It wasn’t pretty, but the Eagles moved to 3-2 on the season and a half-game back of the division lead.
The Eagles entered Sunday’s game over the Cleveland Browns as 8.5-point favorites against the Browns despite not winning a game by more than a touchdown since week 7 of last season against the Miami Dolphins. They didn’t cover, but they secured a close win that still showed glaring issues for this talented team.
Before the game, Eagles legend and fan-favorite Jason Kelce was seen out in the parking lots engaging with fans at various tailgates. He joined one tailgate for a televised chicken wing review and then climbed atop an RV for what looked like another televised segment. In a video posted to X, the cameraman filming on the RV seemed to lose his footing and fell which sent his camera careening to the ground below.
For the fifth straight game, the Eagles failed to score a single point in the first quarter. Slow offensive starts have become commonplace, and they are the only team in the entire NFL to not score a point in the first quarter. Sirianni was asked about the slow starts in his post-game press conference, showing frustration with the reporter who asked the question.
“We’re going to figure it out. We’re going to fix it,” Sirianni replied.”We’ve known how to score in the past. We get it. You guys have a job to do and you’re going to fixate on one thing. … We’ll get it figured out on offense.”
While his frustration showed during the post-game press conference, Sirianni also let his frustrations boil over during the game. In videos posted to social media, Sirianni could be seen engaging with fans multiple times throughout and after the game.
Despite the Eagles’ slow start to the season, they entered as large favorites on Sunday mainly due to the quarterback play from Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson. Watson is paid like one of the top players in the NFL but is off to one of the worst starts for a quarterback in modern NFL history.
Watson finished the day 16 of 23 for 168 yards, and the Browns failed to score an offensive touchdown. The Browns still haven’t scored 20 points in a game this season, and their only touchdown on the day came off a Myles Garrett-blocked Jake Elliot field goal in the second quarter.
The Eagles’ defense was solid on Sunday holding the Browns to just 244 total yards and sacking Watson 5 times. Key offseason signing Bryce Huff had his best game of the season, recording a half sack on the day and regularly affecting Watson and the Browns offense.
The offense got back some key contributors this week, getting back top wide receiver AJ Brown who missed a few games with a hamstring injury, and fellow wide receiver DeVonta Smith and All-Pro tackle Lane Johnson who each missed a game in concussion protocol. Unfortunately, the Birds lost left tackle Jordan Mailiata during the game and it was announced that he’ll miss a few weeks with a hamstring injury.
After starting the game 0-5, Jalen Hurts was solid on Sunday as he threw for 264 yards and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead 45-yard toss to DeVonta Smith in the fourth quarter. His other touchdown came on a 22-yard strike to AJ Brown on a second-quarter drive. Hurts also finished the game with 0 turnovers and didn’t have a single turnover-worthy play after having 11 through the first 4 games of the season.
While Hurts and the offense looked solid at times, too many drives continue to end without points. When looking at the passing chart, the teams’ aversion to using the middle of the field is making the offense too predictable and reliant on their superstar players to make plays.
Next up for the Eagles is a short trip on I-95 as they head to the Meadowlands next Sunday for a division showdown with their rival New York Football Giants.