Torrey Smith catches a home run ball, then hits one, in redemption game

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Torrey Smith caught a long ball. 

Then he hit one. 

After Smith's 59-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter of the Eagles' 34-7 win Sunday over the Cardinals (see breakdown), his teammates picked him up off the ground and got their group into position for a celebration. 

Alshon Jeffery was the catcher. Carson Wentz was the umpire. Nelson Agholor was the pitcher. 

And, of course, Smith was up to bat. 

"It was a fastball," Smith said. "Right down the middle."

In a celebration thought up by Jeffery for just those types of home run plays, Smith got a chance to enjoy his triumph with his teammates (see story)

Seconds before, Smith had a much more vulnerable moment.

After he crossed the goal line, Smith dropped to a knee, rested his facemask on his left forearm, which rested on his left knee, and prayed for five seconds. He then used his right arm to slam the ball on the end zone grass five times before his teammates pulled him away from his solitude to play baseball. 

"That prayer meant a whole lot," Smith said. 

This season, his first with the Eagles, hadn't really gone to plan before Sunday. Sure, the Eagles were 3-1 before facing the Cardinals, but Smith felt like he wasn't doing his part. He had four drops in four games, including a pretty egregious one against the Chargers last week. 

After the game in Los Angeles, Smith tweeted out that he was in the worst stretch of his career but was confident he'd turn it around. He was confident in his routine. He was confident in his quarterback. He was confident that if the ball kept coming his way, he'd make a play. 

It paid off Sunday. 

"I've never lost faith in him," Wentz said. "And it showed today. Just keep going back to him and he got the job done."

Smith finished his afternoon with three catches for 70 yards. Of course, the bulk of that number came from his 59-yarder and that's OK (see Roob's 10 observations). That's why the Eagles brought him to town: to be a big play threat. Even when Smith wasn't bringing the ball in, defenses have been respecting his speed. 

Guys like Nelson Agholor and especially Zach Ertz have benefitted. Just about everyone in the locker room was excited to see Smith bring in that deep ball. 

"Having Torrey score a touchdown was huge," Ertz said. "I know he's been down in the dumps for a couple weeks. Having him score a touchdown, his first since he's been here, was huge for him."

During last week, Smith backed off from saying he was in the worst stretch of his career. He said he overreacted. Still, he wasn't performing up to his expectations.  

As a seven-year pro, Smith didn't change his routine. He did the same things during the week that had led to his success in previous seasons. It worked. 

"I'm not trying to sound arrogant or anything, but it's not like I expected it to last forever," Smith said. "I believe in myself. More importantly, my teammates believe in me."

At the time of Smith's long touchdown catch, it was the longest for him since 2015 and it was the second-longest completion of Wentz's career. By the end of the game, thanks to Agholor's catch in the third, Smith's 59-yarder had been bumped down to third on Wentz's all-time list. 

But the two of them finally connecting, after plenty of misses through the first four games, was a big deal.  

"It was big. It was big for both he and I," Wentz said. "We've missed a couple down the field. Both of us have had our share of faults on those. To hit that one today, to hit it on a third down like we did, that was a huge play in the game and good to see." 

On the touchdown play, Smith said it was a simple post route and he saw the corner playing off him and looking inside on 3rd-and-5. Smith knew once he crossed his face, there wasn't going to be anyone in the middle of the field and he knew what Wentz was thinking. 

The throw came in a little low but Smith was able to corral the ball and take it to the house. Touchdown! ... err home run!

Agholor said the baseball celebration was the brainchild of Jeffery, and the group had practiced it just once before. Wentz had "no idea" how he ended up as the umpire. At first, Smith thought they were lining up to take a fake photograph — he even posed. It didn't click until Jeffery told him Agholor was the pitcher. 

Then, with Mike Trout watching from the stands above the other end zone, Smith dug into the imaginary batter's box. 

"We’ve been talking about that for a couple weeks now," Agholor said. "We said every big touchdown we want to do our little deal — like a little home run. Knock it out of the park.”

They can count on Smith to keep swinging for the fences. 

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