It’s no secret that NFL wide receivers are cut from a different cloth. They are some of the biggest prima donna’s on the planet. They seek constant validation for their successes as they are of the very few, who are crazy enough to put their necks on the line week in and week out, hauling in oblong leather spheroids at over 60 mph while trying to navigate elitely talented, athletically gifted, and often bigger and stronger defenders who get paid to intimidate them through the fear of violent head to head collisions that often wind up as season or even career enders, if they’re lucky. But before we get into that here’s a snapshot of today’s NFC Title game showdown between the Washington Commanders and the Philadelphia Eagles at a potentially “balmy” Lincoln Financial Field compared to last week.
The Basics: Commanders at Eagles
- What: NFC Championship game
- Who: Commanders (14-7, 7-3 Away) at Eagles (16-3, 10-1 Home)
- When: Sunday 3:00 p.m. ET
- Where: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA
- TV: FOX
- Betting: Eagles -6, Total 47.5 Money Line: Eagles -291, Commanders +234
- Weather Forecast: High 39 degrees, Low 24 degrees.
Watch and Read the Heavy on Eagles Game Day Rant
For all of the perils of the job, they are well compensated and often revered as the most courageous of professional athletes. Those two things are built into the epic swagger that these rare beings exude. But when confidence becomes arrogance and then turns to a me-first petulance of a child, that is when the high production of some of these high end divas starts to interfere with the team-first infrastructure.
Outer Excellence
Getty ImagesEAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY – DECEMBER 11: A.J. Brown #11 of the Philadelphia Eagles celebrates after a touchdown during the second quarter of the game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on December 11, 2022 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images
The ones who can channel their inner excellence to tap into their outer excellence are usually the ones who are the most invaluable to their team.
A.J. Brown statistically might be the most important Eagle on the field on Sundays. The Birds are 12-0 this year when Brown and quarterback Jalen Hurts start and finish a game this year. They are 1-2 when that’s not the case. Brown might be pound for pound and catch for catch one of the top three wide receivers in the league.
In fact until the Eagles found their identity this year their offensive game plan was to try a couple of random plays and when they didn’t work, which invariably they didn’t, throw the ball to A.J. and let him make a play.
The Birds’ game plan since then has been formulaic and old school: 70 yards and a cloud of dust (or snow), a smothering defense, and ball security. But the success of this year’s Eagles team has come at the expense of production from their two thoroughbred wide-outs in Brown and DeVonta Smith.
So much so that it triggered an emotional reaction by Brown after a win over the Panthers in week 13 that caused a wave of drama inside the Birds’ locker room that seemed to die out after a very productive week in the passing game the following Sunday, a 27-13 win over the Steelers.
But things returned to normal in the postseason because while the Eagles won their first two games against the Packers and the Rams, Brown has had his least productive back-to-back games of his time with the Eagles. In two playoff games Brown has just three receptions for 24 yards on 10 targets to go along with two drops last week versus L.A., one of them would have most likely been a touchdown.
Good Luck With That
In the week 16 games versus the Commanders, after Jalen Hurts left the game in the first quarter with a concussion and was replaced by Kenny Pickett, Washington stacked the box, and the Eagles struggled to run the football after that. Saquon Barkley racked up 109 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter alone but after that he averaged just 1.7 yards per carry. If the Commanders stack the box today I wish them well. The Rams tried that last week because they were still stinging from Barkley dropping 255 yards on them in late November. Barkley was held to a paltry 205 yards vs L.A. last week so I guess you could say that it was technically an improvement by the Rams defense.
The problem defenses have with stacking the box is that if Barkley gets by the pile of people up front it’s a one man foot race to the end zone and he’s proven week in and week out that he’s freakishly flat-out faster than opposing defensive backs.
Washington’s defensive line plays a very aggressive style. They play a 1-gap style most of the time, and if they are not extremely gap-disciplined, they can be vulnerable to explosive runs.
You can bet that the Commanders will load up the box and play single safety high and dare the Eagles to sling it today. Washington has done a very good job in the two previous matchups this year, taking away deep shots by playing with off-coverage.
This is where Brown comes into play. Washington’s defense is not afraid to play man coverage, and they will most likely have Marshon Lattimore cover Brown in one-on-one situations. In the week 16 game Brown dominated Lattimore. The numbers at a glance might not bear that out because the stat sheet doesn’t show the three pass interference penalties on Lattimore, but if you go inside the numbers you’ll see how much an elite cover man like Lattimore struggled to keep up with Brown’s size and speed.
As much as this Eagles team appears to be the epitome of how a team should look and act, wide receivers are wide receivers and they need their “narcissistic” supply. Three catches for 24 yards on 10 targets isn’t going to cut it for an elite and proud diva like A.J.
I can’t help but feel a little empathy for a team that ranks 30th against the run and has given up over 30 points per game this postseason, who will be facing a team still searching for their postseason mojo and ready to explode offensively.
Now let’s talk about the Rookie of the Year in the room. If you listen to my podcast, The Skinny Post you’d know that I’ve been in love with Commanders’ quarterback Jayden Daniels since week three. Here it is. The Jayden Daniels love-fest starts at the 3:13 mark.
He’s going to be a nightmare for the NFC East for the next 10-15 years. But while he’s way ahead of schedule I don’t believe it’s his time. He’s looked well beyond his years in his team’s improbable playoff run thus far, dazzling us with not only his platinum arm and his veteran-like poise, but his multi-million dollar legs as well. He’s been the hit of the ball. But Cinderella had a shelf life and so does the rookie Daniels. The midnight hour cometh for #5, and that right soon.
Prediction: Eagles 37, Commanders 24
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Starving for His Narcissistic Supply Eagles’ A.J. Brown to Feed on Commanders Today