A.J. Brown was the best defender on Eagles' last-second Hail Mary vs. Broncos

Mike Moraitis

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A.J. Brown was the best defender on Eagles' last-second Hail Mary vs. Broncos image

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The Philadelphia Eagles had one last shot to win the Week 5 game against the Denver Broncos on a Hail Mary pass in the closing seconds.

Jalen Hurts threw up a deep ball as time expired and both A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith were in the area before the pass fell incomplete, sealing the Eagles' first loss of the 2025 campaign.

Upon further review of the video of the play, it appeared that Brown interfered with Smith, who had a clear shot to catch the football, as it hit him right in the hands.

While the duo went up for the catch, Brown was right behind Smith and his hands made contact with Smith's, which no doubt impacted Smith's ability to catch the ball.

What makes this ending more notable is the fact that The Athletic's Dianna Russini reported on Saturday that both Smith and Brown were disgruntled over their roles through the the first four weeks.

"A.J. Brown is frustrated … again," Russini wrote. "He’s made that clear, while the other high-paid receiver in Philadelphia, DeVonta Smith, has stayed quiet despite his own frustrations, multiple sources tell me. The wideouts in Philadelphia clearly want more touchdowns. They each have one."

Brown took to social media after the Week 4 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to seemingly express his frustration but later clarified it wasn't directed at anyone, but we know better than that.

“The tweet wasn’t directed at anyone because I am listened to,” he said. “Like I said, I have an open communication with my coaches, (head coach) Nick (Sirianni), (offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo). I talk all the time with those guys. Nick FaceTimed me on Monday when I’m in the building. This is like a every-weekly event. That’s the relationship that we have. That’s not the case at all.”

Publicly expressing his frustration is nothing new for Brown. We've seen it time and time again, even during his days with the Tennessee Titans.

It did seem like the Eagles made a concerted effort to get Smith and Brown more involved on Sunday, but that only led to five catches for 43 yards for Brown.

Smith, on the other hand, finished with team-highs in catches (eight) and receiving yards (114) in the 21-17 loss.

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Mike Moraitis

Mike Moraitis is a freelance writer who covers the NFL for the Sporting News. Over his nearly two decades covering sports, Mike has also worked for Bleacher Report, USA TODAY and FanSided. He hates writing in the third person.