Reliving and ranking every AJ Brown rookie year touchdown
By Brady Akins
3. AJ Brown’s First 1st Quarter Catch vs Falcons: Watch here
As far as career firsts go, there are few that are sweeter than AJ Brown’s first career touchdown as an NFL receiver.
Let’s break this one down step by step, starting with the route. I don’t know if this was blown coverage or if Brown simply fooled the defender or what exactly happened here, but the result ended with AJ Brown on the football equivalent of a deserted island. Not a defender anywhere near him.
As the Falcons would later find out, AJ Brown with open space is one of the most dangerous situations a football team can find themselves in. The NFL had got a taste of Brown’s after the catch skill in his Week One game against Cleveland, but here against the Falcons, he was able to put it to use for a touchdown. Brown begins to run right in an effort to follow his blocks, sees the wall of Falcons defenders begin to close in, and plants his foot in the ground to reverse field.
From there, it’s all AJ Brown. With FOUR Falcons defenders in pursuit, Brown is able to outrun them all. A diving tackle attempt at the six-yard line is Atlanta’s last hope at stopping the play, but Brown shows his strength once again, brushing off the ankle tackle to continue his stride and slide into the endzone. A 55-yard touchdown grab that showed advanced skill on multiple levels. It doesn’t get much better than that for your first career touchdown.