When the Philadelphia Eagles took the field against the Tennessee Titans in Week 13, it was supposed to serve as a measuring stick between two franchises with playoff aspirations. Both teams made it to the postseason last year, both have built their offensive identities around a strong running game, and, funny enough, both teams hold the honor of having employed A.J. Brown at one point in his professional career, an honor 30 other teams wish they could say.

No, after watching Howie Roseman seemingly do the impossible and trade away the 18th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft for a proven Pro Bowler-in-waiting, fans, pundits, and the players alike had Week 13 circled on their calendars as the day Brown and the Titans took the field together once more, only this time, they'd be on opposite sidelines. Would Brown get revenge on the team that wasn't willing to give him a $100 million deal? Or would the Titans shut him down, or, better yet, watch the player they drafted with Philly's pick to take his place, Treylon Burks, actually have the better afternoon?

Fortunately for fans of the Eagles, it was the former. Brown caught eight of the 10 passes thrown his way for 119 yards and two touchdowns and technically crossed the end zone's threshold three times, only for one to be called back due to one of the dozen or so penalties called on Nick Sirianni's team during regulation. Is Brown the best wide receiver in the NFL? No, probably not, but he certainly has a strong case for being the best wide receiver in the NFC East – a division that is known for having pretty darn good talent at the position.

1. A.J. Brown's the best wide receiver in the NFC East

Who are the four best wide receivers in the NFC East? In no particular order, A.J. Brown, CeeDee Lamb, Terry McLauren, and DeVonta Smith; no offense, Darius Slayton and the New York Giants. Excluding Smith, who is very good but the clear 1B of Philadelphia's offense, Brown has more overall yards, averages more yards per game, has the longest reception, and has the same number of touchdowns (nine) as Lamb and McLauren have combined.

When the Eagles need a big play through the air, especially down the sideline on a 50-50 ball, the 6-foot-1, 226-pound receiver plays well above his size. When the Eagles need some YAC or just a momentum-shifting play in the open field, Brown can do that too, as he's a threat to turn any old quick slant into a 40-yard gain. Really, the only area of his game Brown needs to work on is his fumbling, as he's currently the only wide receiver with at least 900 yards on the season with two or more fumbles, but considering the Mississippi product has been targeted 96 times and averages 5.8 yards after the catch per reception, two mistakes are a small price to pay for everything Brown brings to the table.

2. Nakobe Dean should be playing a lot

Before Week 13, Nakobe Dean only played four defensive snaps while stuck behind the starting linebacker tandem of T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White. While it isn't too unusual to see a rookie third-round pick eased into action in their first professional season, especially when the players in front of him are doing a bang-up job in their respective roles, when Dean took the field in Week 13, replacing White for 15 snaps, he proved in a big way why oh so many talent evaluators believed he could have been in play at pick 18 and was a massive steal at pick 83.

Logging the 15th-most defensive snaps on the team, Dean finished out the game tied for the most tackles by an Eagles player at six, tied with Edwards, who played 28 defensive snaps. Dean flew around the field, provided good support against the run and the pass, and even took down Derrick Henry, one of the toughest running backs around, while being held no less.

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3. Britain Covey has finally turned the corner

After initially making the team as a feel-good story coming out of camp, Britain Covey has been downright bad for the Philadelphia Eagles. He was bad when he was being elevated off of the practice squad, he was bad when the team signed him to their active roster, and he's been bad in every game he's appeared in since… except for one, this one to be exact.

Relieved of his kick-returning duties following 10 meh returns from Week 4-10, Covey turned in his best effort as a punt returner in Week 13, averaging 17.5 yards per return while ripping off three returns for at least 20 yards. His 106 yards marked the second-most of any player picked up on punts this season, according to Jakib Media, and his ability to shorten the field for Philly led to two scores immediately following punts. If Covey can keep it up, he might just be on the team next season instead of a massive need on the proverbial offseason checklist.