Philadelphia Eagles: 3 Big takeaways from Preseason Week 3

The Philadelphia Eagles came into this week with much to improve on. Unfortunately, Week 3 against the Browns didn’t put any fans’ minds at ease

After three weeks of preseason football for the Philadelphia Eagles it’s safe to say the team can’t wait to put this all behind them and get ready to regular season action. Another loss puts the Eagles at 0-3 thus far, this loss being the most frustrating of them all.

Losing a preseason game isn’t that big a deal, but losing by a score of 5-0 to the Cleveland Browns is somewhat embarrassing. The Eagles clearly haven’t been able to ride the wave of momentum that comes from winning a Super Bowl. Instead, they look like a team with many problems that need fixing before the scores count for real.

It’s easy to have a negative feeling after that poor performance against the Browns, but one must remember that it’s only the preseason. What that being said, here are the big takeaways from the Eagles loss Thursday night in Cleveland.

3. The Defense

It would be easy to start with the negatives from Thursday night’s game, but let’s give credit where credit is due. The defense showed up against the Browns and gave us a glimpse of what we can look forward to this season.

The first-team defense only allowed a field goal as they looked like a completely different defense than the one that faced Tom Brady and the Patriots a week ago. Brady does have a habit of doing that to defenses. Browns quarterback Tyrod Taylor was able to lead a steady drive early in the game, but it ended with the Eagles making a goal-line stand to stop the Browns on fourth down.

Taylor was hurt on that fourth down play and in came the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, Baker Mayfield. The Eagles defense did what they are supposed to do against a rookie quarterback. They made him look like it was his first time on an NFL field. While Mayfield was able to make some nice throws, the Eagles were able to sack him twice and force an interception on a key third down in the red zone.

It was nice to see Jordan Hicks, who is recovering from an injury, come up with a big sack on Mayfield. And Fletcher Cox was doing Fletcher Cox things by causing disruptions in the backfield. The young secondary was tested as well when the Browns tried running “pick-plays” on the goal-line, but the Eagles were ready and able to shut those plays down.

Jim Schwartz had the defense looking like they were in midseason form. With some rest in Week 4 of the preseason, the defense looks ready to face Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons offense on NFL Opening Night.