Philadelphia Eagles A.J. Brown, Miami Dolphins Tyreek Hill: Rare Meeting of NFL Receiving Yard Leaders

PHILADELPHIA – This should be a real treat, just a week or so before Halloween when the NFL’s top two leaders in receiving yards take the field for their respective teams on Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field - Tyreek Hill for the Miami Dolphins and A.J. Brown for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Not since Week 16 of the 2021 season have the league’s top two leaders in yardage met in a game later than Week 7. The two most recent receivers were the Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson and the Los Angeles Rams’ Cooper Kupp.

The Eagles have played both this season and won both times.

Hill is a different cat.

“We have to be eyes on him every play, let him know that we see him,” said Eagles cornerback Darius Slay, who will return to the lineup after a one-game absence due to a knee injury.

“If you don’t see him, he tends to disappear. He’s very fast, so you have to see him or he’s going to disappear.”

Hill, 29, enters the game with 814 yards and a 19.4 yards per-catch average with six touchdowns.

“I love it," Hill said about Sunday's titanic matchup. "This is what football is all about. Going against a real good opponent, Sunday Night Football, no better stage. I feel like our guys are ready with the way we practiced.”

Since entering the NFL in 2016, Hill has 15 career games with 150 receiving yards. With another 150-yard performance, he will tie Julio Jones, who will share the field after signing earlier in the week with the Eagles, for the fourth-most such games all-time. Only Pro Football Hall of Famers Jerry Rice (30 games), Lance Alworth (17) and Terrell Owens (17) have more.

“Cheetah is very athletic, run, jump, juke, can start and go, but he’s one of a kind,” said Slay about Hill. “That’s why they call him Cheetah, a guy blessed with that much speed, you can’t coach that. You just have to go out and go.”

Brown has his own history in the making. He is second in the league with 672 yards (16.0 yards per catch) and two touchdowns. He has four straight games with 125-plus receiving yards, which ties him for the franchise record with Harold Jackson, who had a run of four straight from Dec. 19, 1971 through Oct. 2, 1972. The only player in NFL history to do it in five straight is Calvin Johnson in 2012.

Both Brown and Hill were acquired by their current teams prior to the 2022 season and Sunday night will mark their 24th regular-season game with their respective club. Each player has among the most receiving yards by a player in his first 25 games with a new team in the Super Bowl era.

“Tyreek, he’s a really special receiver in this league,” said Brown. “I think he’s probably the most explosive player in this league. If you don’t cover him, he’ll change the game. But I don’t worry about any of that stuff, I’m trying to win games. I want to put my team in position to win, so I’m trying to score touchdowns.”

The players with the most receiving yards in their first 25 games with a new team in the Super Bowl era, noting that Hill and Brown have played just 23:

Odell Beckham (Giants, 2014-15), 2,625

Hill (Dolphins, 2022-23), 2,524

Brandon Marshall (Bears, 2012-13), 2,294

Stefon Diggs (Bills, 2020-21), 2,285

Justin Jefferson (Vikings, 2020-21), 2,175

Wes Chandler (Chargers, 1981-1983), 2,172

Brown (Eagles, 2022-23), 2,168

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