Are A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith best WR duo in Eagles history?
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Eagles played their sloppiest game of the season in a 20-10 loss against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
Philadelphia controls its own destiny as the team approaches the playoffs. The Eagles need to beat the New York Giants in their regular season finale to clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC to get homefield advantage and a first-round bye.
But before we move on to that game, let's take a look at some stats that emerged from the Eagles' loss against New Orleans.
Offense struggled mightily vs. Saints
With Gardner Minshew replacing Jalen Hurts at quarterback for the second straight week, the Eagles' offense could never find its rhythm against New Orleans.
Minshew had a poor outing and the play-calling was part of the problem as well.
As a result, the Eagles recorded a season-low 11 first downs against the Saints. The Eagles' first four drives went three-and-out and they didn't get a first down until the end of the second quarter.
The Eagles rank fourth in the NFL in first downs per game at 22.6, only trailing the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals.
There have only been two other games this season where they recorded less than 20 first downs -- in Week 10 against the Washington Commanders and Week 11 vs. the Indianapolis Colts.
Smith, Brown continue to be dynamic duo
General manager Howie Roseman has a history of striking out at the wide receiver position, but he corrected those mistakes over the past two offseasons by drafting DeVonta Smith and acquiring A.J. Brown in a draft night trade with the Tennessee Titans.
The two have already established themselves as the best wideout duo in Eagles' history.
Brown and Smith became the first pair of Eagles wide receivers to eclipse 1,000 yards in the same season after losing to the Dallas Cowboys.
Brown has 84 catches for 1,401 yards and 11 touchdowns, while Smith has hauled in 88 catches for 1,129 yards and seven scores.
With one game left in the season, Brown and Smith both have the chance to pencil themselves into the Eagles record books once again.
With one more catch, Smith will break former Eagles wideout Irving Fryar's record for the most receptions by a wideout in a single season. Fryar set the record in 1996 with 88.
Brown, who has 84 catches, also might surpass Fryar.
Former tight end Zach Ertz currently owns the record for most catches in a single season by an Eagles pass catcher with 116, which he set in 2018.
If Brown gets eight more receiving yards, he'll pass former wideout Mike Quick's record for receiving yards in a single season. Quick had 1,409 receiving yards in 1983.
Former wideouts DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and Fryar all came close to eclipsing Quick's milestone, but Brown is on the verge of surpassing it in his first year on the team.
Eagles' pass rush is one of best ever
Jonathan Gannon's defense is a lightning rod for criticism around the Delaware Valley, and rightfully so. It's been dominant for most of this season, but there have also been lapses throughout the year where a good quarterback comes along and picks up his vanilla zone defense.
But the one part of the defense doing its job? That would be the pass rush.
The Eagles have recorded 68 sacks so far this season, which broke the franchise's previous record of 62 held by the 1989 team.
At 68 sacks, the Eagles are currently tied with the 1985 Giants for the fourth most in league history.
The 1984 Chicago Bears rank first with 72 sacks. If the Eagles get five more sacks against the Giants on Sunday, it'll be the most sacks recorded by a team in one season in NFL history.
And this Eagles team has the pieces to do it.
They also became the first team in NFL history to have four players with at least 10 sacks in a single season.
Haason Reddick leads the team with 16 sacks and Javon Hargrave, Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat each have 11 apiece.
If the Eagles are able to get ahead Sunday against the Giants, there's a good chance they'll rest their starters. But with the weapons on the defensive front, they have a legitimate shot to break Chicago's record.
