PHILADELPHIA: Rookie Carson Wentz left Lincoln Financial Field looking like he may already be the top-20 NFL quarterback the Browns doubted he would become.
Meanwhile, Robert Griffin III flew back to Cleveland with a sprained left shoulder and a record of 0-1 with his new team.
Wentz immediately burned the Browns for their decision to pass on him in April’s draft by trading the second overall pick to the Philadelphia Eagles. He completed 22-of-37 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns with a passer rating of 101, helping the Eagles prevail 29-10 against the Browns in the regular-season opener Sunday.
“That kid’s going to be a baller,” Browns wide receiver Terrelle Pryor said. “[The Eagles] got one. I just liked his patience. He was great. He did an awesome job.”
Griffin suffered the injury when he absorbed a big hit from cornerback Jalen Mills and fell as he ran out of bounds on third-and-14 from the Browns’ 4-yard line with 3:41 left in the fourth quarter. Griffin didn’t miss a snap, returning for the offense’s final series after a lively discussion with the team’s medical staff on the sideline.
Griffin said he thinks he’ll be able to play Sunday at home against the Baltimore Ravens, though he wasn’t definitive. He’ll undergo an MRI on Monday.
“I can move my left arm,” said Griffin, who went 12-of-26 passing for 190 yards with an interception and a rating of 55. “I’m in pain, but I’ll be OK. Just continue to monitor it.
“We’ll see more tomorrow, see how my shoulder’s feeling and just move on from there.”
The Browns’ expansion era history is painful, too. Their NFL record for consecutive losses in openers extended to 12. They’re now 1-17 in openers since their rebirth in 1999, and coach Hue Jackson’s first real game with the team proved to be a dud.
“I never said we were going to go 16-0,” Jackson said. “So we have given up one, one that I felt that our guys had a chance [to win] until things went kind of awry. So we have to grow from this and get better, and we will.”
But the Browns did say they didn’t believe Wentz would develop into a top-20 NFL quarterback. Chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta revealed the franchise’s opinion in July during a radio interview with ESPN Cleveland WKNR (850-AM). The Eagles disagreed and took Wentz at No. 2 overall out of North Dakota State. The Browns opted to roll with free-agent acquisition Griffin.
“The thing that everyone doubted us on was whether or not he was a good quarterback, but we knew what we had in the building all along with Carson,” Eagles tight end Zach Ertz said. “He is a special, special player.”
He showed it right away by completing 4-of-5 passes for 57 yards and a touchdown during the game’s opening series. He capped the nine-play, 75-yard drive by connecting with wide receiver Jordan Matthews in the end zone for a 19-yard scoring strike. Matthews beat nickel cornerback Tramon Williams on a corner route and caught the pass, allowing the Eagles to seize a 7-0 lead with 9:50 left in the first quarter.
“He got the job done for his team today, and he looked good doing it,” Williams said. “So we’ve got to get better.”
The Browns trailed 13-7 at halftime and blew a chance to take a lead early in the third quarter.
Three plays after rookie wide receiver Corey Coleman made his first NFL catch for 58 yards in front of cornerback Nolan Carroll and safety Rodney McLeod, the Browns faced third-and-10 from the Eagles’ 17. Wide receiver Andrew Hawkins had his defender beaten, but Griffin overthrew him in the back left corner of the end zone.
The Browns settled for Patrick Murray’s successful 35-yard field goal and cut the Eagles’ lead to 13-10 with 13:57 left in the third quarter.
“I left it long, and it was all on me,” Griffin said. “[Hawkins] ran a great route. I just have to hit him on that.”
During the Browns’ next possession, the momentum swung drastically.
On first-and-10 at the Browns’ 15, center Cameron Erving — who had errant snaps in the preseason — fired a shotgun snap over Griffin’s head. The ball rolled out of the end zone for a safety, giving the Eagles a 15-10 edge with 10:49 left in the third quarter.
“All of a sudden we had a ball snapped over the quarterback’s head,” Jackson said. “I thought that’s when it kind of tilted and started going the other way.”
The Eagles used the momentum immediately to generate a nine-play, 73-yard scoring drive and virtually seal the outcome.
They converted on fourth-and-4 when Wentz and Ertz hooked up for 5 yards. The next play, Wentz threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Nelson Agholor, who took advantage of cornerback Joe Haden’s poor technique to gain separation. Agholor caught Wentz’s pass to the front right corner of the end zone as the Eagles built a 22-10 cushion with 6:17 left in the third quarter.
“He’s more advanced than I expected him to be,” Haden said of Wentz. “He’s a good quarterback.”
The Browns have been searching for one of those for decades but didn’t think Wentz fit the bill. No one will know for years whether they’re right, but they looked wrong Sunday.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.