Wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown was nothing short of spectacular on Sunday versus the Jacksonville Jaguars. He finished the game with 11 receptions, 114 receiving yards and two touchdowns in the 40-14 victory.
Too Easy!
For St. Brown, the game almost felt too easy. On the tape, it felt as if he was always open no matter what the route. If it was an out, an in, a post, a cross, a dump-out option, St. Brown was consistently open, and utilized that to his advantage. For quarterback Jared Goff, execution was not a problem whatsoever. With St. Brown surrounded by loads of green grass, the passes felt light and simple. However, St. Brown deserves a lot of credit for his average yards of separation between a defender. His footwork in those press coverage situations stand out to me! While his initial acceleration and burst after the snap is not outstanding and marvelous, what St. Brown can do in the somewhat open field is magical. If it is making bobbling catches or making a sharp cut to lose your defender, St. Brown was doing it all on the field and leaving every ounce of work and desire on the field.
Touchdown Plays
His first touchdown was the more impressive of the two by far. About ten yards from the endzone, St. Brown looked as if he were running an in; however, to the defender’s surprise, St. Brown cut out towards the sideline. Although there was limited room for Goff’s ball placement and the actual catch, St. Brown pulled out all of his tricks to get into the endzone for six. Towards the end of the game, St. Brown found himself wide open for a touchdown that can be defined as a “walk into the endzone”. St. Brown found himself open from a play running around the three yard line. Goff put the play into action with the call and snap, and St. Brown jetted out wide for another open reception, which happened to be so open that St. Brown gracefully walked in for another six points.
Moving Forward
This route was in large part due to the excellent play from Goff; however, with a surrounding weapon like St. Brown, is it really fair to not include him in the conversation? To answer that simply, NO! St. Brown’s production correlates directly to the team’s overall success. In recent weeks, St. Brown’s involvement and health has played perfectly into the Lions’ winning streak. Basically, you do not need to be a rocket scientist to see and understand that with an increase in touches and volume, St. Brown has been able to control and manipulate any game’s result.
