Weather becomes 12th man as Browns beat Eagles for 7th win

The Cleveland Browns got some help (and hindrance) from the Cleveland weather for the 3rd straight week in their win over the Eagles.

Maybe a retractable roof isn’t the worst idea. The Cleveland Browns had their ugliest win of the year for 2020 in their 22-17 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. The Browns could not seem to get their offensive line secured, their running backs were slipping all over the place, a few Browns receivers dropped passes and quarterback Baker Mayfield couldn’t land a few delicate passes due to grip issues. Overall, the weather affected Cleveland greatly.

That’s the lovely thing about the weather, however; it doesn’t pick and choose who to help or hinder. Every issue the Browns had this week, the Eagles had too. Not just that, but the Eagles offense looked like it was about to get a reprieve with Myles Garrett being out due to him coming down with Covid-19. That wasn’t the case as the Eagles offensive line had issues stopping the pass rush no differently than the Browns did. This allowed guys like Olivier Vernon to have a monster day, though we’d all love to see him do that against a good offensive line. It also allowed Denzel Ward to have his best game of the year, partly because Wentz couldn’t grip the football well either, which lead to a lot of slick and slippery throws that were off target.

This game will remain a key example of why no one should ever disrespect special teams, and why their general inclusion in things like the Hall of Fame should be far more prevalent than they really are. Now, neither Cody Parkey nor Jamie Gillan is at that level, yet, but both men deserve to be candidates for the Pro Bowl at the very least. Parkey went 2/3 with eight total points, while Gillan had five punts for an average of 45 yards, and placed one right on the endzone, which led to a sack and a safety on the next series.

Without both men, the game would’ve been far different.

The weather strikes again, and the Browns have their own official 12th man; lake effect weather. The Browns are now officially 7-3 and travel to Jacksonville next week.