Late defensive stand powers Raiders past Browns: Key takeaways

NFL Week 4 live updates: Inactives, schedule, kickoff times, matchups, odds and predictions

By: Zac Jackson, Tashan Reed, Vic Tafur and RJ Kraft

Powered by a late-game defensive stand, the Las Vegas Raiders bounced back from last week’s loss in their home opener to defeat the Cleveland Browns 20-16 on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium. On fourth-and-three from the Raiders’ 9 with 41 seconds left, Las Vegas defensive end Charles Snowden sacked Deshaun Watson to secure the victory.

The win moves the Raiders to 2-2 and puts them in a three-way tie for second in the AFC West.

Las Vegas’ productive rushing attack accounted for both of the team’s touchdowns. Watson threw for 176 yards, one touchdown and one interception along with being sacked three times. Cleveland safety Rodney McLeod Jr. returned a fumble for a score to bring the Browns within one score early in the fourth quarter and the defense sacked Gardner Minshew twice.

Cleveland (1-3) will continue a three-game road trip in Week 5 to face NFC East-leading Washington Commanders, while the Raiders will travel to Denver to take on the Broncos in an AFC West battle.

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Despite injuries, Raiders’ D delivers

Not only did superstar defensive end Maxx Crosby miss the first game of his career against the Browns, but the Raiders were also without three other defensive starters in defensive end Malcolm Koonce, linebacker Divine Deablo and safety Marcus Epps. While the Browns’ offense has been bad all season, there was plenty of reason to doubt that the Raiders’ defense would be able to hold up without so many key contributors.

They got off to a rough start and gave up 10 points in the first quarter, but then they finished the game on a dominant run as they held the Browns’ offense scoreless for seven consecutive possessions. It was Snowden, a fourth-year defensive end, who’d never appeared in a regular season contest prior to this season and released after training camp, who sealed the win for the Raiders on a game-winning sack. — Tashan Reed, Raiders beat writer

Charles Snowden called game for the @Raiders! pic.twitter.com/kHI5HKQ1cZ

— NFL (@NFL) September 29, 2024

Little details prove costly to Cleveland’s offense

The Browns had all three timeouts on their final drive, but they chose to let the clock run in hopes of scoring and limiting the Raiders’ time to potentially answer. It was one of several puzzling game management decisions the Browns made throughout a game in which they were good for moments but got run over — on both sides of the ball, really — over the middle two quarters. Watson mostly played well, but Amari Cooper’s drop of a perfectly placed Watson pass that led to an interception in the third quarter will be remembered as one of the day’s pivotal moments. Another would be the 82-yard Watson to Cooper touchdown that was negated by a holding call on backup center Nick Harris.

The Browns got to the red zone on their last drive, but Harris snapped it early on the first play out of the two-minute warning and the Browns lost six yards. The little details matter, and the Browns just weren’t good enough to win. Their record of 1-3 fits what we saw from them over the season’s first month. — Zac Jackson, Browns beat writer

Running Raiders: Creativity sparks ground game

The Raiders finally got their running game going, as offensive coordinator Luke Getsy had seven ball carriers run 29 times for 152 yards and two touchdowns in the win. That included tight end Brock Bowers’ first run of the year and two touchdowns by receivers, Tre Tucker and DJ Turner.

DJ Turner for the TD!

📺: #CLEvsLV on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/jWkFg1hJUp

— NFL (@NFL) September 29, 2024

Las Vegas, who came in with the worst running attack in the league, had surpassed its season-high of 71 yards early in the second quarter. Alexander Mattison had a team-high 60 yards on five carries. They were able to overcome Zamir White’s late fumble as the defense made some plays at the end of the game. — Vic Tafur, Raiders beat writer

Disappointing defensive effort by the Browns

The Browns weren’t good enough defensively until the final 10 minutes or so. McLeod picked up a bouncing fumble that was caused by Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and returned it for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to give the Browns life, but the Browns were repeatedly beaten on end-around calls and even some straight-ahead runs. Minshew had wide open receivers over the middle all day long, and the Browns’ tackling was putrid. Minshew was far from perfect, but he was mostly comfortable as the Raiders moved the pocket and mixed up their looks. The Browns’ offense made the day’s most glaring and painful errors, but the defense delivered another subpar effort. — Jackson