Cleveland Browns lose 16-17 to Philadelphia Eagles – NFL Recap
As coach Pat Shurmur had predicted, the Cleveland Browns gave tough time to visiting Philadelphia Eagles in the season opener on Sunday night and were unlucky to lose the game 16-17 in the closing period after rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden led them to
a shaky start.
The Browns’ hopes for a victory were ruined by Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, who threw a four-yard touchdown pass to tight end to Clay Harbor with only 1:18 minutes left on the clock, taking the final score to 16-17.
Until then the opponents were made trail 10-16 by a brilliant effort from young Browns squad, although Brandon looked all over the field struggling to get his act together.
He completed 12 out of 35 passes for just 118 yards, threw four interceptions, several forced throws and could not find rhythm at all.
The rookie said of his first appearance in the season:
"It stings. It's going to sting for a few days, but I'm not going to let it get to me."
He added:
"I take a lot of pride in playing better than that. Our defence gave us every chance to win and offensively, myself included, took away from that. I'm down right now."
On the contrary, the Eagles QB looked better, but not far ahead of Brandon, as he managed to connect 29 of 56 passes for 317 yards. However, his throw for the final touchdown made the entire difference in the performance of the two and helped his team claim
the much-need victory over the Browns.
Vick said:
"I wasn't going to disappoint my coaches and I wasn't going to disappoint my teammates. Whatever it took, I was going to get it done."
He is true because if it was not down on the final throw, the Eagles were clearly heading to a humiliating loss, and the final score came as a sigh of relief for them.
The Browns coach apparently did not have much to say in his postgame remarks except for referring to a few specific plays of the game, which reflects his overall satisfaction with the performance by the team.
However, owner Jimmy Haslam III may not be that much satisfied with the Browns’ effort. He is nearing to officially accept the franchise’s ownership rights pending regulatory clearance of the $1 billion deal that was reached earlier in the offseason.
The Eagles’ was the first proper game of the Browns with new owner, which is expected to determine future of some members of the organisation including coaching staff, front office members and even players.
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