Getty Stephon Gilmore of the Cowboys
It would be a stretch to say that Cowboys cornerback Stephon Gilmore shut down Eagles star A.J. Brown all together in the 33-13 Dallas thumping of Philadelphia on Sunday night. Brown did wind up with nine catches and 94 yards. But six of those catches came on short second-half passes after the game was mostly decided.
And most importantly, one of Brown’s catches came on a play that ended with a critical Brown fumble to open the second half. When it matter, then, Brown was kept mostly contained by the watchful coverage of Gilmore, a five-time Pro Bowl corner who came to Dallas by trade in the offseason.
Perhaps the least sensible did Brown did on the day, more than the fumble, was talk trash to a player of Gilmore’s caliber. As part of that lip-wagging, apparently, Brown made a major error: He called 33-year-old Stephon Gilmore, “old”
Not a good idea.
“I just didn’t like how he called me old at the beginning of the game,” Gilmore said at his locker after the game. “So it lit a fire in me a little bit. I was mad. The only thing I could do was show him I was still here, and I think I did that today.”
Stephon Gilmore’s Strip of A.J. Brown Was Critical
The big Stephon Gilmore play came on the first Eagles drive of the second half, when Philadelphia was down 24-6 on the road and desperate to get back into the game with a score. Certainly, whittling the tally down to 24-13 (or even 14) would have made the Eagles’ second-half task much easier. Quarterback Jalen Hurts took the Eagles 24 yards to the 49-yard line of Dallas in just four plays.
Then he flipped a pass over the middle to Brown for seven yards, into Cowboys territory. But there was Stephon Gilmore, reaching in to strip Brown of the ball as he made the tackle. Gilmore said that defensive coordinator Dan Quinn had been telling the defense that the Eagles would be susceptible to strips.
Stephon Gilmore and A.J. Brown were jawing at each other for most of the game tonight.
When asked about it, Gilmore said that Brown called him old on the first possession, and the rest was history.
“It lit a fire in me a little bit.”
“Coach Quinn, he told us this week, the ball is gonna be alive,” Gilmore said. “We were able to get those turnovers to turn the game around and we just gotta keep doing that each week.”
‘That’s Why I wanted to Come’ to the Cowboys
As for his performance against Brown, which included a career-high nine tackles, Stephon Gilmore said he relishes a matchup against the league’s best. Brown certainly qualifies—he is No. 2 in the NFL in receiving yardage, at 1,258 yards.
“I’ve been doing this my whole career, covering the best guy, following him,” Gilmore said. “Like I said before, it’s exciting because you know the ball is coming your way. I get up for those types of moments.
“I told him I wanted him. Because you know the ball is gonna go to him. You can make plays so, like I said before, I’ve done it my whole career. And you know, it lights a fire in me. Because I love those moments going against other great guys on the other side of the ball.”
Gilmore, it turns out, is exactly what the Cowboys have needed. When the team lost star cornerback Trevon Diggs to open the year, a lot of focus was placed on the exploits of fill-in DaRon Bland. But Gilmore has continued to hold his own.
“That’s why I wanted to come here,” he said. “I knew the Cowboys had a great team last year and I just wanted to come in and do whatever I can to help this team win. I think I had a piece in helping this team win and I was able to show that tonight.”
Not bad for an old guy.