On Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles (3-2) defeated the Cleveland Browns (1-5) 20-16 at Lincoln Financial Field. Nick Sirianni is now 4-0 for his career when coming off a regular-season bye week. The Eagles are one of just six teams to go undefeated after a bye week since 2021
Let’s take a moment to appreciate Philly’s ‘Big 3’ and their outstanding performances on Sunday:
-Jalen Hurts completed 16-of-25 attempts for 264 yards, two touchdowns, and a 126.1 passer rating. Most importantly, for the first time since Week 13 of last season, Hurts did not have a turnover. He wasn’t great, but he did enough.
-A.J. Brown returned after missing the last three games with a hamstring injury, and he led the Eagles with six receptions for 116 yards (19.3 avg.) and a touchdown. In addition, Brown made a game-clinching 40-yard catch, allowing the Eagles to run out the clock and get the win.
-Coming into this game, the Eagles had only six sacks as a team, but on Sunday, they sacked Browns QB Deshaun Watson a season-high five times. Seven players earned sacks: Jalen Carter (1.0), Nolan Smith (1.0), Josh Sweat (1.0), Thomas Booker (0.5), Cooper DeJean (0.5), Bryce Huff (0.5), and Milton Williams (0.5). It’s the Browns, yes we know, but maybe this could get the pass rush into a rhythm. The defense held Cleveland to only 244 total yards.
Honorable Mention:
Brandon Graham appeared in his 200th career regular-season game. The franchise’s all-time leader in both seasons (15) and games played is the first Eagle to reach that milestone. Only six defensive players on NFL active rosters have played in 200+ games. The 36-year-old made a huge stop in the third quarter, which led to the Browns missing a game-tying field goal.
End of the Day:
A win is a win! It’s hard to win in the NFL, so getting a win is always good. Hurts was turnover-free, which is excellent, but the offense did not have a flow. However, they have the talent to get it right. Saquon Barkley did not get loose on Sunday, but he’ll get his going forward. They have to get off to better starts. For the fifth straight game, they did not score in the first quarter. That has to get corrected.
Philly could have and maybe should have blown the Browns out, but there was a questionable sequence near the end of the first half.
With the Eagles at the Browns’ 31-yard line and second and 1, Barkley caught a pass from Hurts, and instead of focusing on getting the first down, he focused on getting out of bounds. It was third and 1, and the Eagles had three timeouts. All they needed to do was run the ball, get the first down, and call timeout. Instead, with the clock stopped, they called timeout, and the after the timeout, they decided to pass the ball. However, Hurts was sacked.
On fourth down, Jake Elliott’s 57-yard field goal was blocked by Myles Garrett and returned by Rodney McLeod for a touchdown. Instead of being up 13-3 or 17-3 at the half, the game was tied at 10 going into the break.
That was a poorly coached sequence, which could have cost the Eagles the game, Fortunately, the Browns are not very good.
Next up:
Next Sunday, the Eagles go on the road to battle the Giants.
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