There was some drama this week for the Philadelphia Eagles, despite the team sitting at 11-2 on the season and on a nine-game winning streak.
After the Eagles defeated the three-win Carolina Panthers 22-16 last Sunday, star receiver AJ Brown told reporters that “the passing” was the reason the offense didn’t click as expected.
Defensive end Brandon Graham added fuel to the fire by saying Brown and quarterback Jalen Hurts are not as close as they once were.
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Here are highlights from Week 14 of the NFL season between the Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles.
Graham attempted to reframe his position, apologizing to both players for “assuming that wasn’t the case,” saying “They were friends before, but things changed. I understand that because life happens.” .
Brown is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons, but he’s held to just 109 yards over the past two games, so his assessment of the recent passing game slump isn’t necessarily wrong.
Hurts, who signed a contract extension worth $179.3 million ahead of the 2023 season, has thrown for less than 200 yards in three straight games.
But as Sky Sports’ Phoebe Schecter said recently: Inside the Huddle Podcastcalled on Brown and the Eagles to be more “selfish” in their pursuit of the Super Bowl and avoid the same kind of collapse they suffered in the playoffs last season, losing six of their final seven games.
“When AJ Brown comes out and says passing is the problem, he’s completely looking at the quarterback and throwing him under the bus,” Schecter said of the three-time Pro Bowler’s comments.
“Then Brandon Graham came in and said they weren’t reaching the same level and only then did he retract his statement.
“This is what we saw with the Eagles at the end of last year, but at that point things were going badly… they were losing. This is not what you do when you are a winning team.
“Receivers want to touch the ball as much as possible, but if you’re going to be on a team that’s going to the Super Bowl, you can’t have ‘I’ on the team in those situations. You’ve got it. Being unselfish.
“Last year was a different story. He impressed as much as he did with the (Tennessee) Titans. He was basically their only weapon.”
“But obviously if you win it’s good for everyone.”
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The Philadelphia Eagles are behind Saquon Barkley’s best play so far from the 2024 NFL season.
Also contributing to the Browns’ frustration is probably the addition of star running back Saquon Barkley in the offseason.
The former New York Giants back leads the NFL in rushing with 1,623 yards, 216 yards ahead of the Baltimore Ravens’ Derrick Henry, and is on pace to break Eric Dickerson’s 40-year single-season rushing record (2,105 yards in 1984). – Needs 483 yards. Gained more yards over the final four games of the season.
Barkley will look to continue his record bid when the Eagles seek their 10th straight win when they host the similarly in-form 10-3 Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
Watch another tripleheader of live NFL action on Sky Sports this Sunday, starting at 6pm with the Houston Texans taking on the Miami Dolphins.
