by The Browns went on the road again today to Philadelphia to defeat the Eagles 22-13. The win was nice, but it came with some very big plays that should give the Browns a bit of encouragement coming into the regular season. Several signs stood out to us from this game that are worthy of note so let’s get right to them.
Cleveland Browns hit the big plays
In the course of this one, K.J. Henry intercepted a Dorian Thompson-Robinson third quarter pass for a 45-yard touchdown to hand the Browns a 19-13 lead, after starting the half trailing 13-12. Also, later in the game, it was Pierre Strong rattling off a 54-yard run. These are the kind of big plays the Browns sorely lacked last season and will need more of to compete this year.
The Kicking game was solid
Dustin Hopkins and Andre Szmyt went a combined 3 for 3 on field goal attempts. The twosome hit from 49, 46 and 33 yards. For the preseason, they are 4 for 4 on field goals. The Browns had major problems in the kicking game last year, so this may be a sign that things are getting back to normal. Even in the thinnest of times, they at least had a strong kicking game all those years with Phil Dawson. For an offense that may need to scratch and claw for every yard, a good kicking game is a must.
The Rookie QB’s look good enough to be QB2 and QB3 as the season opens up.
Both Dillion Gabriel and Sheuder Sanders looked good enough to back up eventual starter Joe Flacco. Gabriel went 13 of 18 for 143 while Sanders went 14 of 23 with 2 touchdowns and 138 yards. The two rookies combined have gone 27 of 41 for 281 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. In my honest opinion, they should start Flacco, cut both Huntley and Pickett, and keep both rookies on the 53-man roster.
