Amon-Ra St. Brown enjoyed a great season for the Detroit Lions, and with 106 receptions, selecting his best catch might be tough duty.
For all those who remember Week 18’s effort against the Green Bay Packers, however, the answer is a quick one. St. Brown’s pass he managed to squeeze between his legs on first-and-10 with three minutes left in the fourth quarter to keep the momentum going was his best play of the year.
Speaking on The 33rd Team with his brother, St. Brown revealed his thoughts on the wild play that ended up playing a big role in Detroit’s big final win. As he explained, he knew from the start that he had the ball the whole time.
“That last catch, I first dropped it. It was an easy catch. I could have made it way easier. It was a little crossing route. It hit my hands, I dropped it. Then for some reason, it’s laying on my leg and then sat there. Darnell Savage was behind me, it hit him and stayed on my leg. I knew the whole time that it never hit the ground,” St. Brown said on the show. “As I was getting up I grabbed it and when I was sitting down, you see me, I’m like ‘catch, catch.’ If they were to rule that incomplete I would have told Dan (Campbell) ‘throw the challenge flag. I know it was a catch, it never hit the ground.'”
The biggest challenge in the moment for St. Brown was managing to see what the officials would rule, and if a review was needed. He wasn’t worried about that outcome, either.
“So the first official says incomplete. I’m like no way. Then the second guy comes running across down the sidelines, they talk. ‘Catch.’ I’m like ‘yes!’ After that play they took me out. I was like ‘if they review this, I’m not really tripping, I already know I caught it.’ I’m like ‘just review this. Let me see this. Let everyone see how I caught it.’ They didn’t review it, it was complete. It was a crazy catch. One guy on Twitter said I caught it with three toes and an a** cheek,” St. Brown joked.
All kidding aside, the play was a big reason the Lions won the game. Detroit went down and scored, then managed to hold off Green Bay late for a 20-16 win. Without that play, the team may not be able to put the game away as easily as they did in the key moments.
Even when the catch is iffy, St. Brown is still able to make a confident play on the ball. That’s the mark of a great receiver.
St. Brown Talks Tying Reception Record
The most important thing about that catch may have been that it happened in the first place. That’s because St. Brown needed it to tie for the most receptions in NFL history by a wideout in his first two seasons in the league.
Coming down the stretch, St. Brown didn’t realize that he was even in play for the statistical honor until later on in the season. Once he was, he explained that he knew it would be a fight to the finish just for him to get it done.
“I didn’t find out that I was close to I think the Panthers week. We had three games left. I needed 18 receptions to beat it, so I knew that going into the Panthers game. I had like seven catches. I was like ‘okay, I need 11 more.’ Then we played the Bears. I only had like four. We started running the ball, getting at them. We’re like, ‘okay this is what we need to go into Packers and if we make a playoffs,’ so we started running it good. I get it, but I have four catches that game so I knew going into the going to the Packers game I needed seven catches to break it,” he explained.
Due to the blowout win against Chicago, the Lions didn’t get St. Brown the ball a whole lot. It was a cold night in Week 18, which put the pressure on St. Brown to snag a lateral on second-and-17, then dish the ball off for his final reception.
“On that catch, I knew I tied it. Then it was about fourth and one and we went for it. If we got the first, we’re gonna kneel out. I knew then it was like ‘damn, so close to getting it’ but yeah, tying it is still pretty cool for me, but I really did want to get that record. But hey, it’s all meant to be,” St. Brown said.
No matter that he doesn’t have the record to himself, St. Brown can still revel in the fact that he managed to put his names with the greats in football in terms of being a rising wide receiver.
St. Brown Enjoyed Fantastic 2022 Season
This year, St. Brown did nothing to change the notion that he is a player on the rise to be taken seriously in terms of future star power in the league.
Through the end of the season, St. Brown has been the Lions’ leading receiver. He’s managed to put up 1,161 yards and six touchdowns on the season. The fact that he was able to finish over 1,000 yards was a big feather in his cap toward being thought of as an elite talent in the league. That’s especially true given the feat came in Detroit, a place not accustomed to such performances since Calvin Johnson’s retirement.
St. Brown’s best game of the year did come on Thanksgiving Day, where he went for 122 yards and a score against a solid Buffalo team. Perhaps this effort will start to get him on more national radars.
St. Brown delivered another big day for Detroit, putting up 114 yards and two touchdowns against Jacksonville. Perhaps the most impressive score on the day happened late in the fourth quarter on first-and-goal, when St. Brown was able to shake free and put a dagger in the Jaguars:
Have a game, @amonra_stbrown ☀️
#ProBowlVote | JAXvsDET | 📺 FOX
Not only leading with his words, St. Brown is leading with his play as well. He’s got one of the most fun personalities on the team, no matter whether he’s making crazy catches or routine catches.
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Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown Describes Circus Catch That Beat Packers