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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
CLEVELAND (AP) -- On a night when Courtney Brown made his NFL
debut, the oldest Cleveland Brown stole the spotlight.
Ty Detmer threw two touchdown passes as the Browns beat the
Philadelphia Eagles 33-22 Sunday in the preseason opener for both
teams.
|  | | Cleveland's David Patten (82) leaps over Philadelphia's Allen Rossum to haul in a second-quarter pass.
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Detmer, Cleveland's oldest player at 32, completed 12 of 14
passes for 128 yards, and directed three touchdown drives for Cleveland.
All the scores came against the Eagles' second-string -- something
Detmer's been around long enough to appreciate.
"When you're going against the twos things seem to open up a
little more than they do against the ones," Detmer said.
He capped a 53-yard drive late in the first half by throwing a
2-yard pass to a wide open Mark Campbell that put Cleveland ahead
14-10 with 1:56 left.
Paul Grasmanis muffed the ensuing kickoff and the Browns
recovered at the Philadelphia 31-yard line. A pass interference
penalty put Cleveland on the Eagles' 1 a few plays later, and rookie
Travis Prentice scored from there with 53 seconds remaining in the
half to give the Browns a 21-10 lead.
On his last drive, Detmer went 4-for-5 and capped a 66-yard drive
with a 13-yard touchdown pass to JaJuan Dawson to give Cleveland a 27-16
lead with 5:17 left in the third quarter. Cleveland went for a
two-point conversion, but Detmer's pass fell incomplete.
"I saw the field real well, had great protection -- which helps -- and our receivers were real sharp, which was encouraging because
we've got a lot of young guys," Detmer said.
Brown, the first overall choice in the draft, started the game. He
had no tackles, but seemed to hold his own in about a quarter of
play. Although he was fooled by a fake on the game's first play -- a
9-yard completion from Donovan McNabb to Cecil Martin -- the
defensive end from Penn State also knocked down McNabb on one pass
rush.
"I felt comfortable after the first play," Brown said. "I
think I did OK. I did some things wrong, though. I need to work a
little on the detail stuff -- the defensive calls and adjusting
quicker."
The good news for Philadelphia was its starters outperformed
their Cleveland counterparts.
The Eagles defense held the Browns to 25 yards of offense in the
first quarter, and set up Philadelphia's first touchdown when Brian
Dawkins intercepted a pass by Tim Couch that deflected off Kevin
Johnson's hands. Dawkins returned it 44 yards to the Browns' 4.
After an incompletion, McNabb threw a touchdown pass to Duce Staley.
On Philadelphia's next possession, McNabb completed five
consecutive passes before misfiring on two, stalling the drive. David
Akers then kicked a 45-yard field goal to put the Eagles ahead 10-0
with 2:11 left in the quarter.
Akers also kicked a 37-yard field with seven seconds left in the
first half and Rich Maston added a 20-yard field goal with 8:25
remaining in the third.
"Initially, the offense came out and played very well in the
first quarter," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "When the second-team defense had their opportunities there were obviously too many
mistakes."
Koy Detmer answered his brother's last touchdown by throwing a 40-yard
scoring pass to Alex Van Dyke on the Eagles' next play from scrimmage to
cut the Cleveland lead to 27-22 with 4:47 left in the third
quarter. The two-point conversion attempt failed.
Couch started the game but only got the Browns moving after the
Eagles put their second-team defense in the game.
"I started out a little anxious and rushed a few throws,"
Couch said. "The speed of the game definitely picked up over
practice."
Early in the second quarter, Couch scrambled 20 yards for a
first down, then threw a 47-yard pass to David Patten, who
outwrestled Allen Rossum to make the catch at the Eagles' 2-yard
line. Patten had five catches for 95 yards on the night.
Errict Rhett plunged into the line three times, finally scoring
to cut the Eagles lead to 10-7 with 8:29 left in the first half.
Rahshon Spikes closed out the scoring with a 12-yard scoring run
with 8:43 left in the game. The Browns failed on another two-point
conversion attempt.
Philadelphia cornerback Troy Vincent suffered a pulled groin Sunday in the
first quarter and did not return to the game against Cleveland. An Eagles
spokesman said Vincent's status would not be updated until Monday.
Game notes
The Browns and Eagles played in preseason last year.
Philadelphia won 30-17. The two will play in the regular season on
Dec. 10. ... Philadelphia was the first team Cleveland played when
it broke into the league in 1950. The Browns beat the
then-defending NFL champion Eagles 35-10. ... Just six of the
Browns who started the preseason opener last year started Sunday
night. ... Jon Runyan, who signed a $30 million deal with the
Eagles in the offseason, sat out the game Sundays game with an injured back.
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ALSO SEE
NFL Scoreboard
Philadelphia Clubhouse
Cleveland Clubhouse
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