By Tom Withers
The Associated Press

CLEVELAND - They are undefeated at home. Their new quarterback is making plays. Their defense has been solid. Their kicker is perfect. Their running backs are finally both healthy.

But there's still one big question hovering over the Cleveland Browns: Are they any good?

The Philadelphia Eagles will let them know on Sunday.

"You get very few chances in this league to make a statement," Browns kicker Phil Dawson said. "But this game is one of them. I'm glad the Eagles are undefeated. This is going to be fun."

The Browns (3-3) will face their toughest test of 2004 - by far - as they host the unbeaten and as yet unchallenged Eagles (5-0), who have five double-digit victories in their best start since 1981.

If Cleveland was looking for a measuring stick to validate its season or to find out if this year will be different than the past few disappointments, well, this may just be it.

"This is one of those opportunities," said Browns quarterback Jeff Garcia, "for us to really see where we stand in this league and what we're made of as far as our character, as far as our heart and as far as our determination.

"The odds are stacked up against us, but we've been in that type of situation all season long."

Nothing has been easy through six games for the Browns. They've had to overcome season-ending injuries to Courtney Brown and Kellen Winslow Jr., Garcia's 0.00 quarterback rating in a loss at Dallas, a pitiful performance in Pittsburgh and coach Butch Davis' strange comment that Garcia was "skittish" in the pocket.

But last week, the Browns displayed a trait of a potential playoff team as they overcame four turnovers in the first half to rally for a 34-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

OK, it was the Bungles. But was also Cleveland's best all-around performance this season.

Garcia had four TD passes and 310 yards, William Green rushed for 115 and Lee Suggs had 100 yards receiving, giving Cleveland its first 300-100-100 game for a quarterback and two running backs since 1986.

The Browns also held the lowly Bengals to just 189 total yards.

This week doesn't figure to be so easy, not the way Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb, wide receiver Terrell Owens and the rest of the Eagles are playing.

"This is a chance to get some respect for our team," said Browns safety Earl Little.

To earn it, the Browns, 3-0 at home for the first time since 1973, will have to contain McNabb's mobility and maybe even Owens' mouth.

McNabb failed to throw a TD pass in last week's 30-8 win over Carolina, a lopsided rematch of last year's NFC title game. But McNabb is off to the best start of his career, completing 65.8 percent of his passes - an increase of 8.3 points from 2003 and an 8.8 jump over his cumulative percentage in five pro seasons.

Of McNabb's 112 completions, 30 have gone to Owens, the former San Francisco star whose verbal assault on Garcia has raised the game's profile.

But Garcia has more to worry about than what else Owens might say about him.

The Eagles, whose average margin of victory is 14.8 points, are tied for the league lead with 20 sacks. Philadelphia's defense has been getting better, too, allowing fewer points each week.

That's not good news for Cleveland's offense, which because of injuries and a trade, is down to its third- and fourth-string receivers.

The Browns may also be without right guard Kelvin Garmon, who injured a leg muscle and suffered a concussion last week.

"We are a little short-handed," acknowledged Garcia, who took the high road while responding to Owens' one-sided war of words against him.

In Cleveland's favor is Garcia's past successes against the Eagles. Late last season with the 49ers, he threw two touchdown passes at Philadelphia as San Francisco won 31-28 to snap the Eagles' nine-game winning streak.

"He made plays, sometimes when there weren't plays to be made," McNabb said. "He was under pressure, moving around, throwing the football. He's just a good football player, a Pro Bowl player."

To defeat the Eagles, the Browns might need him to play like one again.

Since returning to the league in 1999, Cleveland hasn't been able to get that one, momentum-swinging victory to push it over the top and back into the NFL spotlight. An upset of the Eagles would go a long way toward bringing the Browns, just 29-57 since '99, all the way back.

"It would be huge," center Jeff Faine. "That's a team that's supposed to go to the Super Bowl. It would be unbelievable, a confidence booster. And, it would give us a little swagger, too."

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