PHOTO BY: SHAWN LANZILLO
BY SHAGGY SHRAGIS
The Hotbirds left week three at the top of the division, but are entering week five in second after Boston went 2-0 on the weekend. Wins over New York at home on Friday, followed by a road victory over DC on Sunday, brings the Glory to 4-0 a third of the way through the season. Philadelphia now enters the most difficult four game stretch of the season — hosting the New York Empire this week, the Carolina Flyers the following week on May 31, then playing their only double-header of the season during week seven, traveling to Montreal on June 6 and then heading to Boston to play the Glory the next day.
Philadelphia ended their eight year losing streak to the Breeze to start the season, and the Phoenix have another opportunity to end an eight year drought this Friday against New York. Philly has lost 14 straight games to the New York Empire — 15 if you count this year’s preseason contest — and has not won a game against the Empire since July 15, 2017. Philadelphia will play at New York later in the season on July 13, nearly eight years to the day since they last beat the Empire. Hopefully the Phoenix will not have to wait two months to get that crucial victory.
Since 2019, the New York Empire have been to four championship games, won three titles and made the playoffs every year. In 2024, New York was knocked out of the playoffs by the Boston Glory on a buzzer beater to Babbitt. Over the same timeframe, Philadelphia has zero playoff victories, making the postseason just once over the six year stretch. In fact, Philly won 24 total games during the six year stretch, whereas New York won 30 games in just 2022 and 2023 combined.
But 2025 is a new year, and these two teams have started the season heading opposite directions. New York is just 2-3, with losses to Oakland, Boston and Montreal. Their two wins include a two point victory at home over the aforementioned Royal, and a 20 point blowout against the Las Vegas Bighorns, the worst team in the league. The Empire particularly missed the veteran presences of Jack Williams and Antoine Davis this weekend, with both suffering from nagging injuries that kept them sidelined during their 0-2 weekend.
The Empire are a top 5 team by most statistical categories, however much of that is buoyed by a week one win over the Vegas Bighorns, the worst team in the league. For example, the Empire’s break percentage — the number of times New York pulls and scores a break — is 31%, eighth best in the league. However, it falls to just 21% in all games played against non-Vegas teams, which would be one of the worst scoring defenses in the league. This is good news for a Philadelphia team that ranks fifth best in the league in opponent break percentage.
Another positive note for Philly is how different the offense looks in week five compared to the preseason loss to the Empire. Despite still being college students, Sam and Adam Grossberg have transformed the once languid Phoenix offense into a dynamic machine. Similarly, the influx of youth seems to have revitalized Sean Mott, who is having one of the best seasons of his career, despite shifting his role to a backfield distributor. The entirely new coaching staff has also cleaned up much of the fluff surrounding previous teams. The Phoenix are completing nearly 50 fewer passes per game than they were in 2025, despite scoring much more effectively.
The Philly defense is also souped up, which seems to have returned to its 2023 form through the first three games. The Hotbirds have six players averaging more than a block per game, including Nate Little, who is currently tied for fifth most blocks in the UFA despite playing fewer games than half the league. New York should look better if Jack Williams can heal up, but Williams has had a shaky start to the season, with the worst game of his career occurring when the Empire played Oakland. Paul Owens — with five blocks in three games — has been as effective as any player in the league at slowing down a peak Jack Williams, and gives the Phoenix a favorable look should the all UFA handler return.
Philly is, for the first time since 2013, favored against a once unbeatable New York squad. But Philadelphia’s wins came against a short staffed Breeze team in the wind, and a Toronto Rush squad that has not been able to beat the Phoenix since Mark Lloyd first retired. New York will enter Friday’s contest desperate to regain playoff footing against a still largely unproven Philly team. One wrinkle the Empire have already begun to turn to is drastically increasing the playing time for their star players. John Randolph, Everest Shapiro and Ben Jagt played 34, 33 and 33 points respectively in their one point loss to Montreal. New York has bragged about their depth for years, but with several key departures, they are struggling to find their footing from the back end of the roster. Look for New York to come out swinging early, and to throw everything they have and the Phoenix from the first pull this Friday May 23 at 7p.m., get your tickets here.
