Browns: 3 keys to victory over the Philadelphia Eagles
By Chad Porto
The Cleveland Browns will go into the Philadelphia Eagles game down one of their biggest defensive threats but they can still win this game.
The Cleveland Browns have the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday and look to move to 7-3 on the season. To do that, however, the Browns will need to be able to beat the Eagles without Myles Garrett, the defensive anchor throughout the whole season. That doesn’t mean the Browns can’t, it just means the Browns will need to really emphasize their usual trend off offensive play calling.
Basically, the Browns can’t give up touchdowns if the Eagles’ offense isn’t on the field. So with that, let’s look through three things the Browns need to do to capture the win.
Attack on the ground
The Cleveland Browns are looking at another cold and wet game. While the wind will only be 17 MPH, the Cleveland forecast does call for a 100% chance of precipitation. Rain will start in the early morning and be persistent through the early afternoon. While the skies may clear up later in the game, the start of it will be soggy, cold, and not very desirable throwing weather. With the Browns having two 100-yard rushers in last week’s game against the Texans, and the weather conditions again being bad for the third straight game, it seems almost like a lock that the Browns will want to attack the Eagles on the ground as early and often as possible.
Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield may not get a lot of shine in this game either, like the last two, mostly because of the weather but also because of clock management. Running the ball kills the clock, and keeps the opponent’s offense cold on the sideline. Something the Browns will want to do more of after news broke that Myles Garrett will miss at least this game and possibly the Week 12 matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars due to contracting and developing symptoms to Covid-19. The Browns will want to manage the clock the best they can to keep their defense fresh. Attacking on the ground is the way to go to do just that.