Missing their stars, Raiders play 'next man up' game to a T in besting Browns

LAS VEGAS — It was gut-check time for the Las Vegas Raiders.

Coming off a brutal Week 3 loss to the Carolina Panthers in which coach Antonio Pierce said some players made “business decisions,” the Raiders received a series of body blows throughout the week in the form of injuries. Not only would they be without their two best players in receiver Davante Adams (hamstring) and defensive end Maxx Crosby (ankle), but starting right tackle Thayer Munford (knee/ankle), starting linebacker Divine Deablo (oblique) and No. 2 tight end Michael Mayer (personal) were also ruled out.

With safety Marcus Epps and defensive end Malcolm Koonce already out for the season with torn ACLs, the Raiders found themselves down six starters and another key contributor headed into Sunday’s must-win matchup against the Cleveland Browns.

As the adversity mounted, defensive tackle Adam Butler felt the team needed a jolt. During a team meeting on Thursday, he provided it.

“I flat out asked the team, ‘What are you willing to do for your brothers?’” Butler said Sunday. “I just put that question up in the air, and I made a deal with them. I said, ‘I won’t let you down if you don’t let me down. I’ma fly to the ball if you fly to the ball. And we’ll come out victorious.’

“That’s what we did.”

Ahead of kickoff, Browns fans filled Allegiant Stadium with orange. And when the visiting team jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead in the first quarter, the Cleveland faithful came to life. It looked like another rough afternoon could be in store.

That’s when the Raiders responded.

Over the next two quarters, Antonio Pierce’s squad reeled off 20 unanswered points to take a 10-point lead of its own. Although things got interesting down the stretch — the Browns returned a fumble by running back Zamir White for a touchdown and would’ve taken the lead on an 82-yard catch and run by former Raider Amari Cooper if it weren’t for a questionable holding call — the Raiders held on for a 20-16 win. It showed that Butler’s message to the team got home.

“I knew what (type of) group I had,” Pierce said afterward. “It was a trying week. It … probably started with me with my (business decision) comments, and I apologized to the team for that. I don’t want to be a distraction in that way. But at the end of the day, we just went to work. … Guys never flinched or blinked. We just talked about playing one play at a time and playing for one another. Adam Butler spoke to the team and did a hell of a job with that, and it got us going.”

It wasn’t pretty, but the Raiders weren’t playing for style points. They were fighting to keep their hopes for the season alive, and that meant grinding out an ugly, physical, come-from-behind and then hold-on-for-dear-life victory over a desperate Browns team.

Every coach in the NFL has run the “team win” and “next man up” cliches into the ground, but those are the most accurate descriptors for the Raiders’ performance.

“Hats off to our coaching staff just getting those guys ready and prepared,” Pierce said, “and then, obviously, you’re always going to give credit to the players for stepping up.”

On offense, the Raiders fielded three first-time starters in rookie left guard Jackson Powers-Johnson, rookie right tackle DJ Glaze and slot receiver DJ Turner.

“It was big for us. It was a lot of people that had to step up,” Turner said. “If you just be the best version of yourself, that’ll take care of everything. That’s exactly what happened.”

The offense got off to a rough start, and quarterback Gardner Minshew II played his worst game as a Raider. But the unit managed to string together four straight scoring drives to take control on the back of a revived running game. The Raiders pounded the Browns on 29 rushes for 152 yards and two touchdowns. Las Vegas had rushed for just 153 yards combined in the first three games of the season.

In part, that spark stemmed from creativity. White handled the bulk of the workload with 17 carries for 50 yards, but coordinator Luke Getsy called designed runs for six different players.

On the Raiders’ first scoring drive, four different players ran the ball. White got his traditional carries. Tight end Brock Bowers took a jet sweep for a first down. Receiver Tyreik McAllister lined up in the backfield and got a carry of his own for a first down. Then receiver Tre Tucker got into the action on a double-handoff/reverse for a 3-yard score.

STICKS WITH THE SPEED!!!#CLEvsLV | 📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/u45u6Retvk

— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) September 29, 2024

The Raiders had a similar approach on their other touchdown drive. Getsy called a handoff for running back Alexander Mattison on third-and-9, and he broke multiple tackles on his way to a 16-yard gain. On the next snap, Turner took a jet sweep around the left end for an 18-yard touchdown.

TURN US UP DJ 🔊#CLEvsLV | 📺 @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/GZIPKgHSYL

— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) September 29, 2024

For the first time, the Raiders offense was able to play the type of bruising football Pierce envisioned. In addition to Getsy and the ball carriers, the revamped offensive line deserves credit for helping it all come together.

“The O-line did an amazing job,” Mattison, who had 60 yards on just five carries, said. “We were getting behind those big guys up front and toting.”

Defensively, the biggest question was how the Raiders would account for Crosby’s absence. Tyree Wilson started in his place, but the Raiders were well aware he couldn’t fill the void on his own. Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham deployed a mix of Wilson and little-known defensive ends Charles Snowden, K’Lavon Chaisson and Janarius Robinson to get the job done.

Wilson was able to create pressure and registered two tackles for loss. Robinson combined with defensive tackle Christian Wilkins for a sack. And Snowden stood out with three quarterback hits, a timely pass deflection on the Browns’ final drive and the game-saving sack.

“We knew that not one of us was going to become Maxx Crosby overnight,” Snowden said. “We knew that would take the collective.”

Snowden icing it 🥶#CLEvsLV | 📺 @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/S0wru9N1Na

— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) September 29, 2024

In the secondary, cornerback Jack Jones was benched for the first quarter despite being healthy. Nate Hobbs slid to outside cornerback while Darnay Holmes stepped in at nickelback. Neither Pierce nor Jones would elaborate on the benching after the game, but it was clearly a form of discipline.

“That was my decision,” Pierce said. “That’s between me and Jack.”

Jones was inserted to start the second quarter and played the rest of the game. Still, he was happy to see his teammates step up.

“That’s just a good team win,” Jones said. “The guys behind the guys who got hurt have been waiting for this opportunity.”

Cornerback Jakorian Bennett continued his ascension. He was consistent in coverage and had a third-down pass breakup to force a punt in the fourth quarter. He has six pass breakups (T-sixth in the NFL) this season and is growing into a difference-maker.

Safety Isaiah Pola-Mao also impressed in his first career start. He had six tackles, a third-quarter sack and a fourth-quarter pass deflection to force another stop.

The defense forced seven straight stops to end the game. As the offense stalled out and went scoreless in the fourth quarter, Graham’s defense made the necessary plays to seal the win.

The Raiders have plenty to address if they hope to stop the roller-coaster ride they’ve been on this season. Pierce’s game management needs work, the offense remains inconsistent and the defense has been susceptible to costly breakdowns. Sunday’s resurgent win over the Browns was huge, but they’ll need to improve to avoid a letdown next week in Denver against the Broncos (2-2).

“We had this opportunity two weeks ago after the Baltimore win,” Pierce said. “We’re just trying to build that winning consistency and winning stamina each and every week and, hopefully, not riding the roller coaster.”