Browns vs Raiders Winners & 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 special teams and defense hold their own.

The Raiders were ranked #13 in passing offense and dead last in running the ball compared to the Browns defense who ranked middle of the road against both. Meanwhile, Cleveland's passing offense came in at #29 and their rushing attack #26 with Las Vegas on defense horrible versus the run at #28 but have a stout pass defense.

Cleveland began excellently and built 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 going to the playoffs drops to 14%.

So who played well for the Browns? Who didn't?

P Corey Bojorquez - The Browns offensive MVP had one punt travel 80 yards and then hit the turf into the end zone for a registered 84-yard kick. He punted five times for an amazing 63.2-yard average. Two punts landed inside the five-yard line but the coverage could not get down there in time and both went into the end zone for touchbacks. He did land one punt inside the 20 to the three-yard line with a pooch kick for 37 yards which hurt his average but helped the defense. Bojo can kick it over a pine tree. Will be the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. Also had punts for 61, 60, and 74 yards. What a weapon.

DE Myles Garrett - No matter the down and distance or what quarter it is, Browns fans can always count on Garrett to give full effort on every passing down. He is still a force for any offensive tackle to deal with. His two sacks were a thing of beauty as he just leaned to the outside of OT Kolton Miller and found QB Gardner Minshew. His first sack was with just 43 ticks left in the first half which killed any aspirations of the Raiders getting into field goal range. With 12:28 left in the fourth quarter, Garrett again beat Miller with an outside move as JOK had stunted creating havoc as Garrett got there first. Garrett later put pressure on Minshew who had to throw early on a key third-and-three with just over six minutes left to play. Three tackles, three QB hits, two sacks, two tackles for loss.

Vicious hits - Rookie LB Winston Reid laid one on RB Zamir White who fumbled and S Rodney McLeod took in for the score. Isiah McGuire dumped KR Alexander Mattison in the second quarter like the returner had run into a brick wall and fell flat. JOK plastered RB Tyreik McAllister on a run up the middle early in the third quarter.

LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoah - Another Pro Bowl season is what the talented linebacker is playing. 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 who was one move away from nothing but green. Tackled White for a five-yard loss on first down as the Raiders were looking to run out the clock towards the end of the game.

S Ronnie Hickman - Was all over the field today and made several key tackles. Early in the second quarter, Hickman nailed White for no gain with 13:54 left before the half. Early in the second half, WR Jacobi Meyers had gotten by Denzel Ward and caught a pass that went for 19 yards until Hickman was able to push his out of bounds. Hickman had Bowers one-on-one in the left flats after Bowen had reeled off a 13-yard gain and made a great solo tackle.

Browns first offensive series - Each week, Cleveland drives the ball down the field and looks great on offense. Those 15 scripted plays work. Then the pressure of live game action sets in and the wheels come off. Every game. WR Jerry Jeudy got 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. Facing a third-and-two, Coop got the first down by the length of frog hair. Watson was flushed and gained seven yards then a short pass to backup 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 of clock used. A thing of beauty.

- Down by four points, the Browns had driven down to the Raiders' 16-yard line with less than two minutes to play. They were down four points because K Dustin Hopkins had missed a PAT earlier. If not, they were positioned for a game-tying field goal to send the contest to overtime. On the first play, backup center Nick Harris surprised QB Deshaun Watson with the snap which became a six-yard loss and a second-and-16. WR Amari Cooper was involved in two miscues. He had a Watson pass go through his hands and karoom into the hands of Raider defender Tre'von Moehrig for the interception halfway through the third period. Early in the fourth, Coop was wide open and scored an apparent touchdown only to have it called back on a Harris hold.

OT James Hudson - All game long Hudson had no answer for Charles Snowden. It got so bad that the offense finally placed either RB Jerome Ford or RB D'Onta Foreman on that side to help out. Snowden had one full sack and missed out on two others. He had a tackle for loss on Ford, three QB hits, several pressures and three tackles. Early in the game, Hudson missed his man who slammed Foreman for no gain on a first-and-goal run. With 2:29 left in the third quarter, S Isaiah Pola-Mao had come off Hudson's end on a delayed blitz. Instead of passing his man onto Bitonio, Hudson just waved a hand at Pola-Mao who then sacked Watson. On the final play, it was Snowden who got to Watson first and help make the tackle as Hudson stood behind the group and watched.

Third down efficiency - 3-10 for the game became a crutch. Browns were 0-4 in the second half as two were for large gains: 12 and 16 yards.

OG Zak Zinter - Welcome to the NFL rookie. He lined up against a terrific DT in Christian Wilkins who dominated the young guard with QB hits, pressures, and a half sack. With 1:29 left in the third quarter, Zinter whiffed on Wilkins who was on a stunt with Raider defender K'Lavon Chaisson who met at the QB for the sack. Zinter held his own in the run game, but he has a lot to learn about this level of pass blocking. He could not stay engaged with DE Tyree Wilson early in the third stanza who slammed down Watson just as he threw.

Run attack - Absolutely could not run the ball with the exception of the one long run by Ford late in the game. 92 total rushing yards minus Ford's 35-yard gain tells you what happened against the Raiders' #28 ranked run defense. What was worse was their best-run defender, Maxx Crosby, didn't even play. Where was Foreman? He had just four carries for two yards. Watson did well when flushed and gained 32 yards on being flushed. Watson's scrambles plus the Ford long run equaled 67 of 92 yards for the game. Pathetic against a horrible run defense.

Pocket collapse - Watson rarely had a clean pocket and was flushed repeatedly. He was hit for most of the game or had to throw before he was ready. Nobody along the offensive line played well. OT Dawand Jones looks heavy and can't respond to a quick inside move. C Harris had two key flubs that altered the game. Watson was flushed more times than he can count and did gain some yardage while on others attempted passes but without planting either foot. It was just a bad day all around for the offensive line.

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

DT Dalvin Tomlinson - The Raiders were able to move Tomlinson ever so slightly but gained yardage right past him all game long. Had a total of two tackles. He missed a tackle in the second quarter. Las Vegas hadn't rushed for more than 55 yards in a game this season yet found running lanes up the gut all game with 152 rushing yards gained in this game.

Missed tackles - The game was full of guys not getting a secure hold on the ball carrier. Missed tackles: Tomlinson, Denzel Ward (2), Cam Mitchell (2), Quinton Jefferson, Devin Bush (2), JOK, and M.J. Emerson. On the Las Vegas end around touchdown run by D.J. Turner that proved to be the game-winner, both Emerson and JOK had a paw on him plus Mitchell made a minimal attempt to bring him down at the one-yard line.

Milk Bones – When in doubt, look intelligentK Dustin Hopkins - Nailed the 56-yarder then missed a PAT that altered the strategy of the game at the end. Added another PAT.

QB Deshaun Watson - Not many clean pockets for Watson as he was flushed, hit, swiped at, berated, and harassed for most of the game. Had some good scrambles and did connect on a few passes. Had a decent running game despite "not being a running back." The one interception was not his fault, was sacked just three times which could have been nine times, had a decent 84.9 QB rating, and tossed 32 passes with 24 completions for a pedestrian 176 yards. Nothing spectacular, but then again it could have been a lot worse if he did not have pocket awareness and the ability to scramble out of danger. His offensive line did him no favors while his receivers were not great either.

S Rodney McLeod - Was excellent in coverage and helped out with the run game. Had the touchdown that changed a stagnant contest into one that became competitive.