Deshaun Watson completed a lot of short passes, but nothing came easy for him. (Cleveland Browns)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
LAS VEGAS, NV
Instant takeaways from Browns’ 20-16 loss to Las Vegas Raiders …
1. Make it stop: It almost seems like it’s just not going to happen for Deshaun Watson. His second attempt at a fourth-quarter comeback again was thwarted when his offensive teammates failed him. The game ended when Watson was flushed out of the pocket on fourth-and-3 from the Raiders’ 9 and sacked by Charles Snowden. It was Watson’s third possession trying to make up a 20-16 deficit. The first one was undermined when an 82-yard catch-and-run by Amari Cooper was called back on a Nick Harris holding penalty. The second on a PBU by safety Isaiah Pola-Mao on a pass that Jerry Jeudy had his hands on. The last possession wasn’t helped when Harris snapped the ball without Watson looking and he fell on it at the Raiders’ 22. Oh, yeah, Dustin Hopkins missed a PAT, too. The loss dropped the Browns to 1-3. The Raiders improved to 2-2.
2. Wow … wait … what?: Watson flashed his 2018 vintage form on a play from the Browns’ 18 early in the fourth quarter. He stepped up from a blitz by cornerback Jack Jones and flung the ball to Amari Cooper in the wide-open middle of the field. Cooper turned on the jets for what should have been an 82-yard TD catch-and-run. But Harris was flagged for holding defensive tackle Christian Wilkins. Adding insult, Wilkins played off Harris’ hold and belted Watson to the ground just as he released the ball. The Browns had to punt after Watson’s third-down pass to Jerry Jeudy was broken up.
3. Not dead: The Browns finally gave their large contingent of fans something to cheer about on the first play of the fourth quarter. End Isaiah McGuire stripped the ball from Zamir White and after a few bounces safety Rodney McLeod scooped it up at the Raiders’ 25 and toed the left sideline all the way for the touchdown. Alas, Dustin Hopkins’ PAT hooked wide left and the Raiders led, 20-16. The ball might have nicked the left shoulder of right guard Zak Zinter on the way up.
4. Implosion: After the Raiders increased their lead to 13-10, Watson was intercepted when his perfect pass zipped through Amari Cooper’s hands, banged off his chest and was intercepted by safety Tre’von Moehrig. It was Cooper’s fifth dropped pass in four games. Anyways, the defense had the Raiders at third-and-9 at the Browns’ 36. A simple inside handoff to Alexander Mattison turned into a 19-yard run because of sloppy tackling. More sloppiness followed on the next play when D.J. Turner swept left with a handoff and broke feeble tackle attempts for a 17-yard TD run. And just like that, it was 20-10, Raiders. Consequently, the Raiders’ pumped up their pass rush and ended the next Cleveland possession with back-to-back sacks.
5. Not to be overlooked: Actually, we should trace the implosion to a roughing-the-passer penalty on end Alex Wright on a third-and-9 would-be sack on the Raiders’ opening possession of the second half. It was a clear foul, as the crown of Wright’s helmet made contact with Gardner Minshew’s chin. Those 15 yards led to Carlson’s 34-yard field goal.
6. Whew!: In the final seconds of the first half, the Raiders were backed up at their 2-yard line. Looked like they’d just run down the clock. Then running back Zamir White shot through the middle and into the secondary. Safety Ronnie Hickman brought him down with a shoestring tackle at the 19. Hickman probably saved a 98-yard TD run.
7. Passing game suffering: The Browns were forced to punt with 1:20 to go in the half because their so-called 2-minute offense fizzled at the end. Watson took the offense from the Browns’ 17 to the Raiders’ 40 in six plays. Included were his longest completions of the half – 17 yards and 19 to Jerry Jeudy. But on third-and-9 from the 40, Watson had to release the ball early because Dawand Jones was beat. Watson’s deep pass for Amari Cooper was aimed to the right sideline. Cooper broke inside. Watson finished the half at 14 of 17 for 87 yards – 5.1 yards per attempt.
8. Ground and pound: Just like in Jacksonville, Stefanski’s opening-game, conservative play script worked to perfection. Using extra tight ends, rather than extra linemen, Watson moved the Browns 70 yards in 15 plays and ate 9 minutes, 22 seconds on the clock. Watson converted the TD on a 1-yard flip to TE2 Blake Whiteheart after a play-fake to Nick Harris posing as a fullback. It was Whiteheart’s first career TD in his fifth NFL game, including two with the Cardinals.
9. Battle of kickers: Dustin Hopkins’ 56-yard field goal gave the Browns a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. The second quarter belonged to the Raiders, however. They countered with a 3-yard TD run by receiver Tre Tucker on a reverse from a handoff by White, and then Daniel Carlson knotted the score with a 52-yard field goal. Carlson beat the Browns with a last-second field goal in the last meeting between these teams in 2021.
10: Injuries: In the first half the Browns lost center Ethan Pocic to an ankle injury and linebacker Jordan Hicks to an elbow injury. Both were announced as questionable, but neither returned in the first half. Pocic came back in the third quarter, then left again. Hicks never returned.
11. Pre-game notes: No surprises on Browns inactive list: Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, running back Pierre Strong Jr., cornerback Kahlef Hailassie, offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr., offensive tackle Jack Conklin, receiver Jamari Thrash, and tight end David Njoku.