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It's a great time to be a Philadelphia sports fan
Philadelphia Eagles fans celebrate after defeating the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Rob Schumacher / USA TODAY NETWORK

It's a great time to be a Philadelphia sports fan (except for the Flyers)

The city of Philadelphia is about to be the center of the sports world for the next couple of weeks, and it is absolutely incredible time to be a fan of (most of) the city's sports teams. 

The Phillies are back in the MLB playoffs for the first time in more than a decade, and after sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League wild-card round prepare to play the reigning World Series champion Atlanta Braves in the NLDS starting on Tuesday afternoon. The series will shift to Citizens Bank Park on Friday for the first home playoff game in Philadelphia since Game 5 of the 2011 NLDS series. 

On Sunday night, the Eagles will play host to the Dallas Cowboys in the latest chapter of one of the NFL's fiercest rivalries. 

Any game between the two teams is massive, but this one is especially big given that the Eagles are the NFL's only unbeaten team (5-0), and first place will be on the line vs. the 4-1 Cowboys. 

The Eagles have not started a season with a 6-0 record since the 2004 season (the Eagles went to the Super Bowl that year) and are looking like the class of the NFC so far this season. Jalen Hurts has taken a massive step forward at quarterback, while a huge offseason that saw the team add A.J. Brown and a host of players on defense has made Philadelphia a legitimate Super Bowl contender. 

On the hardwood, the 76ers are still looking like top favorites in the Eastern Conference with a full season of Joel Embiid and James Harden and a roster that might be one of the deepest in the Eastern Conference on paper.

Their regular season tips off on Oct. 18 at the Boston Celtics with their home schedule beginning on Oct. 20 against the Milwaukee Bucks.

If you're counting, that equates to three contenders in three different leagues. 

Oh yes, and the city's MLS team, the Union, clinched first place in the East with a 4-0 victory vs. Toronto over the weekend — make that four contenders.

The only outlier in the city might be the Flyers, the City of Brotherly Love's hockey team. They are entering the year with almost zero expectations and about to become an afterthought over the next few months. They had one of the worst records in the league a year ago and, despite bringing in a big-name coach in John Tortorella enter the season with one of the league's worst rosters on paper. 

Still, with the other four teams humming along like they are, with at least a chance of winning championships, this is as good of a team as any to be a sports fan in Philadelphia.

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