Scouting the Browns’ Preseason opponent: Philadelphia Eagles - Our Q&A with Bleeding Green Nation Tonight Cheap Britton Colquitt Youth Jersey , the Cleveland Browns play their third preseason game when they host the defending Super Bowl Champions, the Philadelphia Eagles. To help preview a few topics from the Eagles’ perspective, we reached out to Brandon Gowton from Bleeding Green Nation and exchanged five questions with him. (Dan Lalich took the lead this week — thanks, Dan!) Enjoy!Eagles fans are still all-in on Carson Wentz.Bill Streicher-USA TODAY SportsDan: “Are there any fans who still aren’t sold on Wentz? He had an up and down rookie year, then looked fantastic last season prior to getting injured. Playing devil’s advocate, the injury thing is starting to become a trend. Any worries about that going forward?”Brandon: “I can’t think of any Eagles fans that I know who aren’t sold on Wentz. Everyone is all-in after watching him come very close to winning the regular season NFL MVP award last year. He’s just the real deal. The perfect blend of intelligence, athletic ability, and toughness. The latter of those three attributes can lead to him being a little reckless at times, yes. But it also leads to him making some incredible plays that very few other quarterbacks in the league can pull off. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how he performs in Year 3 as he comes off his ACL/LCL surgery. The early indications are positive considering he’s looked healthy and sharp during offseason practices. I’m very excited to see what he has in store this year. This is his revenge tour after coming so close to finishing out a special 2017 season.”Nick Foles is in Canton.Kirby Lee-USA TODAY SportsDan: “How big of a shock was Nick Foles in the playoffs last year? Prior to that stretch, how did fans in Philly feel about him, given the mixed results of his earlier run with the team? I assume now it’s just a matter of time until he gets a statue.”Brandon: “The biggest Foles fans in the world can’t reasonably say they expected him to play as well as he did in the NFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl. After mightily struggling towards the end of December (46.9 completion rate, 48.2 passer rating, 4.1 yards per attempt in his final 49 attempts of the regular season) Cleveland Browns Lyndell Wilson Jersey , Foles went on to play like one of the best quarterbacks in post-season history. It’s often been said that Foles is a high variance quarterback and there is no greater example than that. Foles had a number of believers heading into the playoffs. People pointed back to the 2013 season when he threw 27 touchdowns to only two interceptions. I was admittedly more skeptical considering the stats didn’t always reflect the true quality of Foles’ performance. Given his struggles at times, I don’t think I was totally off base, but I clearly doubted him too much. There’s no question Foles will always be a legend in Philly. But his accomplishments must be remembered in the context of how Wentz left the team in great position to succeed without him. All Foles had to do was beat a listless Giants team that ended up with the No. 2 overall pick and an uninspiring Raiders squad to clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC. He didn’t even play well in one of those two games. From there, the Eagles had two straight home games before going on to play and defeat the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Foles was able to do his part thanks to Wentz setting the stage very nicely for him.”Dan: “After the Cavs won the championship in 2016, it felt like a weight was lifted off of the city of Cleveland. I wouldn’t say expectations went down for fans, but there was definitely a sense of “we got one, I can die happy now.” Is that true for Philadelphia fans, or is there a different vibe?”Brandon: “100% true. This was one of my first tweets after watching the Eagles win the Super Bowl live from the stands in Minnesota:For all you Lord Of The Rings nerds out there, I recently compared the Eagles winning their first Lombardi Trophy to when Aragorn freed The Dead Men of Dunharrow after they fulfilled their promise to help him defend Minas Tirith. The city of Philadelphia can finally rest in peace.With that said, the hunger to repeat is very much real. Or it should be, at least. The Eagles have a real window here to do something that’s only been done once before in the salary cap era. Repeating won’t be easy, of course, but it doesn’t seem impossible considering the Eagles arguably have one of the best quarterback/head coach/general manager triumvirates in the league.”The Eagles don’t have Mychal Kendricks any more, but that doesn’t make linebacker their weakest position group.Ken Blaze-USA TODAY SportsDan: “What do you think are the strongest and weakest position groups on the Eagles?”Brandon: “Assuming Wentz is at full health Womens Lyndell Wilson 2019 Jersey , the strongest position is quarterback. He was right in the mix for MVP last year. Then his backup won Super Bowl MVP. Third string quarterback Nate Sudfeld has had a strong preseason and looks like he could at least be a quality backup in this league. He’ll likely fill that role behind Wentz when Foles leaves after this season. Putting QB aside, since I’ve talked about that a lot already, I’d say defensive end. Brandon Graham, Michael Bennett, Chris Long, Derek Barnett, Steven Means, and Josh Sweat is a deep lineup of pass rushers. The Eagles led the NFL in total pressures generated last season (per Pro Football Focus) and their pass rush rotation is a big reason why. Some (such as maybe Mychal Kendricks) would point to linebacker as the weakest position, but my biggest concern is the defensive tackle spot right now. Fletcher Cox is an absolute beast but I don’t even know who’s going to be starting next to him. Usually it would be Timmy Jernigan but he’s going to start the season on the non-football injury list and it’s unclear if he’ll even play this year. Haloti Ngata and Destiny Vaeao aren’t difference makers. The fourth defensive tackle spot might be won by an undrafted rookie free agent. The Eagles were able to win the Super Bowl largely thanks in part to the strong play they got from the trenches. It’s disconcerting to see a weak spot on one of those units.”WR Shelton Gibson has had a big preseason for the Eagles so far.Kirt Dozier-USA TODAY SportsDan: “Who is one under-the-radar player you think Browns fans should be looking out for on Thursday?”Brandon: “Shelton Gibson is having a great summer. The 2017 fifth-round pick has amassed seven catches for 167 yards (23.9 average) and two touchdowns through two preseason games so far. He’s a big-play threat who has the ability to simply run by opposing cornerbacks. He’s not just a one-tricky pony in that regard, though, as his route-running has improved and he can get open underneath. Gibson could prove to be pesky for the Browns to cover.”Dan: “BONUS question — How many games do you realistically expect the Browns to win this year, and why is it 19?”Brandon: “I’m going to go slightly under 19 and say 鈥?4 or 5. It’s hard for me to expect a team that’s gone 1-31 over the last two years and has a very suspect coaching staff to take a massive leap this year. For the sake of Browns fans, I hope I’m wrong. I’m just having a tough time going over my projection after looking at their 2018 schedule.”Thanks again to Brandon for taking the time to answer our questions. All the Ravens had to do to make the playoffs was beat the Browns.It’s not as easy as it used to be.Baltimore needed a late fourth-down interception to stifle Baker Mayfield’s momentum, secure a 26-24 victory over Cleveland and wrap up the AFC North.The win ended the season for the Steelers Cleveland Browns Lyndell Wilson Jersey , who had closed out their own victory over Cincinnati minutes earlier and were standing on their home field, cheering for the Browns as they watched the end of the game in Baltimore on the scoreboard.Mayfield had trimmed a 13-point deficit to two and had the Browns on the march, but C.J. Mosley tipped and picked a fourth-down pass with 62 seconds left to seal the win.It prevented a nightmare repeat of last year, when all the Ravens had to do was beat the Bengals at home to clinch, but gave up a 49-yard touchdown pass with 44 seconds left to fall.Meanwhile, the Browns had a chance to finish with a winning record the season after going 0-16. Despite falling short (7-8-1), they show every sign of a team that will be in contention for the foreseeable future. Mayfield, the first pick in the 2018 draft, threw three touchdown passes and finishes with the rookie record for TD passes with 27.In case you missed it, here were some other highlights from the final week of the regular season in the NFL:BETTER LATE: The Indianapolis Colts took the last available playoff spot, defeating the Titans 33-17 in the 256th and final game of the regular season Sunday night. The Colts, only the third team in history to make the playoffs after a 1-5 start, play at Houston next Saturday in the wild card round. The defending-champion Eagles beat Washington and captured the NFC’s sixth seed when the Vikings lost to the Bears. All of Philly will be watching Nick Foles this week to see if he recovers from a chest injury in time for the game at Chicago on Sunday. Other games next weekend: Seahawks at Cowboys on Saturday and Chargers at Ravens on Sunday.NEAR MISS: Nothing’s been easy for the Arizona Cardinals this season. That didn’t change Sunday. Needing only a loss on the road against a playoff team — the Seahawks — to secure the top pick, the Cardinals nearly blew it. They were tied at 24 heading into the final seconds. Sebastian Janikowski got them off the hook by making a 33-yard field goal to hand the Cardinals their league-leading 13th defeat and put them on the clock for the April 25 draft. Possible pick: defensive lineman Nick Bosa of Ohio State (Cards took QB Josh Rosen last year). Waiting in the wings were the Niners Cheap Lyndell Wilson Youth Jersey , who fell convincingly, 48-32 to the Rams, but only lost 12 games this year and will settle for the second pick.ANYONE CAN DO IT: Kyle Williams lined up in the backfield, ran out to the flat, made the catch and turned up field for a nine-yard gain. Nothing too special — except that Williams is a defensive end, playing in the final game of his 13-year career — all with the Buffalo Bills. Williams wasn’t the only one given a rare chance to show off his hands. Quarterbacks Matt Ryan and Ryan Tannehill each caught touchdown passes. Also moving outside his comfort zone was Detroit Lions kicker Matt Prater , who lined up for what looked like a field-goal attempt, but took the snap and threw a perfect pass to Levine Toilolo for a touchdown against Green Bay.EXPENSIVE SEAT: It might have been the most expensive seat in the NFL on Sunday. Inactive due to injury, Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette spent much of his team’s 20-3 loss to the Texans sitting on the bench, talking with teammate T.J. Yeldon (who was active but didn’t play) and seemingly disinterested in the action. Tom Coughlin was not impressed. “They were disrespectful, selfish and their behavior was unbecoming that of a professional football player,” the team executive said in a statement after the game. Previously, the Jaguars notified the fourth pick of the 2017 draft that his suspension earlier this season voided the guarantees for his $7.1 million salary over 2019 and 2020. To be continued …JOIN THE CLUB: Among those finding themselves in rare company Sunday: Saquon Barkley. With help of a 68-yard touchdown run, the Giants back joined Eric Dickerson and Edgerrin James as only the third rookie to gain 2 Orange Jaelen Strong Jersey ,000 yards from scrimmage. (Barkley also had a “slam dunk” touchdown run.) Also, Patrick Mahomes joined Peyton Manning as the second QB to throw for 5000 yards and 50 TDs in the same season.LATER, COACH: The Buccaneers let their latest loss sink in for about three hours before cutting ties with coach Dirk Koetter, who leaves Tampa with a 19-29 record over three seasons. The Jets said goodbye to Todd Bowles, who went 24-40 over four years. On Monday, Adam Gase (Miami), Vance Joseph (Denver), Marvin Lewis (Cincinnati) and Steve Wilks (Arizona) got their pink slips, as expected.