Cleveland Browns vs. Philadelphia Eagles, September 11, 2016

Terrelle Pryor's 44-yard catch was one of the few highlights for the Brown in their opening day loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

(Joshua Gunter / cleveland.com)

PHILADELPHIA -- This was one of those games where you could feel the bad things coming for the Cleveland Browns.

It was not just the usual gloom-and-doom, Browns-Opener-Blues.

It was coach Hue Jackson pulling out far too many of his favorite tricks early in the game with a team of 17 rookies in their first NFL game.

It was quarterback Robert Griffin III over-throwing an open Andrew Hawkins in the end zone.

It was center Cameron Erving heaving a long snap nearly to Bermuda. It became a safety.

It was the Browns defense giving up some big plays on two touchdown passes delivered by rookie Carson Wentz.

It was Philadelphia 29, Browns 10.

And it was Griffin taking some very hard shots at the end of game, making you wonder how long he'll stay healthy this season.

Sigh...

The easy story line is that the Browns front office trashed their first draft by failing to take Wentz with the No. 2 pick. Instead, they traded down and Wentz went to the Eagles.

I'm not going to label this a franchise-changing mistake after one game. The Browns have lots of picks from that deal, and first-rounder Corey Coleman did show some promise.

But Wentz had a terrific first game.

I thought the Eagles were asking far too much of Wentz, starting him in the opener after he missed the last three preseason games because of a fractured rib. He took only 39 snaps in the preseason opener.

I thought wrong.

Wentz played with poise and intelligence, staying out of costly plays and overly risky throws. He was 22-of-37 passing for 278 yards, no interceptions. He showed a strong arm and a very nice touch on his two touchdown passes. He was hit several times after throws, and that had to hurt. It's doubtful his broken rib is completely healed.

If Wentz had a first game like this in an orange helmet, every Browns fan would be celebrating right now.

So it's going to be a rough week for the Browns front office this week. The same will be true in Los Angeles, where fans will wonder why the Rams didn't take Wentz instead of Jared Goff, who was drafted in front of Wentz but didn't start.

As for Griffin, he had some nice moments on long passes to Terrelle Pryor (44 yards) and Corey Coleman (58 yards). But he was not very accurate on medium and long throws.

Griffin was 12-of-26 passing for 190 yards and one interception.

He also was hurt by at least three drops from Browns receivers. Pro Bowl tight end Gary Barnidge had two passes thrown in his direction. He dropped both.

The Browns couldn't establish any running game against the team that had the NFL's worst run defense in 2015.

Griffin ran the ball five times for 37 yards, the rest of the team was 43 yards on 13 carries.

So yes, this was a painful start to what may be a very long, painful season.