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Playing in A.J. Brown’s shadow, DeVonta Smith quietly on a tear originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
This is a story about an Eagles wide receiver who’s on a tear right now. And his name isn’t A.J. Brown.
Once Brown had those six straight games with at least 125 yards, you knew defenses were going to start devoting even more attention to him. And then it was going to be up to someone else to pick up the slack and make a ton of big plays.
That person is DeVonta Smith.
With seven catches for 106 yards Sunday in the Eagles’ overtime win over the Bills, Smith now has 23 catches for 355 yards in his last four games. He averaged 4 ½ catches and 55 yards through seven games and is at 6-for-89 the last four.
That’s 7-for-99 at Washington with a 38-yard TD, 3-for-51 vs. Dallas with a 29-yard TD, 6-for-99 vs. the Chiefs and 7-for-106 vs. the Bills with a 15-yard TD.
Smith doesn’t have that flashy interview personality that draws the TV cameras to Brown, but he’s quietly having another big season with 55 catches for 738 yards and five touchdowns. That puts him on pace for 85 catches, 1,140 yards and eight touchdowns.
Because of Brown, it’s easy to overlook just how good Smith has been.
His 2,850 yards are 3rd-most in team history by a player in his first 45 games, behind only DeSean Jackson (3,124) and Mike Quick (2,919), and his 214 catches are 2nd-most, behind only Jordan Matthews (223).
But these last four games have been some of Smith’s best. He’s caught 23 of 26 targets, averaged 15.4 yards per catch, gotten into the end zone three times and taken his connection with Jalen Hurts to another level.
“Just doing my job,” Smith said post-game Sunday. “Coaches trust me, Jalen trusts me. They’re giving me the opportunity, I’m just going out there and making the most of it.”
Smith was only 2-for-19 before halftime against the Bills, but he had a 33-yard catch and the 15-yard TD on the Eagles’ first 4th-quarter TD drive, an 11-yard catch for a…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/playing-j-browns-shadow-devonta-172317675.html
Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia
Publish date : 2023-11-27 23:20:30
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