Philadelphia Eagles vs Cleveland Browns Match Preview: New Starting QBs Battle for their Teams; TV Schedule and Streaming Details
Who will prevail at the bottom of the power rankings?
NFL Sunday Night Football will not start with a marquee matchup. The two competitors, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Cleveland Browns, are the 25th and 31st teams in the Week 1 Power Rankings.
These two bottom-feeders do have a stock of rising talent. The most exciting face-off would, of course, be the quarterback position, where many stars—Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Cam Newton, to name a few—were born.
With the two teams not having much else on their arsenal, both teams would have to rely on greenhorn starters to carry either of them to victory.
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The pass-up
Philadelphia had traded away a staple quarterback in Sam Bradford, who was not really the best player in the league but still had valuable minutes in an Eagles uniform. The deal, however, was essential to building the team's future, as it granted them a 2017 first-round pick and a 2018 fourth-round pick.
They also still have a convincing option in Chase Daniel, but the Eagles refused to hand him the vacant role. Instead, they gave the opportunity to a younger Carson Wentz, the No. 2 overall pick in last year's draft.
Wentz only got action in the preseason opener before being sidelined by injuries, but the guy does have a tremendous upside. As the story goes, too, the Browns had chosen to pass him up during the 2015 draft. Cleveland wanted the No. 1 pick Jared Goff, and traded down for lesser Eagles picks just to stay away from Wentz.
Goff is not starting this season, and if Wentz can lead Philly to victory this Sunday, he could pull the upset on the team that did not believe in him.
The unnoticed
The Browns may not have believed in Wentz, but they did believe in new starter Robert Griffin III. Griffin had a bad time with the Washington Redskins, who preferred to let him live in obscurity last season and let him go too late.
Griffin, like Wentz, has a lot to prove; this is his fifth year in the league at a young age of 26. If he still has the form that named him 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year, he could set the tone for the Browns on Sunday. He will be throwing to Terrelle Pryor, and the pair showed ample chemistry during the preseason.
If the Browns are proven right in passing up Wentz and going for RG3, they might just have a terrific start to grueling NFL season. The last time they met, however, was back in 2012, when the Eagles beat them 17-16 on home floor.
Fans can watch the showdown on September 11, 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS or online through the NFL Game Pass.
