Eagles Postgame Report: Birds Tie Cleveland Browns In Second Contest

The Eagles did not come away with their first win of the preseason Thursday Night after a game that saw some rough edges for the Birds.

Once again, the result doesn’t truly matter. Despite that, there was still a feeling that it’d have been nice to see more.

Ultimately, the Eagles worked this into a tie game. The final score was 18-18 (overtime is not played in preseason).

Offensive MVP: Tanner McKee

The backup quarterback position was supposed to be pretty clean-cut but McKee as a rookie could be pushing to be the team’s top backup already. In this game, he went an impressive 10/18. At least three of those incompletions were drops by the wide receiver. He wound up with 147 yards, a touchdown, two-point conversion, a 100.9 rating and 15 of the team’s points came while he was running the offense.

Defensive MVP: Zach Cunningham

The starting linebacker next to Nakobe Dean is yet to be named, but Cunningham has to have himself in great position. He lead this game with seven tackles including one for loss. Not only did he clean up runs that made it through the line, but he’s affected the passer and brought pressure and got his hands into passing lanes.

Game Notes

• Poor hand play in coverage for the Eagles second-team secondary. Both Josh Jobe and Zech McPhearson found themselves step in step with receivers throughout the game, but they never put their hands up to break up the play. The lone play was made by McPhearson and should have been an INT, but Street dropped a ball that fell into his arms.
• Strong play from Nolan Smith on the edge, but some concern with the Carter and Jordan interior. Don’t want to see nearly that many running backs getting through the middle of the line past that duo.
• UDFA LB Ben VanSumeren was in hot pursuit regularly on special teams making those tackles. He looks like a candidate to take the roster spot that may be up for grabs with Shaun Bradley out for the season. 
• They played against different levels of players, but McKee looked like a far stronger backup QB candidate than Mariota. Even if the playstyle doesn’t match that of Hurts, he could be a gem for the team’s future depth.
• His injury and QB play didn’t help, but Olamide Zaccheaus looked good. He was open as a quick option for at least 3-4 yards seemingly each play off the line of scrimmage if they want to use that option.
• Recent free agent acquisition Zach Cunningham seems like he’s firmly entrenched now as the starter opposite Nakobe Dean.
• Christian Elliss and Nick Morrow both flashed some good play recognition once again. The difference was Elliss cleaned up multiple times on those opportunities.
• Greg Ward wasn’t in the stats much at the end of the game, but he was open down the field quite often even if the ball wasn’t going to him or not getting there.

Injury Notes

• Olamide Zaccheaus left in the first quarter with a shoulder injury and did not return. It’s unknown if he’d have been playing at that point anyway.
• Nolan Smith walked off with an injury in the second quarter. He seemed to be in good spirits, however. He was back on the sidelines for the second half.
• Zech McPhearson left the field with a leg injury and wound up being carted to the locker room after getting to the sidelines in the second quarter.
• Josh Andrews left the game with injury but remained on the sidelines.
• A pretty serious looking injury took place with receiver Tyrie Cleveland, who had to be carted off the field with a neck injury. Cleveland did look like he was pushing for a roster spot in the first preseason game. It’d seem unlikely he returns anytime soon after he was driven into the ground head-first and did not get back up.
• Seventh-round pick Moro Ojomu also found himself carted off with a head/neck injury. He may not have been a top-of-the-roster candidate for many fans, but he has had a very good camp and has looked the part of an NFL player. This injury occurred as he lunged to get a runner and his head was hit by the hip of another player going for a tackle.

Cleveland Browns @ Philadelphia Eagles – August 17, 2023