Browns on the rise, but Eagles look to be fading

CLEVELAND — There they were. The best team from last season versus the worst, facing off in the third week of the preseason, which is traditionally the dress rehearsal for the regular season.

But neither the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles nor the cellardweller Browns closely resembled their 2017 forms Thursday night at First Energy Stadium. For the Browns, that’s a good thing, but for the Eagles, that’s troubling.

You see, for all the optimistic buzz surrounding the Browns this offseason and preseason, there’s equally as much uncertainty overshadowing the Eagles just weeks away from the season opener.

Make no mistake, fireworks proved scarce in the Browns’ 5-0 win over the Eagles. (No, that’s not a typo or the score from an Indians-Phillies matchup). And it’s the preseason, where nothing is ever as bad as it seems and scarcely as good as they appear.

But the Browns’ trajectory seemingly continued upward while the Eagles remained stagnant and coach Doug Pederson left the stadium with more frustrations and questions than anyone would have expected when training camp kicked off nearly a month ago.

Pederson and his players have long maintained that they can’t rest on their Lombardi Trophy laurels. It’s a new year, they said from the time that they reported for spring practices, and they maintained that message as training camp began.

The Eagles understood that things change far too quickly in this league, and although the Patriots make it look easy, it’s far more difficult to remain atop the heap than it is to ascend from the basement.

But no one in the organization anticipated the struggles we’ve seen from Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles and the offense. Instead of taking steps forward Thursday, Foles & Co. regressed.

No one could explain a first-half performance that featured two Foles interceptions, a fumble, a safety, a turnover on downs, and a fumble by running back Matt Jones.

“It’s not fun playing the way I did. I really hurt us tonight,” Foles said after the game.

And exiting halftime, Pederson vented to Fox reporter Erin Andrews about Foles, saying, “I don’t know (what’s wrong with him). It’s very disappointing. He was calm before this game, I thought he would settle in. Not the case.”

But Pederson had cooled off for his postgame news conference saying, “First of all, I’m disappointed in the offense. I don’t want to single out one player, so don’t put this all on Nick. I’m disappointed in the offense. It’s obviously not what you want in the third preseason week.”

Again, it’s important to remember that it’s the preseason, where teams do little game-planning and studying of an opponent, and play-callers keep their schemes simple. And five would-be starters (quarterback Carson Wentz, running back Jay Ajayi, receivers Alshon Jeffery and Nelson Agholor and left tackle Jason Peters) did not suit up. There was so much shuffling that left guard Isaac Seumalo also wound up lining up at center, left tackle and tight end during the first half.

But it’s how the Eagles played, and have played throughout the preseason, that proved concerning and frustrating for Pederson. Tight end Zach Ertz said it best when he said, “Everyone is pressing.”

That’s not good. Throughout their improbable run to the Super Bowl, the Eagles were as loose a team as the postseason has ever seen. They donned rubber dog masks, embracing their underdog billing. They danced, they rapped and sang, and on the field they flew around on defense and on offense. They generated fireworks, running all kinds of creative plays.

But now that they’re pressing, the Eagles are playing into the skepticism that numerous league insiders had about them entering this season.

Perhaps the Eagles will flip the switch once back to full strength in their Sept. 6 season opener against Atlanta. But much work, as much mental as physical, lies ahead in a short amount of time.

Meanwhile, it feels like the Browns have already flipped their switch.