Welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders' week 3 away matchup vs. the Cleveland Browns where the Raiders finally get that elusive road win on an early 10 AM start as they beat the Browns 27-20 behind Derek Carr's 2 touchdown performance and Charles Woodson's clutch INT in winding seconds of the 4th quarter to seal the game.
This is the feeling I got used to as a Raider fan. The Raiders are on the road, they're dominating the Browns in convincing fashion early on. The 2nd half rolls around, the Browns start to rally. I'm building up anxiety because they still had a chance to blow this game. And trust me Raider Nation, we've seen a lot of these games and we know the feeling of this team blowing a game on the road when they were playing so well all game long. But that was not the case today, the Raiders finally manage to win a road game in a long, long time, especially winning at a 10:00 AM start here on the West Coast.
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Derek Carr, 20 of 32 passes, 314 yards, 2 TDs. "Derek Carr is not the answer." "Derek Carr, all he does is check down." "His yards per average is terrible." "Derek Carr only posts great numbers during garbage time." Yes, he had a terrible preseason. Yes, he had a terrible home opener. But since that lost to the Bengals, Derek Carr has turned it on. He now has two games with 300+ passing yards and multiple TDs under his belt this season. Carr had another efficient game and handled the hostile Cleveland crowd like it was nothing. A lot of people questioned if he can repeat his performance from the Baltimore game, and he was poised, calm, and collected when commanding the huddle this game. The sky is the limit for Carr with the weapons and the running game he has at his disposal as the season goes forward.
Amari Cooper, 8 receptions, 134 yards. Cooper will encounter growing pains as a rookie with that fumble during the latter stages of the 4th quarter. But we can't let that mar how he performed this game, especially being shadowed by a good corner like Joe Haden. Let's admit, he straight up abused Joe Haden and the Browns' secondary on the first few passing plays that the Raiders started off with on their first drive. Cooper did to Haden like he did to Patrick Peterson in the third preseason game and the Browns' pass defense couldn't find a way to contain him. Despite the fumble, he'll learn from those mistakes, but Cooper played an outstanding game.
Latavius Murray, 26 carries, 139 yards, 1 TD. Tay Train, good job fielding together a solid game, but since I'm facing an opponent who has you starting in Fantasy, I'm going to be a little bitter about this post. The running game just couldn't get anything going from the start. But when the Browns couldn't stop the passing game of the Raiders, that opened up some plays for the running game. Murray was able to exploit some good solid holes up the middle against the Browns' run defense. This was a game Latavius Murray needed because he struggled the first few games and a lot of it had to do with the O-line. But since the Raiders' passing game was flying on all cylinders, that opened up some opportunity and kept the Browns' defense honest.
Sack party. The Raiders finally got some sacks after getting close to putting the QB on the ground. Khalil Mack had 2 sacks, Malcolm Smith, Ray-Ray Armstrong, and Neiron Ball each had 1 sack. The Raiders are going to need a whole lot of those. Maybe the Browns need to remember to never put their man on an island against Mack, but then again, the Browns' O-line had Aldon Smith and Justin Tuck to account for as well. But one sack that stood up was Neiron Ball's first career sack because that proved to be a huge one in the final seconds in 4th quarter and set up this next post.
Charles Woodson, 5 tackles, 1 INT. Man it was tough to see C-Wood continue to play with that injured shoulder he sustained during the Cincinnati game, but how he continues to play with that injury exemplifies his will to win. This is a young Raiders team that was on its heels on defense in the final seconds of the 4th quarter. Neiron Ball's sack was big, but C-Wood's 61st career INT was even bigger. The secondary was playing bad down the stretch and someone with veteran leadership had to step up. How fitting it was that C-Wood was the one who got in front of that last Josh McCown pass to seal it. That's what veterans do and Woodson has been closing out these kinds of games for a long time. He's just unbelievable.
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Pass defense. The secondary is bad, we already know that heading into the season. This game should've ended 27-3 if the Raiders had a better secondary. It's those quick passes that the Browns were executing on, especially on that 4th down play. Once again, the Raiders made an unknown tight end look like a Rob Gronkowski as they couldn't contain Gary Barnidge and they allowed some big plays down the stretch for the Browns when they were pinned down on their own 2 yard line. Coverage outside and down the middle in the pass, they are going to be on the improvement list unless Jack Del Rio and Ken Norton, Jr. can get it fix before the season is over.
Conclusion
Even though people will say that "hey it's the Cleveland Browns." They are a good football team and much like the Raiders, they just have a little more pieces to become a relevant team in the AFC North and they are beatable. But much like the Baltimore win, this win is a "feel good" moment for the Raiders because the monkey is off their backs. The road curse is over. Now with this win, the Raiders should feel more confident than ever that they can win anywhere. They get another favorable matchup on the road against "Da Bears" in Chicago with Jay Cutler out with a hamstring injury and injuries to their star receiver, Alshon Jeffery. A 3-1 start before going back home to face Peyton Manning and the Broncos? Why not? I'll see you guys next week for the Bears game.
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