What A.J. Brown wants, A.J. Brown gets in Eagles’ 27-13 win over the Steelers

Maybe next A.J. Brown will ask for world peace, an end to hunger, and the reversal of global warning.

It worked last time.

Brown last week complained that “passing” was the Eagles’ biggest issue; this, after they’d won their ninth game in a row. The Birds, fueled by Saquon Barkley’s MVP run, had just moved to 11-2, but Brown was on pace for the worst of his three seasons as an Eagle, and the Eagles ranked second-to-last in passing, and, for Brown, that would not stand.

Nor did it.

After a week spent dealing with the fallout from receivers complaining about the passing game, the Eagles — the No. 1 rushing attack in the NFL — either called or audibled to pass plays on five of their first six offensive plays Sunday against the Steelers. The second one went to Brown.

Just 18 minutes into the game Brown had five catches for 65 yards and a touchdown. With more than nine minutes to play Brown had caught his seventh pass, a season high. He finished with eight catches for 110 yards, his fifth 100-yard game of the season and his highest total since Game 5.

He got what he wanted?

“Absolutely, absolutely. I think, you know, I said it for a reason,” Brown said.

He also talked about how the week’s meetings included “uncomfortable conversations” between the receivers, the quarterback, and the coaches, but the reality remained: It was Brown’s complaint that spurred the conversations because he said that “passing” was the team’s most worrisome issue. There wasn’t enough of it.

Not so Sunday.

Hurts entered averaging 21.4 attempts per game during the nine-game winning streak. He’d blown past that number before the fourth quarter began. He finished 25-for-32. It was his first 30-attempt game since Game 5. He had 290 passing yards, his second-highest total of the season.

DeVonta Smith caught a career-high 11 passes for a season-high 109 yards and a TD. Smith also voiced concerns about the Eagles offense last week, but he was far more diplomatic than Brown. As usual. Sunday, he remained true to form when asked about the results breeding confidence: “The confidence was always there. It was just a matter of getting the opportunity.”

They work hard and want to be included. It’s just who they are. As for A.J., he can’t help himself; he speaks up when he thinks he should.

Besides, he was right. Hurts had been gun-shy, indecisive, and inaccurate, and if the Eagles hope to win the NFC East and roll in the playoffs, Hurts had to play better.

A.J. asked.

A.J. received.

A.J. danced.

After a 5-yard touchdown pass made it 10-3, Brown and Hurts performed a truncated version of a dance made famous in the 1980s by Kid ‘n Play.

“That was the moment to tell everybody ‘Shut up,‘ “Brown said.

Fine … but, technically, he started it.

That dance, which they’ve performed before, was the latest in a series of gestures made and messages sent by the Eagles to emphasize that Brown and Hurts had not gone from friends to frenemies.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni offered this as evidence: They ate lunch together. Because, as former middle school students, we all know how important it is to monitor who’s at whose lunch table.

» READ MORE: A.J. Brown might be a diva but he told the truth about the Eagles. So did Brandon Graham and Jalen Hurts.

“What seemed like chaos on the outside, you know, was just something that we used as something to kind of galvanize us,” Sirianni said Sunday, but admitted Brown’s kerfuffle caused him a headache: “I’m not saying all the turmoil on the outside was a good thing.”

Don’t think the issue didn’t pervade the NovaCare facility. Darius Slay, the team’s best cornerback but worst secret-keeper, greeted reporters as the entered the locker room Sunday with this, defiantly:

“Yeeeaaah! I bet we passed the goddamn ball now!”

For his part, the coach kept up appearances.

At practice on Friday, during the open session, Sirianni cut up to the ‘80s hit, “My Prerogative,” as if to say what happens with the Eagles concerns only the Eagles. An oblique reference, but still. They then played it again after Sunday’s win.

They are as clever as they are subtle.

There was more.

Guess who, totally coincidentally, was featured on the Eagles’ game-day program Sunday?

One clue: His initials are Arthur Juan.

The Fox broadcast made sure to capture Hurts leading pregame prayers on the sideline in a three-man embrace with Brown and Smith.

The Eagles’ official Twitter/X account unsubtly posted a totally non-staged, pregame, on-field rally led by Hurts, during which he offered the totally unscripted exhortation: “This ain’t about nobody but us!”

Was it ever was about anyone else? Ever?

There is precedent regarding Brown.

This was the third consecutive season in which Brown either demonstrated and/or stated his displeasure with the offense and his usage rate. After the 2022 season, he threw a mini-tantrum on the sideline during a playoff win. In 2023, he boycotted the media because he was so upset at the direction of the offense. Then, last week, he ripped the passing game and the passer.

Message received.

To be fair, even without Brown’s complaint, the Eagles likely would have gone to the air more than usual. The Steelers had the No. 4 run defense and a mediocre pass defense. They limited Barkley to 65 rushing yards, far below his 124.8 average. Meanwhile, third-down back Kenneth Gainwell gained 60 yards from scrimmage, his second-best total of the season.

There were other storylines. The Birds won a franchise-record 10th game in a row. They beat a solid Steelers team that entered 10-3. The Lions lost, dropping to 12-2, same record as the Eagles, though the Lions hold the top-seed tiebreaker for the moment. The Eagles’ top-rated defense was amazing, again.

None of that attracted as much attention as the A.J. Brown Show. And it was worth the price of admission.