The Browns have the Eagles on Sunday for their Week 11 matchup and these are the three players Cleveland has to plan for.
The Cleveland Browns are hoping to continue their winning ways in the AFC with a win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. The Browns are currently in a gridlock of sorts in the AFC wild-card race, with a host of teams now sitting at 6-3. The Browns can ill-afford to stumble at this point in their season, and the Eagles are primed for a beating.
The Browns are facing off with one of the better defenses that they’ve seen all year, however, but it’s their offensive weapons that stand out individually. The defense doesn’t have one or two big names on it, so kudos to them as a unit for getting it done. That’s where the offense differs. It’s a mess. They do have some playmakers, however, and that’s who we’re going to be looking at.
These are the three players the Browns should gameplan for.
Miles Sanders
Miles Sanders is averaging six yards per carry in the six games he’s played for the Philadelphia Eagles. That number may see a leap against the Browns due to the struggles of Eagles’ “franchise” quarterback, Carson Wentz. Due to Wentz’s inability to protect the football, the Eagles’ poor record, and more and more people wanting to see what Jalen Hurts could do, there is every possibility that the Eagles run the ball more often on Sunday than at any other point so far in the season.
Sanders, the former Penn State running back, has had a breakout season so far, and the Browns defense is ripe for the picking. The Browns have not faced the same caliber of running teams through the first nine games as they had in 2019 when they were gouged by the rush. Sanders, much like the Raiders’ Josh Jacobs in Week 8, could have the biggest game of his career and might have to if the Eagles hope to win.
Travis Fulgham
Travis Fulgham was a sixth-round draft pick out of Old Dominion for the Detroit Lions in the 2019 NFL Draft. He was cut after just one year and was picked up by Green Bay before getting let go again. Already on his third team in just his second NFL season, Fulgham has emerged as the Eagles leading receiver. Second, on the team in targets, just two shy of the leader Greg Ward, Fulgham now leads the team in receiving and touchdowns catches. A huge step up from being unemployed twice before.
Fulgham is also filling in on a team that has seen its star tight end, Zach Ertz, disappear completely in 2020. Even though Ertz missed a few games due to injury, his numbers were unimpressive even beforehand, either due to Wentz’s play or because he himself has regressed. He only amassed 178 yards through six games. A concerningly low figure considering how little help he has around him.
Fulgham may not be the team’s number one receiver of the future, but he has shown to be far more than just a one-year rental and should be brought back as the team’s No. 2 wideout next year.
The Browns will want to make sure they take him out of the equation early and often.
Jalen Hurts
No, this isn’t a typo. If Carson Wentz struggles, it’s entirely possible that Jalen Hurts will get the call to come in. Wents has played poorly for the Eagles, completing only 58% of his passes, while throwing just 12 touchdowns against 12 interceptions. He also had nine fumbles, while losing four of them. Part of the problem is the Eagles’ league-worst offensive line against the pass rush. They’re dead last in sacks given up with 35 and while it’s hard to find stats on the number of times a quarterback has been hit after throwing the ball, it’s fair to say Wentz leads that category too.
Enter Hurts. With the Browns defensive line only ever being truly good against bad offensive lines, Myles Garrett and the rest of the Browns defense could have four sacks at least in this game. If Wentz is hit enough times, then the Eagles may pull him for the more mobile Hurts. If that’s the case then the Browns will be in for a very interesting game.
Not only is Hurts a threat to go in at quarterback but the team has been messing around with him as a running back and wide receiver. He has 12 touches for 53 yards but has three fumbles as well. He’s also thrown twice, completing both passes for 27 total yards.
Wents has played relatively well over the last few years, but injuries, inconsistent play, and the specter of Nick Foles have pretty much ruined his time in Philadelphia. It wouldn’t be shocking at all to see Wentz ran out of town after this year.