Terrible defensive Eagles showing shouldn't prevent us from celebrating Sydney Brown

Everything that could go wrong for the Philadelphia Eagles’ defense went wrong in Week 17. Players were lined up incorrectly. They made incorrect decisions. They couldn’t shed blocks and couldn’t tackle. It was a lousy showing for a team that had an opportunity to put itself in a position to earn a second consecutive NFC East title. Instead, they faltered, and it feels like this Eagles season is over. Positive thoughts about this team having a chance at postseason success are fruitless.

A common New Year’s resolution is to try and be happier, so it’s kind of a blessing that the Week 17 game was played in 2023. Ending the calendar year on that low of an emotional point makes on feel like it’s almost impossible to go any lower. That won't stop us from doing the loser move here and celebrating one of the most recent game's lone highlights.

Does anyone remember Sydney Brown's pick-six? That was neat!

In an extreme attempt to squeeze even the slightest ounce of joy from this season, you have to look at the small things that don’t matter… like that Sydney Brown 99-yard pick-six. It was the most electric moment in a game that had less electricity than what we see in a small Amish town.

Had the Eagles won, this would be one of the possible choices for the best Eagles plays of the year. As it turns out, it will be forgotten. That's life in the NFL. Brown has been violent this season. All he wants to do is hit people, and he does that well. Still, he sometimes does so at the expense of coverage. This time around, however, he came up huge.

The growing pains have been obvious. The dude is a rookie though. He can, will, and has to get much better.

As a huge Sydney Brown guy, however, it also seems criminal to ignore his interception and return. The pick wasn’t anything impressive. It almost looked like a short punt, but the return was disgustingly superb. 

For the remainder of the game, there was little to talk about. Brown didn't exactly play out of his mind. That, at times, affected the defense negatively. He was far from being the team's biggest liability though.

It isn't Brown’s fault that the linebackers needed three-minute conversations about where they should line up before the snap. You have to give the good guys their flowers even when they’re COVERED in thorns. Here's our attempt to celebrate the rookie.

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