A.J. Brown has record-setting start to Eagles career; here's why it almost wasn't enough

DETROIT − A.J. Brown was everything the Eagles expected in his first game.

The defense, not so much.

So there are two ways to look at the Eagles' season-opening 38-35 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday: The first is the offense is potent behind Brown, who had 155 yards receiving, and Jalen Hurts, who threw for 243 yards and ran for 90 more.

Brown's receiving yards were more than any Eagles player had in a game all last season – and the most for an Eagle in his first game.

"We know we have weapons on offense, and today was my day," Brown said. "Next week it could be DeVonta (Smith’s) day or Dallas (Goedert’s) day. ... We have a lot of skilled players on offense. So trying to get everybody the ball."

The second is that the offense has to be potent because the defense had a hard time stopping the Lions, who went 3-14 last season. Twice, the Eagles took 17-point leads in the third quarter.

Detroit cut the deficit to just three points on Jared Goff's 22-yard touchdown pass to DJ Chark with 3:51 remaining. This came after D'Andre Swift had run roughshod through the Eagles' defense with 144 yards on just 15 carries. The Lions had 181 yards rushing as a team.

"Just when you think you got a team, it can ugly real fast because they’re professionals just like us," Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham said. "We have to make sure we stay focused on every little detail that can hurt us in the end."

Then Miles Sanders saved the Eagles.

Facing a third-and-2 from the Eagles' 27 with a little more than 2 minutes left, Sanders appeared to be stopped by a host of Lions tacklers at the line of scrimmage. Somehow, he broke free and gained 24 yards and a first down at the Lions' 49.

Then the Eagles could finally exhale.

Sanders finished with 96 yards on 13 carries. In all, the Eagles had 216 yards on the ground.

"They’re a very aggressive defense," Sanders said. "They knew we were going to run the ball. The whole defense just crashed in. (Left tackle Jordan) Mailata had a great block on the edge. I just stepped to the left and found an open hole."

When center Jason Kelce was asked what he saw on the play, he responded: "I didn’t see anything. I was trying to block a big, fat guy, probably."

The Eagles needed all of it. That's because other than a stretch spanning the first and second quarters, the Eagles' run defense couldn't have been much worse.

But once the Eagles turned it on, they were hard to stop, whether it was Hurts running the ball or Brown running all over the field.

It seemed like the Eagles had the game in hand when they opened the second half by scoring on Kenny Gainwell's 2-yard run as they quickly marched down the field. That gave the Eagles a 31-14 lead.

But the two teams exchanged touchdown drives after that. The Lions' TD came after quarterback Goff, not known for his running, ran for 10 yards on third-and-7 to the Eagles' 10 after Avonte Maddox missed a tackle.

Then Hurts hit Goedert for 22 yards down to the Lions' 1 before Boston Scott scored to put the Eagles back up by 17 with 1:41 left in the third quarter.

Again, the Lions answered, scoring in the first minute of the fourth quarter.

Then Goff hit Chark, and just like that, the Eagles' lead was down to 3 points with 4:09 left.

"We just needed a stop in a certain area, and so I’ll look at the tape and see what was going on," Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. "But it was just – (the Lions) made some good plays."

The Eagles didn't make enough to stop them.

The Lions ran the ball down the field with ease on the opening possession, getting 78 yards on the ground on just six carries, highlighted by Swift's 48-yard run down to the Eagles' 26. They eventually scored.

Then the Eagles stalled on their opening drive. Hurts gained 35 yards on the ground on that first drive. But he missed all five of his pass attempts.

Finally, the Eagles got going − on both sides of the ball.

Hurts started finding Brown and that softened up the Lions' defense. Sanders scored his first touchdown since the 2020 season. Hurts, meanwhile, recovered from his slow start in a raucous Ford Field.

The Eagles scored two straight touchdowns to take a 14-7 lead. Meanwhile, the defense forced three straight 3-and-outs, yielding a total of 9 yards.

Then cornerback James Bradberry intercepted Lions QB Jared Goff and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown. Just like that, the Eagles were up 21-7 with 6:26 left.

But the Eagles couldn't put them away. Until the end.

What Brown did for the Eagles

Brown's best play came when Hurts threw deep to him for 54 yards down to the Lions' 4 with 30 seconds left in the first half.

"That was a dime," Brown said. "It fell out of the sky."

The Eagles tried two plays after that, but Sanders lost a yard, and Hurts threw incomplete twice. So they settled for Jake Elliott's 23-yard field goal with 6 seconds left.

"It’s the same old thing man, we have great guys on the perimeter," Hurts said. "A.J. Brown, he made plays, he made big-time plays."

That was one of the biggest.

EAGLES PREVIEW: How Lions QB, Carson Wentz show what Eagles can get wrong in deciding Jalen Hurts' future

Jordan Davis makes an impact

Davis, the Eagles' first-round draft pick, was on the field for just one play on the Lions' opening drive as the Eagles' run defense was gashed.

But he was at defensive tackle on the second drive on running plays, and that coincided with the turnaround on defense in the first half.

Davis had a tackle on the first play of that second drive. He finished with two tackles.

Goedert has big goals

Tight end Dallas Goedert has big expectations for this season. He's starting the season as the top tight end for the first time in his five seasons after the Eagles traded Zach Ertz last October.

Goedert finished last season with a career-high 830 yards last season. When asked what his goals are for 2022, Goedert replied: "I would say if I can have 200 catches and 2,000 yards, that’d be a great year for me."

The NFL record for receptions is 149. The record for receiving yards is 1,964.

When asked if he really said 200 catches, Goedert replied: "Heck yeah, man. I want the ball, baby. I’m an unselfish guy. I want to do whatever to help the team win. I want to be perfect on all of my blocks."

Eagles inactives

The Eagles' inactives were QB Ian Book, S Reed Blankenship, RB Trey Sermon, G Josh Sills, DE Tarron Jackson, TE Grant Calcaterra.

WR Britain Covey and TE Noah Togiai were elevated from the practice squad for the game. Covey served as the Eagles' punt returner. He returned two punts for 13 yards.

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

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Eagles hang on to beat Lions as A.J. Brown, Jalen Hurts have big games