'm sure it was. So be it. So be it. That's part of it. That's what I like about him though. He's a crusty old pro. He's a huge part of this.

"I have a tremendous amount of respect for how he's handled this year after taking two years off, but there's no free passes. We need him terribly in games to be consistent."

A few days later, Sean Couturier was named the next captain of the Philadelphia Flyers.

6. The Nico Batum game

Oftentimes it's the stars who carry you, but other times it's the role players who lift you – who save you. 

The Sixers were a disaster through the first half of their play-in game against the Miami Heat, and the worry shifted from hitting the playoff wall again to whether they would even get a chance to crash into it to begin with. 

Then 35-year-old Nico Batum stepped off the bench and struck a spark. He scored 20 points, sank six major threes, and when the Sixers rallied to pull ahead and bring the game down to the wire, he made the saving block on Tyler Herro's long-range attempt to put the ball back in Philadelphia's hands with the seconds ticking down. 

The Sixers moved on to secure a matchup against the rival Knicks in Round 1 of the playoffs, and Batum, though he wasn't in Philly long, etched himself a spot in the city's fabled sports lore...

Then the Sixers hit the wall again.

5. 'Cold-blooded' Michkov

Matvei Michkov arrived in from Russia ahead of schedule, and was quickly showing flashes of becoming the elite player Flyers fans were clinging to hope that he would be. 

But in November against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks, he showed Philadelphia he wasn't just going to be good, he showed that he lives for the moment, that he's going to be a star.

The Flyers were tied 2-2 and headed to overtime against Chicago, and on a power play in the extra frame, they were cycling in the offensive zone with Michkov carrying the puck along the wall.

He tossed it up to Travis Sanheim at the blue line, and once he saw the Chicago skaters' eyes follow the puck, he quietly began drifting down toward the net. 

Couturier set a pick in front, Travis Konecny took a pass in to the far side, then just as quickly slipped the puck across the crease expecting Michkov to be there. 

The rookie was, with all the open net in the world to shoot at from in close, and to a crowd that jumped to its feet before the horn even blared to signal that the Flyers had won. 

Michkov was the hero. He's here, and though the Flyers are still a long ways away from where they want to be, he's going to be one of the main pieces who helps them get there. 

"There's not many moments you're gonna get," Michkov said afterward, via Russian interpreter Slava Kuznetsov. "When you get the moment, you have to be cold-blooded and realize it, finish it."

4. Maxey keeps the Sixers alive in Game 5

The Sixers had looked overwhelmed by the breaking out New York Knicks, who were on the brink of sending them home up three in Game 5 and up 3-1 for the first-round playoff series. 

Philly was about 10 seconds away from yet another date with heartbreak, until Tyrese Maxey sprinted around a Joel Embiid pick down the court, then launched up a three from the Knicks logo at Madison Square Garden. 

It fell. Maxey forced overtime, where he and Embiid then went into overdrive to force a Game 6 back home at the Wells Fargo Center. 

Heartbreak had to wait...one more game...

3. Barkley runs for the record

Saquon Barkley took off running in the open field to the sound of "M-V-P!" chants, but the Eagles weren't home at the Linc. 

They were at SoFi Stadium in L.A. – more than 2,700 miles away from South Philly. 

Yet that hardly seemed to matter. The Eagles contingent that November night out west was huge, and the Birds stormed through the Rams, 37-20, with Barkley taking off for 255 rushing yards (and 302 yards from scrimmage in total) to shatter the franchise's single-game record. 

Everyone in the building knew Barkley was getting the ball and there was nothing the Rams' defense could do about it. 

It was a point and performance that flipped the NFL MVP conversation on its head, at least for a bit, and made it pretty clear that soon enough, Barkley was going to break LeSean McCoy's single-season rushing record of 1,607 yards (he did) and might've even had a legitimate shot at chasing down Eric Dickerson's all-time record of 2,105 yards (though that seems to have tapered off now). 

Nonetheless, Barkley's been an absolute game-changer for the Eagles since he signed here.

2. Embiid for 70

Joel Embiid dropped 70 points on the San Antonio Spurs back in January. He was only the ninth player in NBA history to ever score 70 points or more in a single game – until Dallas' Luka Dončić somehow did it himself a few nights later. 

But January 22, 2024, that was one of the greatest scoring performances professional basketball has ever seen. 

He'll always own that – and the reaction Kevin Durant had to it after the fact. 

1. The backwards hurdle

DeVonta Smith made a one-handed touchdown catch, Barkley even made his own impressive over-the-shoulder grab for the opening score, and Nakobe Dean jumped up to make the game-saving interception against the Jaguars...

Yet that will all forever come second to the freeze-frame, poster-on-the-wall moment of Barkley hopping right over a tackler's head completely backwards. 

It captured the city's heart – if you walked through the Christmas village at City Hall these past few weeks, prints, paintings, and shirts of the hurdle were everywhere; shook the football world to its core from any angle you could see it; made a Kelly green No. 26 jersey the item to have throughout the Delaware Valley; and will have kids playing football out in the yard, or even in Madden, trying to recreate it for years to come. 

It was the moment everyone knew that Saquon Barkley as an Eagle was going to end up as something truly special. 

"Crazy," Smith said after that Eagles win with a huge grin on his face. "I ain't ever seen nothing like it."

"It was THE best play I've ever seen," head coach Nick Sirianni stated outright.

And it'll likely be the first thing everyone imagines when it comes to the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles – hopefully on the way to the Super Bowl by the time it's all said and done.

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