The Eagles struggles to score in the first quarter continued against the lowly Cleveland Browns who were missing a number of players on offense.
The Browns lost center Nick Harris for the day early in the game with an ankle injury.
Harris started the game in place of regular Ethon Pocic, who had been ruled out on Friday with a knee injury.
The Browns also lost running back Jerome Ford for the game after suffering hamstring injury in the forst quarter and was lost for the game.
Their superstar defensive end Myles Garrett has been dealing with multiple nagging injuries including nagging foot issues.
But the Browns played the Eagles a lot tougher than anyone expected.
The Eagles (3-2) were able to grind out a 20-16 win over the Browns (1-5) at Lincoln Financial Field in front of 69,879 fans who voiced their displeasure at times at team’s offense and its inability score at all in the first quarter five games into the season.
The victory was sealed when A.J. Brown made his second circus catch of day with 1:49 left in the fourth quarter.
Jalen Hurts hit the All Pro with a 40-yard pass Brown came up with at the Browns’ 12-yard line.
The first circus catch happened in the second quarter. It was a 22-yard pass from Jalen Hurts to Brown in the end zone with cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. draped all over him.
The win also spurred support from players throughout the Eagles locker room. Some players wanted to look at themselves and offense’s stagnant play dating back to the end of last year.
“The first quarter really hasn't been our strong point,” All Pro center Lane Johnson said at his locker after the game. “Moving forward...we've talked about it, but you've got to go prove it.”
Johnson continued to hold a self-evaluation of the offense and himself.
“I feel like it's a very constipated offense,” Johnson said...not trying to make a joke. “We do some good things, we have all this ability...but we have yet to prove that we can hit on all cylinders.
“[Not scoring early] is something that’s going to be on our mind moving forward. It’s something that we've got to fix, especially starting fast. We haven't done that in two years.
“It puts ourselves in a bind. This game was a lot more competitive than it needed to be. But hats off to the Browns, they played hard.”
During the week, Johnson and quarterback Jalen Hurts talked about playing a clean game above all else. No turnovers no matter what.
With the exception of a high snap from center Cam Jurgens in the first quarter, the was handled well by Hurts, the offense played its clean game.
Johnson was asked if stacking clean games was the priority. He added a thought.
“Yeah, exactly,” Johnson said. “I think it all goes to in game adjustments. Obviously you can game plan all week. And I thought [the coaches] did a good job. But as the game goes on, series after series, you've got to make adjustments to what the defense is giving you.
“They're going zone...do some man plays. If they're going man plays, do some zone plays. That's really it. We have to be a lot more efficient than what we've been. Obviously we have a loaded roster with a lot of talent. But we've yet to have a game to say 'OK, we're hitting on all cylinders.’ We have a lot of work to do.”
EAGLES DEFENSE DID ITS JOB
The Eagles defense held the Browns offense to three field goals on the day.
Cleveland’s lone TD came from the one turnover of the day.
Late in the second quarter, leading 10-3, the Eagles, behind a warmed up Hurts, marched from their own 28-yard line to the Browns 39 with 25 seconds left in first half.
Nick Sirianni, who had been ripped from the Ocean City boardwalk to West Reading for being too cute with the ball when the obvious was the correct choice, sent Elliott for a long field goal.
It was the right move...but things have been going sideways all year for the 2024 Eagles.
Garrett who was invisible for the entire first half, blocked a 57-yard field goal attempt by Jake Elliott.
It was run back by of all people former Eagles safety Rodney McLeod for a TD.
The score at the half was and eye-popping 10-10.
The Eagle defense didn’t fold after the turnover, stayed focused and helped seal the win. Linebacker Nakobe Dean, who led the Eagles with 12 total tackles (seven solo), was asked if that is something the defense can look back on as a move in the right direction.
.“Yeah, yeah,” Dean said at his locker after the game. “I would say I’m more optimistic, but…I know it’s hard to win in the NFL, and we have to celebrate every win, but at the same time…we know we got to play better.
“We feel we played a decent defensive game but there was a lot of things we can do better…I had a couple of missed tackles on my end that I’ve got to clean up. But I thought we came out there with a lot of energy, a lot of juice coming out of there...and we saw the toughness and fight in our team. We had a lot of tenacity and togetherness this week in practice. I felt it made brought us together.”
HEAD COACH GETS PROPS FROM SOME OF HIS PLAYERS
C.J. Gardner-Johnson knocked down two passes in this game, finished with six tackles total (four solo).
After the game, the bombastic safety was asked about Sirianni and his status with the team.
The fourth-year head coach was seen after the game interacting with some fans with seats directly behind the Eagles bench. Some of the players yesterday said they encouraged him to be himself.
“Everybody doubts him, everybody doubts him,” Gardner-Johnson said. “The only people who don't doubt him is us. I don't think guys know how much s**t he takes on a daily basis. We've go to back him up for it. He's my coach...not anyone else's coach.”
What makes Gardner-Johnson want to believe in Sirianni?
“Because he believes in us,” Gardner-Johnson said.
He also said the Eagles roster wasn't just put together because of each player's talent. That it was also put together to play Sirianni's style of football.
Gardner-Johnson would not take a pat on the back for keeping Cleveland out of the endzone.
“We've got to do that consistently,” Gardner-Johnson said. “We just can't do it one game. We have to do that consistently as a defense.”
Hurts was asked to give his opinion of Sirianni interacting with the fans post-game.
“I don't know what exactly happened,” said Hurts who started 2 of 8 for 19 yards, but finished 16 of 25 for 264 yards, two TDs and a QB rating of 126.1. “I've kind of been, you know, put on notice on some of it. I didn't see anything, but I encouraged him to be himself, and so that's who he is.”
MORE QUOTES AND STATS
Sirianni, who was criticized for bringing his young children to sit with him at his post-game press conference, was asked about his interaction with fans after the game.
“Just excited to get the win, yeah,” Sirianni said. “It's hard to win in this league, so we're excited to get the win. Our fans created a couple of false starts that really helped us win this football game.
“But I’m just excited to get the win and I appreciate the Linc’s support.”
One of the big plays down the stretch defensively down the stretch for the Birds was when the Browns passed the ball on second and seven at the Eagles 25.
Deshaun Watson, who finished 16 of 23 for 168 yards, hit tight end David Njoku to his right.
The 6-foot-4, 245-pounder was met by Gardner-Johnson, who is listed at 5-11, 208. The six-year veteran took Njoku down for just a one-yard gain. ON the next play guard Michael Dunn was called for holding on an 11-yard gain.
Instead of a touchdown, Cleveland was forced to settle for a 49-yard field goal.
Gardner-Johnson talked about the play.
“Jok's (David Njoku) a good guy,” Gardner-Johnson said at his locker. “Big tight end out of Miami. He's been here a long time. He's somebody I respect, great game. When it's that time of the game to put his big body in front of my little body, I just got to go out there and make a play. I just go out there and make a play...I just knew what kind of leverage it was going to be late in the game.”
Gardner-Johnson talked about the Eagles slow start.
“Coming off the bye week most guys come off slow,” Gardner-Johnson said. “Offese came off slow but they can lean on us on defense till they get going. As the weeks go on They're going to be picking it up. I'm glad about what I saw on offense and defense, on both sides.”
Saquon Barkley rushed 18 times for 47 yards which is a measly2.6 yards per carry. Barkley credited the Browns for stopping him.
“You're always looking for improvement,” Barkley said. “They did a really good job against out run game. I will definitely go back to the drawing board and see what I can do better.“It just feels good to get a win for the fans this season,” Barkley said. “It was my first win here.”
SOME OF BROWNS HEAD COACH KEVIN STEFANSKI’S PRESS CONFERENCE
On the Browns’ penalties today compared to the Commanders game last week:
“This was a little bit different, just in that it was false starts, as opposed to procedural. Trust me, it's self inflicted. It's nothing that the other team's doing. It's what we're doing. And, you know, not again, not for a lack of effort, we will be better. We have to be better.”
On the field goal in the fourth quarter as opposed to going for it on fourth down:
“With that down and distance, I just feel like you take three and you try to get a stop on the other side. I understand you can try it from there as well. I get that part. And obviously, when you don't get the ball back, that's going through your mind.”
On how he thinks Browns QB Deshaun Watson did today:
“I thought there were some good moments. You know, we need to protect. We need to keep him clean when we can. That's a good front. I thought the guys battled like crazy. Had some decent opportunities there, but got to find a way to be more explosive.”
On the blocked field goal that was returned for a touchdown and the spark it needed to give the team:
“Yeah, it should have been. Obviously an incredible play by Myles. It was the right call for that moment. Great play by McLeod scooping it up and scoring. Thought McLeod was all over the field, but as good as that is, you just have to come through at the end.
“That's the frustrating part. Frustrating for me, frustrating for our players, frustrating for everybody. That you can do good things, but you have to find a way to close it out.”
INJURIES AND MORE STATS
The Eagles lost TE Dallas Goedert and tackle Jordan Mailata for the game with a hamstring injury. CB Darius Slay missed much if the the second with a knee injury.
Brown finished with six catches for 115 yards and a touchdown.
Tight end Grant Calcaterra, who replaced Goedert, caught four passes for 67 yards.
DeVonta Smith ended up with three receptions for 64 yards including a 45-yard TD pass with 7:54 left in the fourth quarter.
Amari Cooper had four receptions for 42 yards.
Njoku ended up with five catches for 31 yards.
DE Nolan Smith had his best game as an Eagle with three total tackles, a sack and a QB hurry.
Bryce Huff had two total tackles, a half sack and a QB hurry.
Cooper DeJean’s first game as a starter was productive. The former Iowa standout recorded six tackles (three solo), a half sack and a QB hurry. *
Email Al Thompson at al.thompson@footballstories.com
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