Eagles

They Won – 26 Immediate Takeaways from Eagles 20, Browns 16

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Oct 13th, 2024 · 4:01 PM EDT

---

Not gonna lie, this game was so boring through three quarters that I considered closing the laptop to go outside. Beautiful day, sun shining, just too nice of a Sunday to waste indoors, watching the Eagles struggle with the 1-4 Browns at home.

Alas, they persevered, and won a less-than-inspiring game with a buckle-down effort in the fourth. They just have too much talent to find themselves in a dog fight with the Browns after two weeks to prepare. Fortunately for the Eagles, they have A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and Cleveland does not.

To the takeaways:

1) Good to see Megan Olivi on the broadcast. She’s done a really nice job with the UFC over the years and is ready for the big time.

2) Eagles still can’t figure out the first offensive drive. They went three and out in this game, and have now gone INT/PUNT/3OUT/3OUT/3OUT in their five games.

3) Lotta talk about Cooper DeJean stepping in for Avonte Maddox in this game. He lost Amari Cooper on the 3rd play of the game, but Cooper dropped a pass that would have went for a first down. Afterward, DeJean turned to Chauncey Gardner-Johnson to talk it over, and it was obvious from the body language before the snap that the defense wasn’t totally settled and ready.

Afterward, though? He played well. Made some nice tackles, got into the backfield, really looked like a solid addition out there.

4) There was a sequence on the second drive where Jack Stoll was in the game for Dallas Goedert, who had gone into the medical tent. They were lining up on a 3rd and 1 and there was some confusion, with Stoll resetting himself before going into orbit motion before a Saquon Barkley run that went for nothing. Maybe it’s different with Goedert in the game, but not sure why you’d put a tight end in that kind of motion to begin with. It looked so goofy.

5) You ask yourself why Jalen Hurts has to throw 20 yards downfield on 3rd and 5 and 3rd and 6. That ended the first two drives. But then you remember that if he takes enough shots, he’s going to connect with Brown at some point, which is exactly what happened in this game.

6) Pass interference on Denzel Ward? Thought he got there early and was pulling down DeVonta Smith’s right arm. The refs picked up the flag.

7) Congratulations to Kenny Albert on 500 games, but save the game ball and the cake for the second half. Let’s get through the first quarter. It was way too early for that shit. The director who decided to do that nine minutes into the game should be fired. Didn’t we learn anything from the Thanksgiving broadcasts? You bring out the turkey and do all the “we’re thankful for this” stuff in the 3rd or 4th quarter.

8) Still no first quarter Eagles points. Only team in the NFL.

9) Is Grant Calcaterra the secret weapon? Never knew dude had wheels like that. He was hauling ass on that big completion.

10) Saquon always find a way to turn nothing into something. Will always get that yard or two, keep the feet moving, wriggle free.

11) There was a second quarter tush push where the Birds got over the line on the final effort. Good to see the refs hold the whistle there, because there was a moment where it looked like they could have blown the play dead for stopped forward momentum.

12) Awesome catch from A.J. on the touchdown. The defender caught up at the last minute, but Brown clamped it with one hand while being wrestled to the ground:

AJ BROWN IS BACK.

📺: #CLEvsPHI on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/U1QF0FGRjI

— NFL (@NFL) October 13, 2024

13) That Quinyon Mitchell/CJGJ sequence was unfortunate. Both guys had a line on the ball and both would have picked it off, but when it’s a bang-bang play, both are in the moment and it’s not like you’re gonna peel off at the last second. This isn’t like calling for a fly ball in the outfield. It was a big deal, too, because it would have ended that Browns’ drive, which continued with a 4th and 3 conversion and field goal.

14) Someone at FOX must have gotten to Albert in the second quarter, because he started pronouncing “DeJean” correctly.

15) Not to make light of the safety provided by the Guardian Caps, but they make the players look ridiculous. Looks like a big head filter in a video game.

16) End of the first half clock management and situational awareness was terrible. It started with Barkley not getting to the first down marker before running out of bounds, which killed the clock but put the Birds in 3rd and 1. Then Saquon whiffed on a block and they took a horrendous sack on the next play (why not tush push on 3rd and 1, with timeouts?) before trying a 57-yard field goal that was blocked. Just like that, it was 10-10 at halftime after Cleveland did pretty much nothing for two quarters. The Eagles had a +129 total yard advantage at the half and nothing to show for it.

17) Brutal Browns play to end their opening drive of the second half. An end around? On 3rd and 1? FOR WHO? FOR WHAT? And then they miss the long field goal to cap it off.

18) DeJean is a better returner than Britain Covey.

19) Had to laugh at Jonathan Vilma saying the Browns “always play run-to-pass,” and then Kenny Gainwell ran for 19 yards on the very next play, against a pass blitz. Vilma mushed it. Vil-mush.

20)

“Not sure why Eagles fans are booing.” Because they’re tied with the Browns you dumbass. @FOXSports

— Connor Allen (@connor_allen21) October 13, 2024

21) There was a graphic shown at the beginning of the 4th quarter noting that not a single play had been run in the red zone. Not by either team. That finally changed with something like 5 minutes left in the game.

22) That 3rd and 6 holding call on Cleveland was a life saver. Before that, they had moved from their own 30 to the Eagles’ 24 by mostly running the ball between the tackles. That drive ended up being 12 plays, 39 yards, and took 8:01 off the clock with only a field goal to show for it.

23) Devonta Smith. What a player. Dude always brings it.

24) How big was the facemask call on Amari Cooper? Thought for sure that was pass interference, but we didn’t get the good angle until a couple of replays later. It set up a first and 25 way back at the Eagles’ 36…

25) …which ended up not mattering because the Browns converted on 3rd and 11. Thankfully they committed a couple of false starts and had to settle for a field goal.

26) Ending on a positive note: Jalen Hurts did not turn the ball over. He hit the big pass to Brown to ice the game. Did some nice things with his legs. If we’re going Negadelphia, they shouldn’t have required four quarters to put that team away at home. But if we’re going Posidelphia, Jalen played a clean game with his top weapons back on the field for the first time in weeks.

They’re 3-2. Is anyone truly excited?