Will Eagles WR A.J. Brown go off on the Steelers again?
As you might have heard, there is a bit of a kerfuffle with the Eagles’ passing game, and A.J. Brown isn’t entirely happy with how things are going. Even though the Eagles are on a nine-game winning streak, his workload has sharply declined. But he has done damage against the Steelers in the past, and he always has the talent to go off.
Despite their success, the Eagles are still trying to play their way into postseason shape. They shouldn’t be scraping by teams like the Carolina Panthers, which is what happened last week. For whatever reason, they’re not using the passing game as much as in the past. Having Saquon Barkley in the backfield is probably worth mentioning. But a big game for Brown against the Steelers’ secondary could do wonders for some egos.
Of course, the last time the Eagles played the Steelers, A.J. Brown was Mossing Ahkello Witherspoon, not Joey Porter Jr. This could be another very physical game, like he had against Tee Higgins a couple weeks ago. That is assuming the Steelers put him on Brown—the Eagles do also have DeVonta Smith.
The Eagles are throwing fewer passes than anybody this season while running more than anybody else. But they are a capable big-play passing offense. If the Steelers shut down the run, they can win one-dimensionally with Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown and company.
That’s what makes this game interesting because that will be the Steelers’ strategy: muffling Saquon Barkley. This season, the Eagles have rushed for over 100 yards in every single game, the lowest being 113. They also have five 200-yard rushing games, including a 300-yard game. And Brown still has four 100-yard games.
But in A.J. Brown we’re talking about a player who was averaging over 150 targets per season. Against the Steelers in 2022, Brown caught six of 10 targets for 156 yards and three touchdowns. And that was with Jalen Hurts throwing to him. The Steelers know what this man can do. The Eagles know what he can do. Riding a nine-game winning streak, though, they just haven’t really needed him to be that guy much.
The Steelers’ 2024 season is underway, following another disappointing year ending in a first-round playoff loss. They have had a long offseason since the Buffalo Bills stamped them out of their misery back in January. There are positive signs, but things could jump off the rails any moment.
The biggest question hanging over the team is the quarterback question. Is Russell Wilson earning a lucrative new deal next year, and is Justin Fields still in consideration? How will the team continue to address the depth chart, which is surprisingly still in flux?
The regular season is here, following weeks of camp and preseason games. The Steelers made numerous moves through signings and trade—and release. More than usual, they seemed comfortable creating holes, confident they can fill them. Some they managed to fill, others not so much. Now that we have so many pieces of the puzzle, however, we merely have a new set of questions to ask.
