Eagles vs. Browns predictions: Our writers make their picks for a pivotal Week 6 clash

The Eagles (2-2) will host the Cleveland Browns (1-4) on Sunday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field, their first home game since Sept. 16. Here are our writers’ predictions for Week 6.

Kevin Stefanski is likely to test the Eagles with short passes to get Amari Cooper and the Browns’ skill position players in space. Fangio’s back seven didn’t tackle well against the Tampa Bay Bucs and, aside from the New Orleans Saints game, they haven’t for most of the season. But this could be the week the Eagles’ front gets a bulk number of sacks to help the back seven. Deshaun Watson has been sacked 15 times in the last two games.

I may have overestimated the Eagles in the early going, even though I thought they’d need some time to adjust to new schemes on both sides of the ball. But it was also hard to predict injuries to key players. Nick Sirianni should have been able to weather his team through those early storms better than he did, but I think getting A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Lane Johnson back will be more than enough to beat a seemingly plummeting Browns squad. Jim Schwartz has a lot of pride and he has the horses to help Stefanski scrape out a win against the team the St. Joseph’s Prep and Penn product grew up supporting. But picking the Browns in this scenario seems too bold.

Prediction: Eagles 24, Browns 20

The Eagles were thrown a bone this week, when Stefanski, who grew up in Wayne and played football at St. Joseph’s Prep, decided to stick with Watson as his starter. Cleveland has one of the better backups in football in Jameis Winston, but they also have Watson under the second-largest guaranteed contract in the NFL.

As for the Eagles offense, having Brown, Smith, and Johnson back should make a big difference. Sunday will likely mark the first time since Week 1 that the Eagles have all of their weapons at their disposal. Cleveland has been better against the pass than it has against the run, and the Browns, like the Eagles, are having tackling problems.

Expect Saquon Barkley to set the tone, and for the Eagles to show what their full-powered offense is capable of.

It’s a can’t-lose game that the Eagles shouldn’t lose.

Prediction: Eagles 31, Browns 17

The Eagles are getting well from a health perspective. Can they get well in the box score, too? It helps that their next opponent boasts one of the least formidable passing offenses in the league, in large part due to their quarterback.Watson has played some of his worst football this season, posting a career low in passing yards per attempt (3.76) and a second-to-last passer rating (51.1) against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1. He’s now gone five straight games without throwing for 200 yards.

Additionally, the Browns blitz at the third-highest rate (37.9%). The Eagles have improved against the blitz compared to last season, but they had their struggles in their loss to the Buccaneers. If the Eagles can come up with answers against the blitz, force the Browns to miss tackles in space (according to Pro Football Reference, Cleveland is tied for the eighth most missed tackles in the league), and generate the explosive plays that were hard to come by in Week 4, then the Eagles should notch their first win of the season at home.

Prediction: Eagles 24, Browns 17

Surely the Eagles can’t drop this game, right?

The shaky defensive performances early in the season notwithstanding, this matchup against the Browns should offer a chance for the Eagles defense to right the ship at least temporarily. Not only does Cleveland’s offense rank dead last in DVOA, but there’s a sizable gap between them and the 31st-ranked Miami Dolphins. Watson has been sacked more than any quarterback in the NFL so far this season, giving the Eagles pass rush a chance at a turnaround performance coming out of the bye week.

» READ MORE: Kevin Stefanski compares Saquon Barkley to an all-time great as the Browns prepare for the Eagles offense

The Browns defense, led by Schwartz has enough talent to present the Eagles some challenges. Myles Garrett is a game-wrecking force, Denzel Ward can be a lockdown corner, and the linebacking duo of former Eagles draft pick Jordan Hicks and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah can cloud the picture in the middle of the field. Still, the Eagles offense at full strength is good enough to find answers against Cleveland. That should be enough for a win, although it may not be an emphatic one.

Prediction: Eagles 24, Browns 13

The Eagles (2-2) will host the Cleveland Browns (1-4) on Sunday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field, their first home game since Sept. 16. Here are our writers’ predictions for Week 6.

The Eagles’ bye came at the right time in terms of the team’s health. While the absence of wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and right tackle Lane Johnson wasn’t the lone cause for the offense’s ineptitude against the Bucs, those three are still among the best players on the roster. Getting them back should help quarterback Jalen Hurts immensely. Duh. But it’s not going to be easy against a solid Cleveland defense. If the 1-4 Browns are going to upset the Eagles at home, they’ll likely do so because of Jim Schwartz’s unit. The former Eagles defensive coordinator still employs the same wide-nine, one-gap penetrating front, but he’s been more apt to dial up blitzes than he has historically.

You wouldn’t think Schwartz would need to generate more pressure with his talented D-line, but he’s likely sent extra rushers to offset the inferiority of his secondary. Denzel Ward is a high-caliber cornerback, but he’s been dealing with a hamstring injury and didn’t practice until Friday. Schwartz doesn’t typically have his top corner shadow one receiver, but if Ward is up to it, he could follow Brown. The Browns have used a lot of man-to-man coverages this season, so expect to see man-beater rub routes and mesh concepts from Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.

Hurts has held the ball too long at times and that won’t likely work vs. the Browns. Defensive end Myles Garrett will wreck a game if he isn’t dealt with in pass protection. Jordan Mailata has improved since Garrett dominated him in joint practices a few years back, but the Eagles will likely help the left tackle with doubles and chip blocks. If that’s the case, the interior O-line will need to step up in potential one-on-ones vs. the Browns’ defensive tackles, especially against Za’Darius Smith. Right guard Mekhi Becton could be who Schwartz attacks the most. Meanwhile, in the run and screen game, expect to see a variety of gadget-type plays and misdirections from the Eagles to prey on the Browns’ aggressiveness.

On defense, the Eagles are coming off a woeful performance in Tampa. They covered and tackled horribly. The Bucs exploited them in the short-intermediate passing game and neutralized a pass rush that has yet to show any teeth. Can the Browns take advantage in the same way? It’s unlikely considering how quarterback Deshaun Watson has played this season. He hasn’t seen the field well and has been inaccurate on throws downfield. Injuries on the O-line have contributed to his struggles. Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter should be able to win if singled up against right guard Zak Zinter.

Browns coach and offensive play caller Kevin Stefanski has leaned on his three-receiver sets, which should keep the Eagles in nickel for most of the day. Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has increasingly introduced more fronts to counter offenses that have run on his light boxes, but the Browns have been without running back Nick Chubb (knee) and their reserves haven’t been as dangerous in his stead. Cleveland’s run blocking has been spotty too.

Stefanski is likely to test the Eagles with short passes to get Amari Cooper and the Browns’ skill position players in space. Fangio’s back seven didn’t tackle well against the Bucs and, aside from the New Orleans Saints game, they haven’t for most of the season. But this could be the week the Eagles’ front gets a bulk number of sacks to help the back seven. Watson has been sacked 15 times in the last two games.

I may have overestimated the Eagles in the early going, even though I thought they’d need some time to adjust to new schemes on both sides of the ball. But it was also hard to predict injuries to key players. Nick Sirianni should have been able to weather his team through those early storms better than he did, but I think getting Brown, Smith, and Johnson back will be more than enough to beat a seemingly plummeting Browns squad. Schwartz has a lot of pride and he has the horses to help Stefanski scrape out a win against the team the St. Joseph’s Prep and Penn product grew up supporting. But picking the Browns in this scenario seems too bold.

Prediction: Eagles 24, Browns 20

How much did the Eagles learn about themselves during their self-scouting experience during their week off? How effectively did they implement the necessary fixes this week in practice as they prepare to resume their 2024 season with a 2-2 record and a lot of work to do?

How much of what afflicts a stagnant offense will be fixed simply by the return of Brown, Smith, and Johnson?

We’ll have a lot of answers come 4 p.m. Sunday.

The Eagles probably couldn’t ask for a much better scenario coming out of the bye. They get a 1 p.m. home game on a forecasted beautiful October day against a bad team that is getting league-worst quarterback play from Watson. It’s one they almost can’t screw up. But the last 11 Eagles games have shown that anything is possible.

For the record, this would be a bad, bad loss.

Cleveland’s overall DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average) is the lowest in the league. The Browns have one of the worst offenses in the sport. They score just 15.8 points per game, 30th among the 32 NFL teams, and Watson’s 21.0 quarterback rating is the worst among starting quarterbacks.

» READ MORE: Eagles’ Darius Slay is frankly surprised by the reaction to his podcast hit with Dallas’ Micah Parsons

The Eagles were thrown a bone this week, when Stefanski, who grew up in Wayne, decided to stick with Watson as the starter. Cleveland has one of the better backups in football in Jameis Winston, but they also have Watson under the second-largest guaranteed contract in the NFL.

The Eagles’ defense has struggled, particularly against the run, though its coverage vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers left a lot to be desired. They’re likely to dare Watson to beat them. Cleveland hasn’t gotten much help on the ground with Chubb returning to practice last week for the first time since knee surgery ended his 2023 season in Week 2. The Browns have too often been forced to have Watson drop back behind one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL. The pass blocking has been so bad that, according to Pro Football Focus, the team’s five highest-graded pass blockers so far this season are four tight ends and a running back.

The pass rush has been mostly toothless so far for the Eagles, but opportunity awaits on Sunday.

As for the offense, the reinforcements should make a big difference. Sunday will likely mark the first time since Week 1 that the Eagles have all of their weapons at their disposal. Cleveland has been better against the pass than it has against the run, and the Browns, like the Eagles, are having tackling problems.

Expect Saquon Barkley to set the tone, and for the Eagles to show what their full-powered offense is capable of.

It’s a can’t-lose game that the Eagles shouldn’t lose.

Prediction: Eagles 31, Browns 17

The Week 5 bye proved to be more of a blessing than the Eagles could have envisioned at the outset of the season. The early hiatus gave Brown, Smith, and Johnson time to recover from their respective injuries, keeping them on track to return on Sunday.

The Eagles are getting well from a health perspective. Can they get well in the box score, too? It helps that their next opponent boasts one of the least formidable passing offenses in the league, in large part due to their quarterback. Watson has played some of the worst football of his career this season, posting a career low in passing yards per attempt (3.76) and a second-to-last passer rating (51.1) against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1. He’s now gone five straight games without throwing for 200 yards.

Watson hasn’t been getting much help from his protection. He’s been pressured on 40.5% of his dropbacks, which is the third most among starting quarterbacks. Watson’s 26 sacks and 89 pressures are the most in the NFL. He is decent at using his legs, though, posting 19 scrambles (second most) through five games. If the Eagles defense can tackle better and prevent Watson from both getting into a rhythm early and extending plays, they should have a chance to rebound on Sunday.

» READ MORE: [The Eagles offense has sputtered to start every game. Kellen Moore aims to tune it up.

The offense could be in for more of a challenge against the Browns defense, led by Schwartz. They have talent, particularly in the pass rush — five-time Pro Bowler Garrett has recorded the second-quickest get-off time this season (.67 seconds) and ranks in the top five among edge rushers in total pressures (27), according to NFL Next Gen Stats. He mostly lines up on the right side of the defense, so Mailata should have his work cut out for him.

Additionally, the Browns blitz at the NFL’s third-highest rate (37.9%). The Eagles have improved against the blitz compared to last season, but they had their struggles in their loss to the Buccaneers. If the Eagles can come up with answers against the blitz, force the Browns to miss tackles in space (according to Pro Football Reference, Cleveland is tied for the eighth most missed tackles in the league), and generate the explosive plays that were hard to come by in Week 4, then the Eagles should notch their first win of the season at home.

Prediction: Eagles 24, Browns 17

Surely the Eagles can’t drop this game, right?

The shaky defensive performances early in the season notwithstanding, this matchup against the Browns should offer a chance for the Eagles defense to right the ship at least temporarily. Not only does Cleveland’s offense rank dead last in DVOA, but there’s a sizable gap between them and the 31st-ranked Miami Dolphins. Watson has been sacked more than any quarterback in the NFL so far this season, giving the Eagles’ pass rush a chance at a turnaround performance coming out of the bye week.

The Browns best chance of winning might be to lean on their running game and test the Eagles’ ability to tackle in space the way the Buccaneers did two weeks ago. Jerome Ford and D’Onta Foreman are both physical runners capable of plowing through arm tackles, but the Eagles should be able to expend more resources toward stopping the run considering Cleveland’s ineffective passing game.

On the other side of the ball, the benefits of the bye week should be apparent as the Eagles welcome back Brown, Johnson, and Smith to the lineup. Johnson’s impact on the functionality of the Eagles offense during his career is well-documented, but Brown’s ability to serve as a steadying force in the passing game shouldn’t be overlooked either.

The Browns defense, led by Schwartz has enough talent to present the Eagles some challenges. Garrett is a game-wrecking force, Ward can be a lockdown corner, and the linebacking duo of former Eagles draft pick Jordan Hicks and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah can cloud the picture in the middle of the field. Still, the Eagles offense at full strength is good enough to find answers against Cleveland. That should be enough for a win, although it may not be an emphatic one.

Prediction: Eagles 24, Browns 13