Browns rout Raiders

      The Cleveland Browns 24-10 win over the Las Vegas Raiders last Sunday has taken me some time to "get on paper".

Quinshon Judkins rushed for two touchdowns, while Shedeur Sanders threw for 209 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

The Cleveland defense sacked Las Vegas quarterback Geno Smith ten times, with Myles Garrett (three) and Maliek Collins (two and a half) leading the way.

The Browns improved to 3-8 with the win and will come home for their next games against the visiting San Francisco 49ers.

Brownie Bits

1) I thought Shedeur Sanders was good and bad in his first start.

I thought his interception to Charles Snowden of the Raiders was a poor decision, but his throw to Isaiah Bond was the play of the day.

2) The Sanders throw to Bond was on the run and was right on the money with the type of throw that Dillon Gabriel isn't capable of making.

Sanders isn't known for extraordinary arm strength, but if he can make that throw, arm strength will not be an issue.

3) Every week, we write about Jerry Jeudy, and once again, it's a Jeudy screw-up as he caught one pass for thirty-nine yards before fumbling it away.

On this play, Jeudy was running down the field with a large gain before pulling up ( in live action, it looked possible that he pulled a hamstring), and inexplicably hopped in the air before Jeremy Chinn punched the ball out.

4) Quinshon Judkins finished with only forty-seven yards rushing on sixteen carries, but scored two touchdowns, both from the "Wildcat" formation.

Teams will continue to focus on stopping Judkins first until Sanders (or any other QB) can consistently show the offense can do other things besides handing off to Judkins.

5) To say that I'm not in love with the Wildcat is understating things, mainly because it's not a passing threat, but I prefer the formation when the player taking the snap is a power rusher, such as Quinshon Judkins, rather than a scatback type.

Judkins is far more capable of putting his shoulder down and gaining a few yards than a smaller, shiftier back, so it makes sense to use him in short-yardage situations.

6) Ten sacks on Geno Smith for the Browns defense.

The Raiders had no luck blocking the Browns pass rushers, and while Myles Garrett was his typical dominant self, Cleveland had eight players who finished with a half-sack or more.

7) Both teams entered the game at 2-8, and honestly, neither team is very good, but the Browns defense alone is enough to beat other crappy teams.

Although this didn't work out against the similarly awful Jets, Cleveland's defense will more often than not lift them to victory.

8) The Cleveland offensive line has been much maligned this season and rightfully so, but the O-line held the Raiders to just one sack against Shedeur Sanders and zero to Maxx Crosby.

Crosby is almost as good as Myles Garrett, and he did hit Sanders several times, but the offensive line held things together enough to keep Crosby from taking over.

9) Myles Garrett has more sacks (18) than the entire teams of the Panthers, Bengals, or 49ers.

Besides that being a crazy number, keep your eye on that as the 49ers come to Cleveland this week.

10) I'm not a big fan of the Browns white alternate helmets, but they looked better with the orange pants worn against the Raiders.

The orange breaks up the all-white look that the Bengals have with their alternates, which resembles pajamas with all the white.

11) The win essentially ended any hopes of the top overall draft pick.

The Browns are now at 3-8, which places them behind the 1-10 Titans (a future Browns foe) and behind the following 2-9 teams: Jets, Raiders, and Saints, along with the 2-10 Giants.

Add in three other 3-8 teams (Bengals, Commanders, and Cardinals), and the Browns would pick between sixth and ninth if the draft were held today.

Since they will likely defeat the lousy Titans in a Cleveland home game, the Browns might need help to pick in the top ten.

Browns trade Kenny Pickett to Raiders

     The Cleveland Browns had hinted that they were willing to carry four quarterbacks, but the question was, should they?

The Browns answered that question one day before the cutdown to the 53-man roster as the Browns traded Kenny Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders for the Raiders' fifth-round pick in 2026.

The Browns had obtained Pickett before the draft from the Philadelphia Eagles for Dorian Thompson-Robinson (who the Eagles released today) and the Detroit Lions' fifth-rounder in 2025 that the Browns had obtained in a previous swap, so essentially, the Browns moved a five last year for a fifth next year.

Pickett was touted by some media members as the possible victor in the quarterback competition. Still, Pickett suffered a hamstring injury, which slowed him in camp, and he was unable to play in the preseason.

Las Vegas planned on Aiden O'Connell as their top backup, but O'Connell fractured his wrist in the Raiders' preseason finale, so the Raiders needed a backup for Geno Smith.

The Browns will now (unless a surprise arrives) appear to be ready to enter the season with rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders as the second and third string quarterbacks.

While I don't think either rookie is ready to play in the league currently, I don't have a problem with the team keeping both, considering the option of releasing one and keeping Pickett, who's proven to be mediocre at best.

The Btowns pick up a fifth-rounder for a player who may not have made the final roster, which is always a good trade, and I see no downside to this transaction.

Raiders hold off Browns 20-16

      A controversial holding penalty wiped out what would have been the game-winning touchdown as the Cleveland Browns were defeated by the Las Vegas Raiders 20-16 in Las Vegas.

The penalty on reserve center Nick Harris for holding Christian Wilkins nullified DeShaun Watson's eighty-four touchdown pass to Amari Cooper and an earlier missed extra point by Dustin Hopkins cost the Browns at the end as they were forced to try for a fourth down conversion at the Las Vegas nine with DeShaun Watson's sack ending the drive.

DeShaun Watson threw a touchdown pass to tight end Blake Whiteheart on the first drive of the game for the Browns only trip to the end zone with Rodney McLeod scooping a Raider fumble and running twenty-five yards for the remaining Browns touchdown.

Cleveland drops to 1-3 with the defeat and will travel to suddenly energized Washington next week.

Brownie Bits

1) DeShaun Watson hitting a wide-open Amari Cooper for the long score only to be called back for Nick Harris's holding penalty is typical Browns.

Commentator Ross Tucker was critical of the call at first and then backtracked to thinking the call was acceptable.

2) Here's my issue with the call, holding happens on every play and therefore could be called.

It isn't unless it's egregious and in this case, I didn't think it was that obvious and decided the game.

By the letter of the law, it was holding but by the code of consistency, it shouldn't have been called.

3) DeShaun Watson completed his first nine passes but for a measly forty-four yards.

Either Kevin Stefanski or Watson isn't confident in Watson's shoulder because Watson rarely looks downfield.

Other than the touchdown that was called back, Watson's longest completion was for only nineteen yards.

4) Watson's interception wasn't his fault either as Amari Cooper's hands failed him and the ball bounced straight to Tre'von Moerig.

While I don't see signs of the superstar quarterback that Watson was in Houston, he has been avoiding the big mistakes other than taking so many sacks.

5) While it's not Amari Cooper's fault that his score didn't count, Cooper was at fault for the interception and dropped another pass as well.

The veteran finished with four catches for only thirty-five yards.

6) DeShaun Watson does seem to be developing some chemistry with Jerry Jeudy and while this isn't resulting in big plays, it may eventually do so.

Jeudy finished with six catches for seventy-two yards and a team-high nine targets.

7) The Browns lost center Ethan Pocic for much of the game and even though the Raiders sacked Watson three times when the Browns were in crucial situations, the Las Vegas pass rush was in the face of Watson.

8) The defense did its normal strutting and woofing but allowed a team with Gardner Minshew at quarterback and missing its top weapon, Davante Adams, to score twenty straight points.

Much of this is due to some awful tackling which has crossed all over the game with players more interested in landing the punishing hit rather than taking the ball carrier to the ground.

The Browns do this often and when it backfires it can have consequences as it did on the touchdown scored by D.J. Turner as two Browns tried for the crunching highlight only to have the tackle broken and the touchdown scored.

9) The run defense wasn't stellar either as a Raider rushing attack that was at the bottom of the league finished with 152 yards and two scores.

The game reminded me of the 2022 Browns where teams suddenly realized Cleveland had run-stopping issues and then shoved it down their throat all season.

10) Isaiah McGuire hadn't seen the field often since being drafted in 2023 but it was his hit that caused the fumble which turned into a Rodney McLeod touchdown.

11) On the final drive, the Browns strolled along and allowed loads of time to roll off the clock as if they were trying to run the time to the end.

The tactic makes sense if you are waiting for a field goal attempt but not if needing a touchdown.

I found that quite needless.

12) Dustin Hopkins missed a key extra point but late in the first half, Kevin Stefanki chose to punt rather than have Hopkins attempt a fifty-eight-yard field goal.

Fair enough but Hopkins had hit earlier from fifty-six and the indoor stadium had perfect conditions, so I have no idea why the Browns didn't try Hopkins.

It was far from a sure thing but it didn't make sense to me.

13) This season is nearing the point where a hole is dug that the Browns cannot get out.

Road games at Washington and Philadelphia loom and I'd say a split of those games is paramount.

A few weeks ago, I would have felt that Washington would have been an easy win but the WFT has put things together the last two games and is rolling along well.

If the Browns return to Cleveland 1-5 and play as they are now, the three-game homestand vs the Bengals, Ravens, nad Chargers might put some people in the potential firing zone.

Just saying.

Raiders boot Browns 16-14

   The Covid crippled Cleveland Browns were within one first down of stealing a game that they had to have from the Las Vegas Raiders with the Raiders unable to stop the clock.

They couldn't and the Raiders made them pay as Daniel Carlson knocked through a forty-eight-yard field goal on the last play of the game to give visiting Las Vegas a 16-14 win on a Monday afternoon in Cleveland.

Nick Chubb rushed for ninety yards and a touchdown and emergency quarterback Nick Mullens threw for 147 yards and hit Harrison Bryant for the other Cleveland touchdown.

The Browns fall to 7-7 with the loss and will visit Green Bay on Christmas Day.

Brownie Bits

1) You cannot blame backup quarterback Nick Mullens for this defeat. Mullins did exactly what you would hope an emergency quarterback would do in this situation. He kept the Browns in the game, didn’t turn the ball over, and avoided the big mistake.

2) Mullins didn’t get the ball downfield very well as only one completion went for more than 20 yards however that’s not a lot different than how Baker Mayfield has thrown much of this season as the Browns simply don’t have the downfield receivers to throw the ball to.

 Avoiding the big mistake was good enough for the Browns on this day.

3) And it was Mullens who drove the Browns down the field late in the game and actually put them in the lead with a fourth-down bullet to tide in Harrison Bryant for the touchdown.

For a guy that legitimately had only one practice before playing this game, Nick Mullens likely earned himself a job for that for 2020 to whether or not it’s in Cleveland will be the question.

4) The Browns are beginning to discover a problem at placekicker. Chase McLaughlin‘s awful 47 yard missed field goal attempt at the end of the first half would have been the difference in the game had he connected.

It's not that McGlocklin missed- it’s how badly he missed. At a time when the Browns traditionally have needed a kicker to step up, they continue to find kickers that fall down.

It has not been since the days of Phil Dawson has the Browns had a kicker that they can feel good about in late-season situations

5) The Browns seem to be in a good position when Greedy Williams intercepted Derek Carr with around three minutes to 

Instead, an inability to run the clock out is what cost the Browns the game as on third down and the third Nick Chubb carry forced Mike Priester (in for Kevin Stefanski) to make a decision, Go for it or punt.

6) I’m not going to barbecue Priester for deciding to punt bur what I might decide to barbecue Priester for is running Nick Chubb three times in a row.

While I know it’s easy for me to say to throw the ball and take the risk of stopping the clock, I may have done that at least once and it might’ve won the game. 

Imagine a defense shuffle to the middle of the field expecting a Nick Chubb run and perhaps a dump out of the backfield to the fullback or a tight end that might’ve gotten them the yardage they needed to put the game away.

7) and this is where Kevin Stefanski not being there may have hurt the Browns. Stefanski hasn’t had a great season calling plays but I do believe he would’ve gone for it on the short fourth down rather than punt the ball and again a first down wins the game.

Instead, you played not to lose.

8) Myles Garrett didn't have a sack and didn't appear to have an impact on the game until you consider he injured his groin during the game and finished the game.

9) The Browns also lost defensive end, Takk McKinley, for the season with an injured Achilles Tendon.

McKinley's loss removes the top pass rusher from among the reserves and continues to hammer the depth of a team reeling.

10 ) The Nick Mullens touchdown drive in the fourth quarter of eighty yards was the longest of the season in the fourth quarter for the Browns this season.

11) During the first half, a graphic appeared on the screen that the Browns would move into first place and would be in last place with a defeat.

That speaks volumes for the AFC North this season.

12) This loss is a heartbreaker for the Browns, who still have playoff hopes but at a minimum will take wins over the Steelers and Bengals to close the season.

I don't like the chances considering the inconsistency of the Browns this season. 

Browns Blow in the Wind- Lose to Raiders 16-6

  The Cleveland Browns appeared to be ready for a shootout with the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday in Cleveland.

After all these two teams "boast" two of the worst secondaries in football and the game looked to be another Cleveland Browns shootout with the team that has the ball last wins.

Mother Earth had different plans with high winds and occasional sleet and snow squalls to hamper the air game and turn the game into a ground-based defensive battle that saw only one touchdown out of two survive replay as Las Vegas dropped the Browns 16-6.

Cody Parkey kicked two field goals to account for the Browns points in the defeat as the Browns only nudged past the two hundred yard mark in total offense with Baker Mayfield throwing for 122 yards and Kareem Hunt leading the rushing games with 66 yards on eighteen carries.

The Browns fall to 5-3 with the defeat as they enter into their off-week with a return two Sundays away against the currently 1-6 Houston Texans by Lake Erie.

Brownie Bits

1) This one hurts a bit.

The game against a team that is roughly of the Browns caliber at home, You hope that those games are wins and losing those hurt in the building process as well as the standings if you think that you are in playoff contention.

These are games that good teams win- no matter the circumstances.

2) Still, the weather was a factor in this game with the heavy wind especially visible at the Dawg Pound end of the stadium.

Cody Parkey's miss late in the game was on its way through the uprights until the wind grabbed the football and shoved it aside to the left and Las Vegas booter Daniel Carlson missed a field goal in a similar manner kicking at the same goalpost.

3) The bad weather, while typical of an AFC North battle did arrive a bit early this season, but the disappointment is this- You are the Cleveland Browns. Building around the running game.

You play in the AFC North where November and December are where warmth goes to die.

Against a West Coast team that plays inside a dome, you expect to win this game.

4) The Raiders did what the Browns thought they would do- Possess the football and control the clock.

The Browns finished with only six drives for the entire game and lost the time of possession statistic by over fifteen minutes.

Josh Jacobs rushed for 128 yards on thirty-one carries and with his longest run consisting of only sixteen yards, Jacobs kept the chains moving and the clock running and that's all the Raiders needed to do.

5) Derek Carr didn't throw for more yardage than Baker Mayfield as Mayfield threw for ten yards more on the day, but Carr completed 15 of 24 to Mayfield's 12 of 25 and threw for the only touchdown of the game.

6) The game really swung on two calls in the same end zone.

In the third quarter, Jarvis Landry appeared to have caught a touchdown pass, but replay showed that the ball wasn't cleanly caught and it deserved to be overturned.

The Raiders were fortunate enough to have the camera in exactly the right place to see that Landry didn't catch the football.

7) In the fourth quarter, Hunter Renfrew appeared to have lost the ball as he hit the ground on what would be the only touchdown of the day.

However, this time the camera didn't have a clean shot of the play and the play stood for a touchdown.

I thought the ball hit the ground, but I understood why the play couldn't be overruled because there just wasn't enough evidence to turn the call over.

8) Myles Garrett played most of the game with a knee injury suffered in the first quarter.

Garrett will undergo an MRI today to see how severe the injury is and what his status will be entering the off week.

Garrett, understandably, didn't sack Derek Carr and saw his sack streak end at six games.

9) I've been critical of Baker Mayfield often for his inaccurate passing, but particularly for throwing the ball so high that his receivers are susceptible to taking unprotected blows from oncoming defensive backs.

The throw pictured above to Jarvis Landry in the end zone was an example of these throws and they are part of the problem with Mayfield, who didn't complete half of his passes in this loss.

Mayfield wasn't the reason that the Browns lost this game, but he didn't do much to help them win it either.

10) I know the Browns played without Nick Chubb, Odell Beckham, and Austin Hooper in this game and that meant a lot more of Harrison Bryant (who fumbled once), David Njoku (who once again dropped an easy catch in a key fourth quarter situation) and Rashard Higgins (one catch in three targets).

Those guys aren't the offensive talents similar to the players on the sidelines are, but as long as they have to play, they have to do better.

11) One week after catching the game-winning score against Cincinnati, Donovan Peoples-Jones didn't have a ball thrown to him and I'm not even sure that I remember on the field except for returning kicks.

KhaDarel Hodge was on the field in his return to the lineup and saw a lot of action without being targeted.

Peoples-Jones is still very raw, but he is the only deep threat that the Browns have in the absence of Odell Beckham and teams are going to start playing up on the Browns receivers that run the short and intermediate routes.

12) Finally, 5-3 at the halfway point.

I would have taken that eight weeks ago, but I have to feel that there has been an opportunity lost.

Yes, Pittsburgh is undefeated but their win over Baltimore dropped the Ravens to 6-2, which could have been a tie with the Browns had Cleveland taken care of business against the Raiders.

Still, 5-3 seems about right.

The Browns won a game that I wouldn't thought then (Indianapolis) and lost one that I would have picked as a win (Las Vegas) then despite picking the Raiders to win in the PPM.

13) The Browns would be the seventh and final team in the playoffs, if the season ended today.

The Browns have three very winnable games in the immediate future-home against the Texans and Eagles before a road visit to Jacksonville.

They have to go 2-1 at worst in those three games, but 3-0 is possible.

If they go 3-0, 8-3 before games at Tennessee and home against Baltimore.

That places them likely at 8-5 with losses before two games at Giants Stadium against the Giants and Jets before concluding the season at home against Pittsburgh.

By the chalk, that's 10-6.

Now there is the map to the playoffs- Can the Browns win the games that they should win to follow it?

The road begins in two weeks.

Back later with the boxing Saturday that I haven't had the time to write about!