Eagles At Browns: Preseason Week Two Opponent Preview
The Philadelphia Eagles are in Cleveland, Ohio ready to take on the Cleveland Browns for the second preseason game of the summer. Both teams had joint practice this week, so it is unlikely the starters would play much at all. Here is a look at the Eagles opponent in this matchup.
The game will take place on Sunday August 21, 2022, at 1pm Eastern Time. Fans in the Philadelphia and Cleveland markets can watch the game on their local station and the game will also be broadcasted nationally on NFL Network.
Browns Offense
The Cleveland Browns made one of the most notable moves in the entire NFL offseason to bring in quarterback Deshaun Watson from the Houston Texans. Watson missed all last season due to sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations. None of the cases made it to court but Watson settled many of the claims privately.
Cleveland gave up multiple draft picks for the former Clemson star. They will be paying him a five-year contract worth $230 million. An initial six game suspension was moved to 11 games putting the Cleveland Browns in a dire situation at quarterback. Unless the Browns bring in another quarterback, Jacoby Brissett is expected to start the season for the team.
In the first preseason game, the Browns had Deshaun Watson start. Watson struggled in his Browns debut going one of five for seven yards. He played in three series and was booed very loudly from the Jaguars’ fan base. Brissett did not play at all.
On Sunday, the Eagles can expect Watson to get some work in before he has to sit for his suspension. Quarterbacks Josh Dobbs and Josh Rosen are also expected to play as they compete for the backup QB spot.
The Cleveland running game is led by Nick Chubb who will likely sit this game out. Amari Cooper, the former Cowboy and Raider, and Donovan Peoples-Jones are the Browns best receivers, and they will also likely sit out. Rookie, Jerome Ford out of Cincinnati, will be the Browns go to rusher in this game and is a threat as a receiver also.
Browns Defense
Cleveland has a pretty good defense. Their secondary is led by cornerback Denzel Ward who was ranked a top-100 NFL player. Ward is paired with Greg Newsome who had a strong rookie season in 2021.
The Browns also have a dominant defensive line with Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney playing defensive end and Jordan Elliott and Taven Bryan playing defensive tackle. This unit ranked ninth in the NFL last season in number of sacks.
The Eagles will likely see the reserves for most of the game as the Browns defensive unit is in pretty good shape. Cleveland had the fifth ranked defense in the NFL a year ago. The Browns were 13th in points allowed, 12th in rush yards allowed, and fifth in pass yards allowed. If Jalen Hurts does play, the Browns defense is a good test for him.
Prediction
Browns 23 Eagles 17
It is tough to predict a meaningless preseason game. The Eagles starters looked really good a week ago and reportedly played well in the joint practice with the Browns this week. This means head coach Nick Sirianni will likely pull the starters out of the game early if they play at all.
The Browns have a more dire need to get their offense clicking. Deshaun Watson needs his reps as he has not played since the 2020 season and will miss 11 games this year. The Browns will also need to evaluate their backup quarterback spot.
Expect the game to be close, but the Browns will probably pull away in the second half. The Eagles successful offseason and summer will not be affected by the outcome this game.