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Once again, clear evidence shows the dominance of Eagles star WR A.J. Brown

Once again, clear evidence shows the dominance of Eagles star WR A.J. Brown

USA Today12 hours ago

We may never hear another speech like the masterpiece Jason Kelce offered at the Philadelphia Eagles' first Super Bowl victory parade. There were simply too many iconic moments: the beratement of Mike Lombardi, the "hungry dogs run faster" line, the off-key but beautiful song we heard at the end.
Come to think of it, the earlier statement is suddenly incorrect. We will NEVER hear another victory speech like Jason Kelce's. A.J. Brown has his moment though. Few compare to his mic-drop moment this past February.
"They said I was a diva. They said all I cared about was stats. If you're going to get all of those things wrong about me, it's one thing you can get right. I'm a (expletive) champion!"
Well, he isn't lying... A.J. is a champion, and as good as he was with the Tennessee Titans, he has become even better in Philly. Let's talk about those stats A.J. is mentioning.
A.J. Brown, since joining the Philadelphia Eagles, has become the NFL's premier unstoppable force.
A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith enter their fourth season as teammates. They are on the verge of being the best duo this organization has ever seen. They are currently Pro Football Focus's choice as the best one-two punch in the game.
No disrespect is intended to great tandems like DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin or Harold Jackson and Ben Hawkins. Harold Carmichael and Charlie Smith... Fred Barnett and Calvin Williams... All were great. A.J. and DeVonta have the potential to exceed all of them.
Let's focus on A.J. for a second. They say 'people lie, but numbers don't'. If that's true, how can we argue against Brown now being the best of his era?
Per Pro Football Focus, he's the best receiver in the game, and their recent ranking of the NFL's top wide receivers against man and zone coverage places him second vs. the former. Two-tenths of a point would have slid him ahead of Mike Evans for the top spot.
Check out PFF's explanation of A.J.'s brilliance and Lauren Gray's explanation of what makes him so good against man coverage.
"Brown ranked fifth in PFF receiving grade against man coverage in 2023 (90.4) and recorded a league-best 510 receiving yards... He led the league in that mark again in 2024, catching 35 single-target passes for 538 yards and six touchdowns (tied third most). Brown also paced the NFL with 11 missed tackles forced on man-coverage catches while finishing in the top three in first downs gained (26), yards after the catch (189) and yards per route run (3.99). He ranked fifth in passer rating when targeted against man coverage (142.4)."
A.J.'s previous three seasons in the City of Brotherly Love have resulted in two of his three career Pro Bowl appearances and three consecutive Second-Team All-Pro nods. He owns team records for most receiving yards in a player's debut and single-season receiving yards.
He and DeVonta Smith are the first tandem in franchise history to eclipse 1,000 yards receiving in the same season. He has caught a TD pass in BOTH of his Super Bowl appearances, and again, he is an (expletive) champion.
Need we say more? If Brown stays on this path, he'll have a Pro Football Hall of Fame argument. Based on what we have seen so far, barring any injury, there is no reason to believe he won't.

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