Eagles' Skinny Batman takes over at FedExField

LANDOVER, Md. — FedExField turned into Gotham on Sunday afternoon and Skinny Batman showed up to save the day.

DeVonta Smith had a career game in the Eagles’ 24-8 win over the Commanders.

“He was having his way,” A.J. Brown said. “That’s what I’d call it. He was having his way. He was doing whatever he wanted to do.”

Smith caught 8 passes for 169 yards and 1 touchdown as the Eagles moved to 3-0 to start the 2022 season. It wasn’t just the career day in the stat sheet, it was how he did it, with incredible and acrobatic catches all over the field.

Following his touchdown catch at the end of the half, Smith got a chance to try on the newest addition to the Eagles’ sideline: A Batman cape.

Darius Slay recently said Brown looked like a “Swole Batman” because of his dark visor and muscular physique but then added that Smith was “Skinny Batman” and Quez Watkins was “Fast Batman.”

So Brown went on Amazon and purchased a Batman cape for $9.99.

The cape was spending time with an equipment manager on the sideline before it was needed.

“It kind of came out of nowhere,” Smith said. “I didn’t even know they had it.”

Skinny Batman stole the show but it was also a big day for Swole Batman. Brown had 5 catches for 85 yards and a touchdown. Quez Watkins (Fast Batman) didn’t have a catch but was able to draw a huge defensive pass interference penalty. Dallas Goedert had 3 for 26 and the game’s first touchdown. Even rookie Grant Calcaterra had a 40-yarder.

By the end of the game, Jalen Hurts had completed 22 of 35 passes for 340 yards and 0 interceptions.

The Eagles are rolling.

“If we keep working, keep doing better every week, the sky’s the limit for us,” Brown said. “The sky’s the limit for this offense.”

There was some angst in the fanbase when Smith didn’t register a single catch in Week 1 but no one is nervous anymore. He was spectacular on Sunday.

And he was never worried.

“Like I always say, you gotta make the most of your opportunities,” Smith said. “You might have a game like that where you don’t get the ball or you don’t get your opportunities. But when they come, you gotta make the most of it.”

Smith’s best catch on Sunday came late in the second quarter when he rose above a couple defenders, contorted his body in mid-air and hauled in a 44-yard grab.

“That was crazy,” Brown said. “… I definitely think he had wings on. He was flying in the air. He had a great day.”

Smith said his whole mindset when he goes up for one of those passes is that either he’s going to catch the ball or nobody is. There were a few of those on Sunday.

On that big catch in the second quarter, Smith got the wind knocked out of him and had to leave the field for a play. But he came back in and a few plays later caught a 2-yard touchdown pass over a defender as time ran out. It wasn’t even a play that was in the game plan, but Hurts called it, the offense ran it and Smith caught it.

“Just gotta be ready,” Smith said. “You never know what’s going to come up. Everybody was on the same page.”

Smith’s previous career high for receiving yards in a game was 122 against the Chiefs last season. He took care of that by the second quarter in Washington.

Smith’s 169-yard performance is the biggest game for an Eagles receiver since Jeremy Maclin had 187 against the Cardinals in October of 2014.

The thing that stood out about Smith’s game on Sunday was the way he did it. Even at just 170 pounds, Smith plays a tough, physical style.

“By the eyes he may be a little slight,” Hurts said, “but he plays like a big boy.”

Nope. He plays like Skinny Batman.

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