1.After a quick Browns drive resulted in no points, the Eagles put together a nice drive, going 48 yards in 10 plays. But on a fourth-down play, the Eagles came up short and the Browns offense went to work.
Tyrod Taylor led the Browns down the field with relative ease. The Browns traveled 54 yards on their first two plays: first with a run by Carlos Hyde for 33 yards and then a Nick Chubb 21-yard dash. David Njoku caught a pass that put the Browns in a goal-to-go situation from the 1, but the Browns threw the ball on each play — all incomplete — and turned the ball over on downs. On the fourth-down play, Taylor fell awkwardly to the grass, and immediately went to the medical tent with a hand injury.
The Eagles, starting their drive on the 1-yard line, seemed to avoid trouble after a Wendell Smallwood 4-yard run. But then, Nick Foles dropped back to pass and tripped in the end zone. As he was getting back to his feet, he was touched down by Myles Garrett, but he got up and completed a pass anyways. Originally called a catch by Philadelphia, the call was reversed. The Browns took a 2-0 lead early.
2. After Taylor's injury, Baker Mayfield took his first career snaps with the first-team offense late in the first quarter and led the Browns into Eagles territory before turning the ball over on downs.
After two plays for no gain, Foles dropped back to pass on third-and-10. He was met by a cast of Browns defenders, including Myles Garrett and Genard Avery. Avery swatted the ball out of Foles' hands and Emmanuel Ogbah fell on it. The Browns had their first of four turnovers. Garrett seemed to live in the Philadelphia backfield during the first half and registered two sacks.
Mayfield again took the field, and the Browns started at the Eagles 34. It appeared Mayfield would give the ball back to the Eagles after a Fletcher Cox strip sack, but Chris Hubbard pounced on the loose ball, and the Browns retained possession. On the Browns drive, they ran three plays and lost 1 yard, but were fortunately in field goal range. Zane Gonzalez, who is locked in a battle with Ross Martin for the kicking job, knocked in a 54-yard field goal to up Cleveland's lead to 5-0 early in the second quarter.
3. After Philadelphia started on the 25-yard line, Nick Foles threw a pass that was deflected by a rushing Jamie Meder. The ball hung in the air for quite some time and was picked off by Briean Boddy-Calhoun, who was playing a roaming free safety.
And with that, Taylor returned to the field for the first time since the hand injury. But the Browns offense stalled and punted. From there, Philadelphia finally put together a drive again. Foles completed a 29-yard pass to DeAndre Carter and Wendell Smallwood added 31 yards in two carries. The Eagles, however, continued their turnover spree with Terrence Mitchell getting in on the action. Matt Jones caught a short pass, and Mitchell dug the ball out of his hands to force a fumble. Larry Ogunjobi recovered.
But the Browns offense was halted again, and Foles had the Eagles on the doorstep of a touchdown a few plays later. The Eagles were in the red zone and ready to take the lead from the Browns 7-yard-line, when Foles fired a pass that hit Browns linebacker Jamie Collins square in the numbers. Collins had the Browns fourth turnover of the half to keep the Eagles off the board.
4. Some Nick Chubb runs, mixed with a defensive holding call, put the Browns on the Philadelphia 16 early in the fourth quarter. The drive, though, slammed to a halt when Baker Mayfield threw a ball right to the chest of Avonte Maddox, who had a clear path to the end zone. Derrick Willies had other thoughts. Willies tripped Maddox up to keep the Eagles from scoring. After a failed drive, Jake Elliott missed a 33-yard field goal wide left that would've cut the Browns lead to 2.
Drew Stanton and the Cleveland offense stalled, but so did the Nate Sudfeld-led Eagles. The Browns ran the clock out and preserved a 5-0 shutout win.
