Cleveland Browns vs. Philadelphia Eagles: Game Analysis

The Cleveland Browns should wish that they could reset Week 1 of the NFL season.

Despite the Cleveland Browns cutting the lead to three points in the third quarter, the Philadelphia Eagles got the lead early and never looked back. Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz looked great throughout the game throwing for 278 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Philadelphia’s running back trio of Ryan Matthews, Kenjon Barner and Darren Sproles combined to rush for 131 yards and a touchdown courtesy of Matthews.

That said, Cleveland was unable to make the plays that were necessary. The Browns offense had its streaks but were not able to consistently put anything together through the game. Quarterback Robert Griffin threw for 190 yards and an interception that was tipped at the line of scrimmage.

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The trio of Griffin, and running backs Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson were able to put together a decent run game with 119 yards on the ground. However, a good chunk of which were gained in garbage time at the end of the game. Crowell was also able to add a touchdown run.

The first half of the game started about as badly as we could have ever imagined. Philly received the opening kickoff and proceeded to march down the field, capping off a 75 yard drive with Eagles wide receiver Jordan Matthews catching a touchdown.

Knowing Cleveland’s defense was already limited in talent, and seeing how effortlessly Wentz played, it’s safe to say that Browns fans feared the worst. Despite not succeeding in the first, the Browns were eventually able to find success in the second quarter.

Browns’ pass rushers Emmanuel Ogbah, Carl Nassib and Xavier Cooper were able to consistently get pressure on Wentz. On offense, Griffin connected with wide receiver Terrelle Pryor for some big catches including a 44 yard pass on the left sideline.

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Even though the Browns made a few plays in the second that could have led to momentum in the second half, it was all Philly. During that time, the Eagles’ defense kept the ball out of Pryor’s hands for the latter half of the game.

Offensive miscues halted the Browns offense for the entirety of the second half. The Browns defense continued to struggle in the second half. The Browns defense couldn’t keep up with Wentz, wide receivers Jordan Matthews and Nelson Agholor, and tight end Zach Ertz.

The big highlight from today is when Agholor beat cornerback Joe Haden on a fade down for a touchdown in the third quarter.

So what we learned from today’s game? The Browns defensive backs are struggling. Bad.

Wentz, a rookie QB looked absolutely surgical dissecting the Browns pass defense without many mistakes in his first NFL start. Remember, Cleveland will be facing off against the likes of Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger (twice) and Phillip Rivers this season.

If Wentz is making the defensive backs look this silly, then I doubt they will see much better going forward. Right now, many people will be looking at a quarterback for next year’s first overall draft pick.

Not me. Instead, I am looking at defensive back help to stop the bleeding when it comes to defending the pass. If Cleveland cannot stop the pass, then it will be a struggle to win any game in the NFL. Another big concern was the struggle to find an identity on offense.

At first it seemed like Griffin was simply looking for check downs in the passing game. Then Browns head coach Hue Jackson began throwing around different trick plays that went absolutely nowhere. Griffin ultimately started dialing up Pryor on passing plays for a little while, but then it seemed like the offense just came to complete stop.

The offensive game-plan just seemed scatter brained for lack of a better term and it showed. Cleveland seemed to have no identity on offense and because of that, were unable to have many successful offensive drives.

The offensive game-plan for the Browns seemed extremely unorganized, which did not give Griffin much of a chance to get into a rhythm throwing-wise. It also left out key players in the offense, the biggest one being Gary Barnidge. In fact, the former pro bowl tight end did not record a catch throughout the entire game!

That bothers me because Jackson’s expertise is on offense. One would expect his offense to be better put together than the one we saw today. I hope that this is just a growing pain for the Browns and that the offensive identity for the Browns will get better with time.

Obviously this football season isn’t about the Browns winning a title. They are far away from that and today confirmed it. Still, there is a huge room for improvement going forward.

Next: Pryor An 1,800 Yard Receiver?

We can only hope that in their home opener against the Baltimore Ravens that they will have taken a step in the right direction. What did you think about the Browns performance and what are you hoping for going into Week 2 against Baltimore?

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