The Eagles are in a groove that we haven’t seen them in since 2017. This unimaginable run has been led by signal-caller Jalen Hurts, who is playing the best football of his professional career so far.
Sunday’s dazzling performance saw the former Alabama and Oklahoma signal-caller went 22-35 for 340 yards passing and three TDs, as social media and the NFL world at large ushered in the era of Hurts as a potentially elite signal caller who will boost Philly back to prominence.
Even though Hurts is the main show, don’t let that distract you from the fact that the Philadelphia Eagles may have the best receiving corps in the NFC, heck, maybe in all of football. This Justice League of Batmen are taking the league by storm through the first three weeks, and they had a cape with them against Washington to help in their crusade against the villainous Commanders secondary.
The so-called “Batman wide receivers,” named by Eagles cornerback Darius Slay are getting the job done with no problems.
A dominant performance from the “Skinny Batman,” Devonta Smith, quickly answered all of the critics and doubters who said he wouldn’t be able to shine as a second-option wide receiver across from newly acquired Eagle AJ Brown. After debuting the season with 0 catches and 0 yards against the Lions, Smith, a former Heisman Trophy winner, has led the team in receiving through the next two games.
In Sunday’s victory against the Washington Commanders, Slim Reaper had eight receptions for a career-high 169 yards and a touchdown. During his onslaught, he lept in the air for a 45-yard catch that saw him snatch the ball over two defenders, and on the very next play Hurts went back to Smith for a leaping catch in the endzone.
“Swole Batman,” on the other hand, started his crime-fighting spree in the first game of the season against the Lions when AJ Brown caught 10 passes for 155 yards. Most recently against the Commanders, Brown also had 85 yards and scored his first touchdown as an Eagle. This was a major pickup for the Eagles, who famously struggled with a lack of quality pass catchers in the past, which ultimately led them to draft Smith and trade for Brown in the offseason.
But the most underrated member of Philly’s improved core has to be Quez Watkins, aka “Fast Batman,” who had the play of the game in Week 2 against the Minnesota Vikings when he absolutely took the top off the defense for a 53-yard bomb for a touchdown . He’s the king of getting down the field to help stretch the defense.
Hurts absolutely has weapons, but, similar to the superhero, this Eagles team is also no stranger to the gimmicks and feeding into the narratives that help them become successful.
For example, during their famed Super Bowl run, the Eagles were deemed as the underdogs after QB Carson Wentz went down for the season. So once the Eagles began winning games in the playoffs, they bought out a dog mask, feeding into the underdog narrative.
So, after AJ Brown and Devonta Smith both scored touchdowns, it was only right that they celebrated with a Batman cape on the sidelines. This truly spun them into the Batman roles, because, according to Slay, none of them is a sidekick. This couldn’t have been any truer after these spectacular performances to begin the season.
AJ Brown said I'm Batman! pic.twitter.com/V0JAFYUWTa
— Ryan Cassidy (@FurtherAM) September 25, 2022
With every win, the Eagles gain more believers. It seems that the Eagles are coming together at the perfect time, with their receivers all balling out of their minds, and Hurts in the midst of having his breakout season. There’s a long season ahead, but so far, so good for Philly.
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