The Cleveland Browns won their second preseason game in a row, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 22-13. QB Dillon Gabriel got the start, so how did Cleveland’s other rookie do in his start compared to QB Shedeur Sanders? Let’s get to the full game recap to see how he did.
1st Quarter - Browns vs. Eagles
QB Dillon Gabriel got the start and had completions on three consecutive third down situations to get the ball into Philadelphia territory. An end around to WR Greg Larvadain was wide open, getting 16 yards down to the 5 yard line, on a drive that had taken up half of the first quarter already. A handoff to RB Ahmani Marshall picked up 1 yard to get down to the 4 yard line. One play later, Marshall got the handoff again and found the cutback lane for a touchdown to give the Browns a 6-0 lead.
The snap on the extra point came in low from the backup long snapper, and Cleveland aborted the play by just throwing it away.
Cleveland’s defense was up next, facing former Browns QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who is competing the No. 3 job in Philadelphia. After DTR got one completion, he was about to be sacked and tried to throw the ball away sideways. The pass was batted up in the air backwards, and then a few Philly linemen batted it, with the Eagles’ running back then catching it for a big loss. More pressure on third down forced an incompletion and a punt. Larvadain gained 7 yards on the punt return, but had a couple of nice moves to get those yards.
Gabriel continued to be surgical against the Eagles, making quick decisions with great ball placement and a nice mix of passes to both sides of the field. That included this 18-yard completion to WR Cedric Tillman:
2nd Quarter - Browns vs. Eagles
The Browns began with a 1st-and-10 at the Eagles’ 31 yard line to start the second quarter. All of that good momentum from the first quarter faded in a flash, when Gabriel tried to rip a short pass to either TE Blake Whiteheart or WR Diontae Johnson. The pass was between both of them, but both receivers also kind of pulled up or didn’t know who the ball was for, and DB Andrew Mukuba obliged and took it all the way for a touchdown.
With the Eagles up 7-6 now, Gabriel’s first pass of the next drive was an incomplete screen pass. On a third down pass, Gabriel stayed calm and hit WR Jamari Thrash for a catch-and-run underneath that went for 19 yards to midfield. A few plays later, the Eagles finally got a third down stop after the left tackle whiffed, allowing Gabriel to be sacked. K Dustin Hopkins came on and kicked a 47-yard field goal to put the Browns back on top 9-7.
On defense, DE Isaiah McGuire came in on third down to sack DTR, forcing another punt right back to the Browns. For perspective, with the Browns beginning their next drive at their own 31 yard line, they currently held the yardage advantage 153 to 7.
However, turnovers were the story of Cleveland’s offense, as on the very first play, Gabriel went for a stretch handoff to RB Pierre Strong Jr. Strong closed his arms before the ball was stuck in there, leading to a botched handoff and fumble, which — guess who — Mukuba recovered.
QB Kyle McCord then came on for Philadelphia and was able to engineer the short touchdown drive, getting the 9 yard touchdown pass. Their two-point try failed, making it a 13-9 game with 1:57 to go in the first half.
Then, it was Gabriel’s turn to try leading a drive. He drove the Browns down to the Eagles’ 31 yard line again, but on a 4th-and-3, they let the clock run down so K Andre Szmyt could come on for a 49-yard field goal attempt. He nailed it, to cut the Eagles’ lead to 13-12 at the half.
3rd Quarter - Browns vs. Eagles
The Eagles went three-and-out to begin the second half. After the punt, it was QB Tyler Huntley’s turn to lead the offense for the second week in a row. After a couple of 2-yard gains by Strong, Huntley’s third down screen pass was sniffed out by the defense for a loss of 1 yard. P Corey Bojorquez then got off his worst punt of the preseason, as it traveled just 30 yards to give Philadelphia good starting field position near midfield.
DTR then re-entered the game, and his performance on the day just kept getting disastrous, not boding well for his odds of winning the third quarterback job. The snap was a little high, but DTR bobbled it into the air. Then, DE Julian Okwara blasted DTR as he tried to throw the ball, which ended up being a short duck that was picked off by DE K.J. Henry, who returned it 45 yards for the touchdown and a 19-13 lead for the Browns.
McCord then came back in at quarterback for the Eagles. He wasn’t much better, nearly getting picked off on third down. He didn’t, though, so the Eagles punted down to the Browns’ 13 yard line. Cleveland’s next drive was dead-in-the-water after an end around to WR Kaden Davis was read easily by the defense, going for a loss of 11 yards. Bojorquez’ next punt was better than his last, going for a net of 48 yards to the Eagles’ 27 yard line with 5 minutes to go in the third quarter.
Both teams continued trading three-and-outs in the third quarter with very little offense.
4th Quarter - Browns vs. Eagles
Then, on the first play of the fourth quarter, on 3rd-and-2, Strong broke free to the outside for a 54 yard gain. They could do nothing more, though, being stopped at the 10 yard line.
On 4th-and-2 at the 10, they decided to go for it. Huntley had three options, but couldn’t hit any of them — the play wouldn’t have counted anyway due to an offsides by the offense, leading to a turnover on downs.
The Browns got the ball right back after the defense smothered Philly again. Huntley couldn’t convert in the red zone again, and this time, on 4th-and-8 at the 15 yard line, Szmyt came on to hit a 33-yard field goal to give the Browns a two-possession lead at 22-13 with seven minutes to go in the game.
The Eagles got close to midfield, but then four straight incompletions by McCord with five yards to go led to a turnover on downs. Cleveland was able to kneel out the clock from there.
Preseason Game 2 Quick Hitters
It was a mixed bag for QB Dillon Gabriel. He looked sharp on the drives he was leading, having good ball placement and nice arm strength to zip those passes where they needed to be. After a perfect first quarter, though, a somewhat broken play (two receivers in the same area) led to him throwing the ball in between them both, where the defender picked it for six. There was also a botched handoff to the running back, leading to another turnover. I think Gabriel and Sanders have shown me enough to where I can say we don’t need to carry two veteran quarterbacks on the roster.
The defense didn’t let up against these Eagles backups.
WR Jamari Thrash looked smooth with some of his catch-and-runs, and the versatility of WR Greg Larvadain continues to be intriguing.
QB Dillon Gabriel: 13-of-18 for 143 yards, 1 INT, 1 fumble.
RB Pierre Strong: 13 carries, 89 yards (6.8 YPC).