Browns vs Raiders Winners and Losers: Cleveland fails as a team in Week 4

The Cleveland Browns and Las Vegas Raiders are similar teams. Neither club has a good offense, but the special teams and defense hold their own.

The Raiders ranked 13th in passing offense and ranked last in running the ball compared to the Browns defense, which ranked middle of the pack against both. Meanwhile, Cleveland's 29th-ranked passing offense and their 26th-ranked rushing attack were terrible with Las Vegas on defense compared to the 28th-ranked run offense but have a strong pass defense.

Cleveland started out great, building a 10-0 lead, but the offense did what it usually does as the Browns lost 20-16. Now, at 1-3-0, the chance of making the playoffs drops to 14%.

So who played well for the Browns? Who hasn't done that?

BROWNIES

P Corey Bojorquez – The Browns' offensive MVP had a punt that went 80 yards and then hit the turf in the end zone for a registered 84-yard kick. He made five punts for an astounding average of 63.2 yards. Two punts landed inside the five-yard line, but coverage couldn't get there in time and both went into the end zone for touchbacks. He returned a punt inside the 20 to the three-yard line with a pooch kick for 37 yards, hurting his average but helping the defense. Bojo can kick it over a pine tree. Will be the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. Also had punts of 61, 60 and 74 yards. What a weapon.

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DE Myles Garrett – No matter the size of the ball, the distance or the quarter, Browns fans can always count on Garrett to give his full effort on every pass. He is still a force that every offensive player must contend with. His two sacks were something miraculous as he simply leaned on the outside of OT Kolton Miller and found QB Gardner Minshew. His first sack came with just 43 ticks left in the first half, ending any attempts by the Raiders to get within field goal range. With 12:28 left in the fourth quarter, Garrett hit Miller again with an outside move as JOK had slowed down and caused chaos as Garrett got to the finish first. Garrett later put the pressure on Minshew, who had to hit a key early three-pointer and three-pointer with just over six minutes to play. Three tackles, three QB hits, two sacks, two tackles for loss.

Vicious hits -Rookie LB Winston Reid put a hit on RB Zamir White, who fumbled and S Rodney McLeod scored the equalizer. Isiah McGuire dropped KR Alexander Mattison in the second quarter as if the returner had run into a wall and fallen flat. JOK blocked RB Tyreik McAllister with a run up the middle early in the third quarter.

LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoah – The talented linebacker is having another Pro Bowl season. Led all tacklers with nine plus one tackle for loss. It was JOK who stopped TE Brock Bowers after a 12-yard gain in the first quarter, just one play away from Green. Tackled White on first down for a five-yard loss as the Raiders attempted to run out the clock late in the game.

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S Ronnie Hickman – Was all over the field today and made several crucial tackles. Early in the second quarter, Hickman held White for a win with 13:54 left before halftime. Early in the second half, WR Jacobi Meyers got past Denzel Ward and caught a pass that went 19 yards until Hickman was able to push it out of bounds. Hickman got Bowers one-on-one in the left flat after Bowen gained a 13-yard gain and made a great solo tackle.

Brown's first offensive series – Every week, Cleveland drives the ball down the field and looks great on offense. These 15 script pieces work. Then the pressure of live game action kicks in and the wheels come off. Every game. WR Jerry Jeudy scored a first down on a short pass, followed by a Dawand Jones penalty for a third-and-10. Elijah Moore got 11 and the chains were moved. With a three-pointer and a two-pointer, Coop came within a hair's breadth of scoring the first goal. Watson was flushed and gained seven yards, then a short pass to assist TE Blake Whiteheart for seven to the 12-yard line. Two plays later, Whiteheart was wide open in the end zone for the touchdown. 15-play drive, 70 yards with 9:22 left in play. A thing of beauty.

frown

Mistake – The Browns trailed by four points and had advanced to the Raiders' 16-yard line with less than two minutes to play. They were down four points because K Dustin Hopkins missed a PAT earlier. If not, they faced a game-winning field goal that would send the contest into overtime. On the first play, backup center Nick Harris surprised QB Deshaun Watson with the snap, which resulted in a six-yard loss and a second-and-16. WR Amari Cooper was involved in two errors. Midway through the third period, he let a pass from Watson pass through his hands and get into the hands of Raider defenseman Tre'von Moehrig, who was able to intercept it. Early in the fourth, Coop was wide open and scored an apparent touchdown, but it had to be rejected due to a Harris hold.

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OT James Hudson – The entire game, Hudson had no answer for Charles Snowden. Things got so bad that the offense eventually brought in either RB Jerome Ford or RB D'Onta Foreman to help out. Snowden had one full bag and missed two more. He had a tackle for loss on Ford, three QB hits, multiple pressures and three tackles. Early in the game, Hudson missed his man hitting Foreman on a first-and-goal run for no gain. With 2:29 left in the third quarter, S Isaiah Pola-Mao was off Hudson's side on a delayed blitz. Instead of passing his man to Bitonio, Hudson simply waved to Pola-Mao, who then dismissed Watson. On the final play, it was Snowden who reached Watson first and helped with the tackle while Hudson stood behind the group and watched.

Third-down efficiency – 3-10 for the game became a crutch. The Browns were 0-for-4 in the second half, with two of those big gains: 12 and 16 yards.

OG Zak Zinter – Welcome to NFL Rookie. He went up against a great DT in Christian Wilkins, who dominated the young guard with QB hits, presses and a half sack. With 1:29 left in the third quarter, Zinter was denied by Wilkins, who stunted with Raider defender K'Lavon Chaisson, who hit the QB for a sack. Zinter has been able to hold his own in the run game, but still has a lot to learn about that level of pass blocking. He couldn't stay in touch with DE Tyree Wilson early in the third stanza, who knocked Watson down just as he was throwing.

Execute attack -Couldn't run the ball at all, with the exception of a long run from Ford late in the game. 92 total rushing yards minus Ford's 35-yard gain shows you what happened against the Raiders' No. 28 run defense. What was worse was that their best defender, Maxx Crosby, didn't even play. Where was Foreman? He only had four carries for two yards. Watson did well when flushed, gaining 32 yards when flushed. Watson's scrambles and the Ford long run yielded 67 of 92 yards for the game. Pathetic against a terrible run defense.

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Pocket collapse – Watson rarely had a clean pocket and was repeatedly flushed. He was hit most of the game or had to throw before he was ready. Nobody on offense played well. OT Dawand Jones looks heavy and unable to respond to a quick inside move. C Harris had two crucial mistakes that changed the game. Watson was flushed more times than he can count and gained some distance on other pass attempts, but never put a foot down. It was just an all-around bad day for the offense.

20 unanswered points -The Browns' strategy is to come out and have a great first possession that scores points, then the offense does nothing. Had a 10-0 lead, then suddenly it was 20-10. Browns offensive possession in the first half: TD, FG, punt, punt. After halftime: INT, punt, punt, punt, downs. Thank you to the defense for keeping this team in the game and the fumble return for six points. My goodness…..

DT Dalvin Tomlinson – The Raiders were able to move Tomlinson ever so slightly, but narrowly outran him the entire game. Had two total tackles. He missed a tackle in the second quarter. Las Vegas hadn't rushed for more than 55 yards in a game this season, but found running lanes all game long and tallied 152 rushing yards in the game.

Missed tackles – The game was full of players unable to hold on to the ball carrier. Missing tackles: Tomlinson, Denzel Ward (2), Cam Mitchell (2), Quinton Jefferson, Devin Bush (2), JOK and MJ Emerson. At the Las Vegas end around DJ Turner's touchdown run, which turned out to be the game-winning run, both Emerson and JOK had a paw on him and Mitchell made a minimal attempt to bring him down at the one-yard line .

milk bones – When in doubt, you should appear intelligent

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K Dustin Hopkins – Caught the 56-yarder and then missed a PAT that ended up changing the game's strategy. Added another PAT.

QB Deshaun Watson -Not many clean pockets for Watson as he was cheered on, hit, attacked, insulted and harassed most of the game. Had a few good scrambles and managed to score on a few passes. Had a decent running game even though he “wasn’t a running back.” The one interception wasn't his fault, he was sacked only three times for what could have been nine, had a decent QB rating of 84.9, and threw 32 passes with 24 completions for a pedestrian 176 yards. Nothing spectacular, but then again, things could have been a lot worse if he didn't have the ability to get out of harm's way. His offensive line didn't do him any favors, and his receivers weren't particularly good either.

S Rodney McLeod – Was excellent in coverage and helped in the running game. Had the touchdown that turned a stagnant contest into a competitive one.

Recipient group – This may be the worst position group on the roster. Coop wasn't himself as he was wide open inside the 10 and made no move to adjust. He only had four catches for 35 yards. Elijah Moore and James Proche each had a reception. No catches for Ced Tillman or Jamari Thrash. Jerry Jeudy had a decent day with nine scores and six catches for 72 yards, but really, are any of these guys scaring the defense?