'Just throw it to AJ'. How AJ Brown's NFL record-setting day led Eagles rally by Commanders

LANDOVER, Md. − There isn't much more to say about A.J. Brown than the usual platitudes, which have since been used over and over.

"Phenomenal," fellow wide receiver Julio Jones said. "I mean, the guy’s an absolute beast with the way he plays the game, the way he carries himself day in and day out."

Added center Jason Kelce, who was left mesmerized by Brown's one-handed touchdown catch with a Washington Commanders defender all over him as somehow Brown managed to get both knees in bounds:

"I still don’t know how he caught it. Absolutely insane catch. Now he has the NFL record … Right now, it feels like the offense is a little bit like, ‘Just throw it to AJ.’ I’d be hard-pressed to say that’s not the thing to do. He’s catching everything. He’s open, it seems, all the time."

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The Eagles needed all of Brown's production to pull out a 38-31 win over the Washington Commanders on Sunday. For Brown, that included two touchdown catches as the Eagles overcame losing two fumbles inside Washington's 5-yard line, in addition to Commanders quarterback Sam Howell throwing for 397 yards and four touchdowns (and a crucial interception).

In all, Brown finished with 130 yards receiving on 8 catches. That gave Brown six straight games with at least 125 yards receiving, something that has never been done before in NFL history. Only Calvin Johnson in 2012 and Pat Studstill in 1966, both while playing for Detroit, had five such games.

Brown has 935 yards receiving so far this season, and the season isn't even halfway over. He's on pace for 1,987 yards. The NFL record for a season is held by Johnson with 1,964.

No wonder why Kelce said "Just throw it to AJ."

Of course, the Eagles needed so much more than Brown's big day to beat the pesky Commanders for the second time in four weeks. The Eagles (7-1) also beat Washington 34-31 in overtime on Oct. 1.

This time, they needed one of Jalen Hurts' best games of his career, and yes, even a page from the past as Julio Jones scored the go-ahead touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.

Hurts completed 29 of 38 passes for 319 yards and 4 touchdowns for a passer rating of 135.7. Hurts did this on a knee that was hobbling him for the past few weeks at least, even though he has yet to be listed on the injury report.

"I'm here," Hurts said repeatedly when asked about his knee.

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But first, the Eagles were their own worst enemies.

They lost two fumbles inside Washington's 5 yard line, the second on a botched "tush push" at the goal line, when Hurts seemed to lose control of Kelce's snap.

And the Eagles couldn't stop Howell, who completed 19 of his first 20 passes in the first half, and finished 39 of 52 for 397 yards and four touchdowns.

In all, the Commanders racked up a season-high 472 yards on the Eagles' defense. Even the addition of safety Kevin Byard couldn't do much to stop Howell and the Washington offense, one week after the Commanders were held to 7 points in a 14-7 loss to the Giants.

"I don’t think we were clean enough, myself included," Byard said.

But the Eagles made the plays, both on offense and defense, when it mattered most. That included Brown's TD catches, along with DeVonta Smith's 38-yard TD midway through the fourth quarter that tied the game.

Then on Washington's next possession, safety Reed Blankenship, beaten for much of the game, intercepted Howell. That set the Eagles up at Washington's 7 yard line.

One play later, Jones, the NFL's active receiving leader, caught his second pass in two games as an Eagle, giving the Eagles their first lead of the game.

"My number was called," Jones said. "I needed to be clutch and do my job at the end of the day."

It was that kind of day.

Brown set the tone in the second quarter with an incredible catch in the corner of the end zone with 34 seconds left in the first half. That pulled the Eagles within 14-10.

"I literally just did that in practice on Friday," Brown said. "It was the same corner and everything. My teammates were like, I’m not surprised, I’m not surprised, but it was in a game, so ... "

Brown wasn't done. His second TD catch, from 25 yards out with 4:17 left in the third quarter, tied the game at 17-17.

The Eagles kept the drive alive by going for a first down on 4th-and-4 from Washington's 45 yard line. Hurts completed a low pass to Smith at the 28, enough for the first down. But Smith had to go down to the ground to catch the ball.

Two plays later, Hurts connected once again with Brown in the end zone.

That left Brown 12 yards short of the record. He got the mark on the Eagles' next drive, on a 16-yard reception, after Washington had taken the lead on another Howell touchdown pass.

Later in the drive, Hurts connected with a wide-open Smith for the game-tying 38-yard touchdown.

How did Brown know that was the record-breaker?

"My teammates told me," he said. "I was just focusing on winning the game."

And that is when the Eagles did just that.

On the ensuing possession, Blankenship intercepted Howell. But the Eagles couldn't convert and punted the ball back to Washington with 3:09 remaining.

The Eagles stopped Washington, getting their first sack of the game on 4th-and-5 from Washington's 25. D'Andre Swift's 7-yard TD with 1:50 left gave them a two touchdown lead.

Even that didn't put the game away as Washington came away with another TD with 1:01 left.

Finally, the Eagles recovered an onsides kick to seal it.

Still, the Eagles had themselves to blame for a tense afternoon.

The Eagles, trailing 17-10, started the second half by driving to Washington's 1 yard line, when they lined up for a "tush push." But Hurts never really had control of the ball as he barreled towards the end zone, and Washington recovered.

Earlier in the game, Kenny Gainwell fumbled when the Eagles reached the Commanders' 3.

On defense, the Eagles didn't get much pressure on Howell.

Injuries along the Eagles defensive line played a factor. Jalen Carter missed most of the second half, and part of the first, with a back injury.

Jordan Davis, who was listed as questionable heading into Sunday's game, walked off the field on the Commanders' first drive, but he returned.

Neither Carter nor Davis were on the field when the Commanders scored a TD on a drive that lasted three plays. That came on Terry McLaurin's 26-yard touchdown catch.

By then, the Eagles had fallen behind 14-3, their largest deficit of the season.

But Brown was just getting started, and eventually so did the Eagles.

Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson compared it to "a brown bag lunch day."

"Sometimes you have to eat a Sloppy Joe at lunch," Johnson said. "It wasn’t pretty. The whole first half, we’re kind of going, ‘What’s going on?’ … It was just one of those grindy games."

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Philadelphia Eagles, behind AJ Brown's NFL record, rally by Commanders