The good and the bad from the Cleveland Browns game against the Philadelphia Eagles

The Cleveland Browns’ second preseason game was against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Cleveland Browns took on the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, with Cleveland playing in front of a rather lackluster home crowd. Part of the reason had to do with the Cleveland Guardians trying to play across-town against the dastardly Chicago White Sox and another reason was the inclement weather surrounding the area. So the lack of crowd was understandable. Even though the fans didn’t show up, the Browns’ offense sure did, which was a change from last week against Jacksonville.

Despite a good first half, the Browns lost the game with a final score of 21-20.

The Browns and Eagles spent the week practicing against one another, and due to that all of the starters sat during the game. The onus on the week was about the joint practices, and not really on the game. That means this was largely a showcase for the backups, which gave some guys the opportunity to further ingratiate themselves with the coaching staff and maybe play for a position on the team.

One of the most notable things that happened before the game was the decision to not play Ethan Pocic. The Browns are seemingly set to start him at center. Pocic is the last man standing of a trio of center options, with the other two being Nick Harris and Dawson Deaton going on the IR.

With both men out for the year, the Browns are clearly prioritizing the health of Pocic. The ironic thing, Michael Dunn started the game at center, and was quite excellent during his time at center. Dunn has been one of the best backup options on the team since 2020, and one could make a case that the team should give him a shot to start.