3 takeaways from the Philadelphia Eagles' shootout victory over the Detroit Lions as A.J. Brown shines on debut

In the opening week of the season, the Detroit Lions hosted the Philadelphia Eagles in a thrilling encounter. 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter wasn't enough for Detroit. The Eagles managed a 38-35 victory and the Lions fell to another close defeat.

Here are my three biggest takeaways from the Eagles-Lions game:

#1. The Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown connection is clicking right away for the Eagles

Philadelphia Eagles v Detroit Lions

It was a great weekend for the superstar receivers who were traded this offseason. The Las Vegas Raiders’ Davante Adams caught ten balls for 141 yards (and a touchdown) and the Miami Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill hauled in eight passes for 94 yards. But somewhat quietly, the guy with the most impressive showing was A.J. Brown. He caught 10 passes for 155 yards (on 13 targets) in his first game with the Eagles.

Nick Sirianni and Shane Steichen drew up tunnel screens for him, but they also worked the middle of the field with him on a bang-eight (post) and slant to set up Philly’s first touchdown of the day. Brown also put them in position for a field-goal just before halftime to put them up by 10 (when he hauled in a fade route to the field for 54 yards).

Jalen Hurts clearly trusts this guy and his skill-set as a true alpha receiver. It also allows them to work through that primary read before the QB takes off himself. That, in combination with the way we’ve seen them be able to run the ball (216 yards on 39 carries versus Detroit), makes me think differently about this offense. Brown has the physicality to win in contested situations and break through tackles. He schooled the Lions' corners off the line, snapping off routes a few times and he’s been one of the best receivers in the league at creative explosive plays.

#2. D’Andre Swift has the chance to be one of the most dangerous weapons in the NFL

Philadelphia Eagles v Detroit Lions

This really isn’t anything new, since I had D’Andre Swift as my clear number one running back and 17th overall prospect in the 2020 draft. I’ve been a huge fan of his skill-set ever since I first laid eyes on him in Georgia (as that third guy behind Nick Chubb and Sony Michel) and he’s had some very bright flashes through his first two years (with just under 2,000 yards and 17 touchdowns across it). Some nicks and bruises, along with playing for a bad team, have held him back.

On Sunday, he put up a career-high 144 rushing yards (plus a touchdown), along with hauling in all three of his targets for another 31. He announced himself on just the second snap of the game when he ripped off 50 yards (where they ran a wham play and the back gave the corner trying to fill a dead-leg). Swift really showcased his explosiveness, the ability to slip through tackles and work in different head- and foot-fakes.

What really has me excited, however, is what I see from offensive coordinator Ben Johnson in terms of his run-game design. He displayed a great way of using angles and formations to his advantage. They ran everything pretty much in terms of gap schemes – power, traps, whams, counters, and toss plays with the linemen getting out on corners – it was such fun to watch. You combine that with Swift’s ability to lead defenders to the wrong side of blocks with his body-language and his skills as a receiver, and you could have a true superweapon.

#3. Neither of these defenses can consistently create stops if they don’t go off script

Philadelphia Eagles v Detroit Lions

Now, having discussed two of the great skill-position players we saw put on shows in this contest, let’s talk about how helpless these defenses were for most of the day.

Right off the bat, the 73 combined points in this contest were seven points more than the next-closest, the Chiefs-Cardinals (where one team contributed most of the scoring and a lot of Arizona’s points came in garbage time). The Eagles-Lions game was more of a back-and-forth battle compared to that. More importantly, it’s pretty rare to have two teams with over 180 yards rushing and more than 200 yards passing.

We did have a defensive score, which put the Eagles up 21-7 mid-way through the second quarter. T.J. Hockenson ran a stick-nod (where either he read it wrong or Jared Goff forgot that the secondary break was coming), and the ball went right into the hands of newcomer James Bradberry, who took it back to the house. However, these two teams combined to go 19-of-31 on third downs and scored touchdowns on eight of their nine combined red-zone possessions.

Detroit couldn’t really get to the quarterback with four and at least started to bring extra pressure, but Jalen Hurts killed them on some huge third-down scrambles. With Philadelphia, it was more of the same from last season, when I criticized DC Jonathan Gannon for his soft-zone approach, making it way too easy for opposing QBs to throw towards open space.

Check out my piece on the full Week 1 slate at halilsrealfootballtalk.com !