A single bad call shouldn’t overshadow Rock Ya-Sin’s night against A.J. Brown
Rock Ya-Sin found himself in the spotlight on Sunday night, matched up over and over with A.J. Brown — and he delivered.
Even though the Detroit Lions’ offense repeatedly put the defense in difficult positions thanks to Dan Campbell’s ultra-aggressive fourth-down decisions, the defense held firm. Detroit limited the Philadelphia Eagles to 272 total yards and just 16 points, and that was without key starters Kerby Joseph and Terrion Arnold. Jalen Hurts had one of his roughest outings of the year, setting season lows in completion percentage (50%), passer rating (63.8), and EPA per dropback (-0.34).
All week leading up to the game, A.J. Brown made sure everyone knew he wanted the ball, so it was reasonable to assume the Eagles would feed him early and often. They did: Brown saw 11 targets, more than double anyone else, and led the team with seven receptions. Yet he finished with only 49 yards, which was a major win for Detroit.
Rock Ya-Sin rises to a No. 1 CB assignment
With Arnold sidelined and Amik Robertson spending most of his snaps opposite DeVonta Smith (who managed only one catch for eight yards), Ya-Sin essentially became Detroit’s top corner for the night. Naturally, that meant he drew the primary assignment on Brown — with the expectation Philadelphia would feature their star wideout heavily.
A highly questionable late-game pass interference call against Ya-Sin helped fuel Philadelphia’s comeback and drew immediate criticism, including from NBC’s Cris Collinsworth. Referee Alex Kemp’s postgame explanation did nothing to cool the backlash.
But outside of that controversial moment, Ya-Sin played exceptional football.
According to Next Gen Stats, eight of Brown’s 11 targets came with Ya-Sin in coverage. Brown caught four passes for 39 yards in those situations — impressive containment considering 14 of their 19 matchups were in man coverage. Throughout the night, Ya-Sin consistently matched Brown’s physicality and refused to give ground.
No one is blaming Ya-Sin for that dubious penalty call — he looked just as surprised as anyone when the flag went against him. And that single moment shouldn’t distract from what was arguably one of his best efforts of the season.
Everyone knew the Eagles would force targets to Brown to keep him happy. Ya-Sin didn’t shy away from the challenge, and he held one of the league’s most dominant receivers in check better than most defensive backs — or even Philadelphia’s own offense at times.
