Eagles vs. Browns Notes & Takeaways (Preseason Week 2, 2022)

Good Jobe

Give credit to the announcer for giving this play proper context. Jobe’s assignment was keeping contain, and when D’Ernest Johnson broke back inside, he made the tackle to prevent a large gain. Despite a later pass interference call, I liked what little I saw from Jobe today. He’s only a rookie, but he was around the ball a couple of times today, getting a tackle and a pass breakup to keep the Browns from shifting the balance in what ended up being a close game.

You Shall Not Pass!

Scoring opportunities for opponents are extremely stressful. There are these built-up nerves on the couch as fans wait to see whether or not the defense will break. To my pleasant surprise, I found that the defense held quite well in these high-pressure situations. It was difficult to stop the Browns’ run game, but two specific moments where the Eagles held their ground were towards the end of the second half when their options became stand tall or go home without a win. Questions linger regarding the depth of our defense, but for today, the defense held strong when it needed to.

Individual Plays

Kenneth Gainwell 4th down conversion

For a minute, Boston Scott was giving the Eagles something to think about for the RB2 job, despite how well Gainwell did last year. Everyone knows nothing is set in stone, though, so Gainwell had to show, “hey, I can still run, too!” So when Gainwell got in the game, he picked up where he left off last year, first going for 16 yards on a 3rd and 13 halfback draw (a down and distance call that made me think Doug Pederson was calling plays for a second). Then, after making up for getting stuffed earlier, he further made his presence felt by punching in a TD for a game where, again, every point mattered.

Boston Scott TD

Kenneth Gainwell is nice. This has been known, It was a joke, however, that Scott seemingly only shows up against New York teams. Well, last I checked, the Browns are from Cleveland, and the Eagles have a killer offensive line. So, to put the narratives around him to rest, Scott did good work on a rainy day in CLE’s stadium, pushing his team down the field the same way Cain did. Seeing the Eagles commit to the run is so refreshing. Perhaps it’s because it’s the preseason, perhaps it’s because of the ridiculous depth on our offensive line, but it was nevertheless refreshing. Even better was unlike on the Cain drive, Boston Scott capitalized to put the Eagles ahead six, setting the tone early.

Devon Allen TD

For anyone who’s been keeping tabs on Allen, he’s been one of the more interesting ones to watch this offseason: an Olympic gold medalist track and field runner who is now getting his shot with the Philadelphia Eagles. With that kind of speed, it was inevitable he was going to show up big at one point or another. I was not expecting, however, that he would haul in a 55-yard touchdown on his first touch as a Philadelphia Eagle. Similar to the Cowboys with KaVontae Turpin, the Eagles found they had a gem within moments of Allen having an opportunity. Beautiful.