October 15, 2024
Colleen Claggett/for PhillyVoice
A.J. Brown #11 of the Philadelphia Eagles looks on during a NFL football game between the Cleveland Browns and the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on October 13, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Eagles are 3-2 and Philadelphia will assuredly take that given the rash of injuries and drama the team has had, but it has been a bit ugly. Let's take stock of both the good and the not-so-good in my latest Eagles thoughts column...
Jeez, the Eagles missed A.J. Brown big time. After a five-catch, 119-yard, one-touchdown night in Week 1, Brown went on to miss the Birds' next three games, as the team went just 1-2 in that span. Brown returned to the lineup this past Sunday against Cleveland and had a monster performance worthy of Halloween season. Brown put up 116 yards, including this game-sealing deep ball catch for the former Mississippi high school baseball star:
A.J.'s catch was picture perfect 😲📸 pic.twitter.com/1FsVWW0HT8
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 14, 2024
Brown has been targeted 19 times this season. Among receivers who've been targeted at least that much, Brown's 6.35 yards per route run are leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the wide receiver competition in the NFL. The next closest players are Nico Collins (3.61) and Chris Godwin (3.41), per RotoWire.
I typically refer to Brown in my writing as a "top-three" wideout in the NFL, slotting him just behind Tyreek Hill and Justin Jefferson. He's missed time, of course, but when Brown's been on the field, no one's been better in 2024.
The Nick Sirianni-Kellen Moore braintrust and offensive scheme is worrisome, but Brown's presence hides a lot of warts when it comes to the issues that persist for this team.
After a brutal start to Week 6 where he began the game 0-for-5 through the air, Jalen Hurts rebounded, leaned on the return of Brown and DeVonta Smith and played some great football.
Hurts' 10.6 yards per pass attempt against Cleveland was the third-highest rate from any start in his career and the best figure since Week 2 of the 2022 season.
I have immense concerns about the ceiling of this offense as long as the current coaching infrastructure remains in place. Even dating back to the 2023 season, Hurts has not been the player he was during his MVP-caliber 2022 campaign, though he's still been successful. Sunday could've been a step towards rediscovering that star form though. Again, having A.J. Brown out there makes things hell of a lot easier!
The Eagles' defense surrendered just nine points in Sunday's victory over Cleveland and two rookie cornerbacks were integral in that performance. Quinyon Mitchell has looked promising all season as a starting outside cornerback. After dealing with some injury issues, Cooper DeJean has ramped up and made his first start at slot corner in Week 6. Our own Jimmy Kempski had an excellent film review of DeJean's performance and DeJean's mixed usage, both in coverage and as a blitzer, is super encouraging for his future.Â
DeJean was PFF's 16th-ranked coverage cornerback in Week 6. Quinyon Mitchell was 12th this past and is 31st on the year overall. Mitchell has been targeted 25 times in coverage this year and is allowing an opposing quarterback rating of just 76.6, per pro-football-reference. That's not too shabby for a first-round rookie out of Toledo.
A jersey swap was in order for the duo:
Eagles rookie cornerbacks Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell swapped jerseys after the game.
— Olivia Reiner (@ReinerOlivia) October 13, 2024
"We came in together. Same position group. It was our first time starting together. So it was a special moment." pic.twitter.com/mWU0duetaL
It's certainly early, but maybe, just maybe, the Eagles have a redux of the 2002 NFL Draft on their hands when they nabbed both Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown in the same class.
Nick Sirianni downplayed the corners about the Eagles' slow offensive starts in his postgame presser on Sunday, but it's his job to quell the concerns through the media. Still, it's objectively bad to continuously put yourself in inopportune positions.Â
The Eagles are thankful that their defense has gotten off to strong starts, which Sirianni acknowledged on Sunday as well, as the Birds are "only" being outscored 25-0 over the first five games of the year. Zero points with this offense live, Jalen Hurts at quarterback and Saquon Barkley out there? That cannot happen. They are the only team in the NFL that has yet to score a first quarter point in 2024.Â
Nick Sirianni apologized on Monday for his "energy" that was directed at the Lincoln Financial Field crowd as the game drew to a close against the Browns. That's a good step, sure, but the fact that an apology even needs to be given is no bueno. No coach is ever going to win that battle against the fan base in this city and rightfully so.Â
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