In the 2025 NFL season opener, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Dallas Cowboys 24-20. The game had it all — a Super Bowl banner ceremony, a wild ejection on the very first play, a weather delay, and plenty of points.
However, the Eagles’ star wide receivers, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, were virtually invisible in the win over Dallas. What happened?
What Happened to Philadelphia Eagles Stars A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith?
Brown and Smith were both completely healthy and never exited the game, yet they had a very quiet night. Brown finished the game with just one target and one catch for eight yards, while Smith had three targets and three catches for 16 yards.
Surprisingly, Jahan Dotson was the Eagles’ leading receiver with 59 receiving yards, while Dallas Goedert had the most targets (seven) and receptions (seven) for 44 yards.
AJ Brown tonight: pic.twitter.com/GGJBNrAjup
— Sleeper (@SleeperHQ) September 5, 2025
Brown wasn’t targeted until the final minute of the game when the Eagles were trying to kill the clock. For a while, it was looking like this might be just the second time in Brown’s career that he didn’t catch a single pass (and in that 2021 game, he exited the contest after running just five routes due to a hamstring injury). This marked the second time in Brown’s NFL career that he didn’t receive multiple targets in a game.
For Smith, this was tied for his third-fewest targets in a game (and the second-fewest in a game that he ran at least 25 routes). This is his seventh career game with fewer than four targets (but his third against Dallas).
To comfortably insert a wide receiver into a PPR lineup, you typically are hoping for 15-ish fantasy points. There’s some leeway there, but if you’re entering the week with a 15-point expectation, that’s generally a good dividing line when looking to separate those who are locked into your lineup from those who could find themselves on the bench depending on the matchup.
Last season, Brown averaged 16.7 PPR points while Smith averaged 15.3 PPR points, so this kind of underwhelming performance is surprising. Fortunately for the Eagles, they were still able to win their season opener on the same night that they raised a championship banner, so Philadelphia fans aren’t complaining.
For fantasy managers, these performances are certainly frustrating, but it’s just one game. Brown and Smith will look to bounce back in Week 2 when the Eagles face the Kansas City Chiefs in a rematch of Super Bowl LIX, and one would hope that they fare better.
