The Linc - A.J. Brown dominates in his revenge game

Dec 5, 2022 - 2:50 PM

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Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links ...

2022 NFL season, Week 13: What We Learned from Sunday’s games - NFL.com
A.J. Brown gets his revenge game against former Titans teammates. Draft Day didn’t appear to be a pleasant experience for Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, who could be seen shaking his head on camera in the team’s war room mere moments after the Brown trade to Philadelphia was made official. Vrabel likely felt similarly on Sunday, watching his former star wideout toast his secondary a few times. Brown and Titans general manager Jon Robinson exchanged pleasantries before the game, but the now-Eagles’ star — who has had some fumble issues lately — turned vengeful in grabbing eight catches (on 10 targets) for 119 yards and two touchdowns. Brown was as wide open as you’ll see on his first TD after the Titans defensive back fell down, coming one play after what appeared to be a Brown score was taken off the board because he stepped out of bounds. The second score came on a pump and go, with great coverage from Titans cornerback Trey Avery, but Brown just vacuumed up the ball and found himself on the sideline early in what would be a laugher by game’s end.

Eagles vs. Titans: 22 winners, 3 losers, 2 IDKs - BGN
A.J. Brown: 10 targets, eight receptions, 119 yards (14.9 average), two touchdowns. Brown undoubtedly enjoyed going off against his former team. He admitted as much during his postgame presser: “This one meant a lot to me. Early on, I had mixed emotions about the trade and everything, and I’d be lying to you to say I didn’t circle this game.” Brown was dominant. And his stats don’t even reflect the 24-yard pass interference penalty he drew that set up Hurts’ rushing touchdown two plays later. The only two targets Brown didn’t catch: 1) the impressive touchdown grab down the right sideline that got called back because he barely stepped out of bounds before establishing possession and 2) an off-target throw on the Eagles’ final drive of the first half that wasn’t really going anywhere with limited time left anyway. This outing was Brown’s first real kickass game since he torched the Pittsburgh Steelers. That was also the Eagles’ last dominant win. Not just a coincidence.

BGN Instant Reaction Show: Eagles-Titans Week 13 - BGN Radio
Shane Haff, Jess Taylor, Jonny Page and Raichele Privette discuss all of the good (and the penalties) from the Eagles almost perfect win against the Titans. Jalen Hurts was sensational, A.J. Brown got his revenge game, Unbelievable pass rushing.

What Week 13 performance means for Jalen Hurts’ MVP odds - DraftKings Nation
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts entered the week with his odds to win NFL MVP set at +350 at DraftKings Sportsbook. The Eagles took on the Tennessee Titans in Week 13 and didn’t face many problems, emerging with a 35-10 victory to move to 11-1. Following the win, Hurts’ odds moved to +175.

Week 13: Brock Purdy Gets the Save and the Starting Job; Burrow Still Owns Mahomes and the Chiefs - FMIA
A.J. Brown, wide receiver, Philadelphia. This was the game Brown had circled on his mental calendar—the Titans coming to Philadelphia seven months after the Titans traded Brown to Philadelphia—and the drama did not disappoint. Brown’s 40-yard TD pass from good friend Jalen Hurts in the second quarter put the Eagles ahead for good, 14-7, and Brown’s well-covered 29-yard TD catch in third quarter gave the Eagles all the insurance they’d need. For the game, Brown caught eight balls for 119 yards and those two scores as the Eagles routed the AFC South leaders.

Handing out 10 awards from the Eagles-Titans game - PhillyVoice
Brown is big, and physical, and fast, and all the obvious things that are plain to see, but there are also a lot of subtle things about his game that make him great. All throughout training camp, Brown displayed the ability to not show his hands until the last possible moment so as not to tip off the defensive back that the ball was arriving. The above catch was a classic example of that, and he was able to make the play with a Titan draped all over him.

Roob’s Obs: More Hurts magic, Brown comes up huge, and more - NBCSP
4. And how good were Brown and Smith? They became the first pair of Eagles wide receivers to surpass 100 yards in the same game since DeSean Jackson and Riley Cooper in Oakland in 2013 in the Nick Foles seven-touchdown game. Both had long touchdowns, both made difficult catches, both came up huge all afternoon. Obviously, this game meant a lot to Brown, but he didn’t let it become a distraction and he picked up his first 100-yard game since Pittsburgh. It’s been a tough stretch for Brown — he averaged 47 yards the last four games with that bobble-turned-INT vs. Washington and two fumbles — but he’s an elite player and we all saw that Sunday. And for Smith, his first 100-yard game since Week 3 at Washington, and now they’re both back on pace for 1,000 yards. Hurts is so lucky to have these guys. Brown is 25. Hurts is 24. Smith is 24. The NFL better get used to these guys making plays all over the place.

Eagles Dominate the Titans - Iggles Blitz
This was the best defensive performance since the beginning of the year. Amazingly, they did this without taking the ball away. One of the real keys was good tackling. Eagles DBs have been erratic at times this year. James Bradberry thinks run defense is optional. I knew the defense would play well when he came in aggressively on an early run and made a physical tackle. Marcus Epps and Reed Blankenship were strong, physical tacklers. Last week the Eagles ran for 363 yards and scored 40 points. On Sunday the Eagles only ran for 67 yards. They scored 35 points and played backups for much of the fourth quarter. How? Jalen Hurts led a dynamic passing attack, throwing for 380 yards and 3 TDs. AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith each went for over 100 yards on the day. Why run when you can throw like that?

NFL Week 13 Game Recap: Philadelphia Eagles 35, Tennessee Titans 10 - PFF
Offensive spotlight: All three of Hurts’ passing touchdowns came on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield — two to A.J. Brown and one to DeVonta Smith. Brown joins Davante Adams as the only two players with two deep touchdown receptions in multiple games this season. Tennessee has just three touchdown receptions on throws 20-plus yards downfield as a team this season. With little room to run against a tough Titans run defense, that kind of performance is why Philadelphia traded for Brown.

Judging NFL Week 13 overreactions: Can Bengals be stopped? - ESPN+
As long as Philly holds on to that No. 1 seed the way they did in 2017 even after they lost their starting quarterback in January, they’ll be the clear favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. They hold a one-game lead over Minnesota for that 1-seed at the moment, and they hold the tiebreaker because they beat the Vikings earlier in the year. The Cowboys are lurking, and the Eagles have to play them again in a couple of weeks. But Sunday was a bit of a statement game for the team with the best record in the league. They don’t have much interest in being tripped up on their way to the postseason.

Burrow-to-Chase Returns; 49ers’ Purdy Predicament - Football Outsiders
The Eagles can cross “bad run defense” off their list of worries now that Ndamukong Suh, Jordan Davis (back from injury), and their rotation of about 40 other quality defensive tackles are slowing down Henry/Aaron Jones/Jonathan Taylor types. The Eagles special teams also looked uncharacteristically strong on Sunday, with Britain Covey returning six punts for 105 yards. That leaves the Eagles without any major recurring weaknesses, folks. If you are still skeptical of them, Walkthrough doesn’t know what else to tell you. What’s Next: The Eagles cruise up the New Jersey Turnpike for their first of two meetings with the fit-to-be-tied Giants.

Spadaro: 6 takeaways from a dominating TEAM win over the Titans - PE.com
2. The defense stomped all over the Titans with a vicious pass rush and some outstanding point-of-attack power against Henry and a Tennessee running game that was the bread and butter of the Titans’ offense. All week the Eagles’ defensive players heard how physical the Titans were and about how it would be a challenge for the Eagles to match Tennessee. “That bothers you a little bit,” linebacker Haason Reddick said after he recorded a sack and 4 quarterbacks hits. “We’re physical. We’re 11-1. We’re coming after you. That’s what we wanted to do today. We went after the Titans. We didn’t let them breathe. We swarmed them.”

A.J. Brown and the Eagles torch the Titans, 35-10 - Music City Miracles
The lifeless Titans had nothing going offensively, and the Eagles put this one away early in the second half. A 35-10 lead was all she wrote. A.J. Brown ended with eight catches for 119 yards and two scores. The Titans ended with a combined 39 receiving yards from all of their receivers.

Jerry Jones says Cowboys CB Anthony Brown tore his Achilles - Blogging The Boys
If Brown tore his Achilles as Jerry has said, then he should be done for the year. The Cowboys haven’t released a final medical evaluation on this, so we can’t officially say Brown is done for the year, but if the Achilles diagnosis is correct, that would be the case. The Cowboys have already lost Jourdan Lewis for the year, but his replacement, rookie DaRon Bland, has done a fine job, including picking off two passes in the Colts game. Joseph has had a tough time since the Cowboys selected him in last year’s draft, but he is going to have to grow into the job quickly if the Cowboys defense is going to stay at the elite level.

Giants-Commanders ‘things I think’: Huge missed opportunity for Giants - Big Blue View
On their second possession of overtime, the Giants botched a third-and-3 play at the Commander’s 45-yard line when Saquon Barkley and Richie James appeared to run into each other, leaving Jones to run for no gain on the busted play. Daboll chose to punt and play for another opportunity. The Giants got the ball back, but a 58-yard Graham Gano field goal into the wind was hardly a realistic opportunity. The Giants are left with an empty feeling. And the knowledge that not winning this game could prove costly as they try to reach the NFC playoffs. “We knew we had chances to win the game and if we just executed, we probably had a really good chance to win the game,” Slayton said. “It’s just disappointing when you don’t do what you need to do to close out a game, even though it technically isn’t a loss, you want to win. You play to win. Nobody plays to tie.”

Commanders Wild Card Watch - Week 14 NFC Playoff Projections - Hogs Haven
A week ago, I said that I thought the Commanders had about a 60/40 chance of making the playoffs. Following Sunday’s tie, I’m dropping my personal odds back to 50/50 for making the playoffs, which is where I had them prior to the Texans game. If Washington beats the Giants in Week 15, the result will be a huge upward spike in the odds for postseason play. A loss to the Giants would be less than a stake through the heart, but not much less, since it would leave Washington hoping for a December-January collapse by either the 49ers or Seahawks. Given that Washington and New York just played to a tie on Sunday afternoon, I don’t see how the odds can be anything but even at this point, even assuming that the Eagles inflict another loss on the G-men this Sunday.

NFL mock draft 2023: Updated first round projection ahead of bowl season - SB Nation
Jalen Carter is the first defender off the board. The debate between Jalen Carter and Will Anderson should be a fun one for this draft cycle. Both are massively impactful defensive linemen who change the game in different ways. However, the Bears decide to go with Carter instead of Anderson with the 2nd pick. Matt Eberflus’ defenses in Indianapolis didn’t really take off until trading for DeForest Buckner. Getting an impactful pass rusher on the interior is crucial to his defense. Carter is a big player at 6’3 and 310 pounds, but my goodness is he quick. He’s got heavy hands and such sudden explosiveness that it catches interior defenders off guard. There are some injury issues, but the Bears would love an instant impact guy like him on the team.

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