Raiders’ quick slants: Browns edition

Running game comes to life while defense plenty stingy as Las Vegas earns much-needed 20-16 victory

No Maxx Crosby. No Davante Adams. No problem — apparently.

The Las Vegas Raiders overcame the absences of their two best players and took care of business Sunday afternoon staving off the Cleveland Browns late rally for a much-needed 20-16 win inside Allegiant Stadium.

It was a contest where the Silver & Black ground game finally came to life and the defense playing plenty stingy as Las Vegas overcame a 10-0 deficit and back into the win column after a disconcerting home loss to the lowly Carolina Panthers in Week 3. A defeat that produced the “business decisions” speak from Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce and had the look of a team in dilemma just three games into the 2024 season.

“I knew what group I had. I don’t want to go backwards but that wasn’t the team that we’re accustomed to seeing and has shown up over the last several games. It was a trying week, to be honest, a lot of hoopla stuff, probably started with me and my comments, and I apologized to them for that,” Pierce said in the post game press conference. “I don’t want to be a distraction that way, but at the end of the day, we went to work each and every day. They came out throughout the week, and guys never flinched and blinked.”

From the get, it sure looked like the Raiders (2-2 overall) would flinch as the visiting Browns (1-3) rolled into Las Vegas and executed a methodical opening drive for a touchdown (15 plays and 70 yards) and a 56-yard field goal to jump to a 10-0 advantage. That start had the makings of another potential disaster of a home outing for the Raiders.

Yet, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy seemingly discovered he’s got some fleet feet at his disposal and by using that speed on end arounds, Las Vegas got back on track with an 11-play, 70-yard touchdown drive of their own to cut the deficit to 10-7. It was a drive that saw tight end Brock Bowers and wide receivers Tyriek McAllister and Tre Tucker get carries for yards — Tucker scoring from three-yards out. A Cleveland drive that resulted in a punt gave way to a Las Vegas series that culminated in a Daniel Carlson 52-yard field goal to knot the game at 10 going into halftime.

The Raiders resolve didn’t waiver in the second half as the team opened with a field goal to take a 13-10 lead, then safety Tre’von Moehrig snared an interception as the ball clanged off former Raiders and current Browns receiver Amari Cooper, before Getsy dialed up another play to take advantage of speed — this time wide receiver DJ Turner making nifty moves on an end around and plunging into the end zone from 18 yards out.

Even when the Raiders suffered a disheartening turnover that the Browns turned into six — a fumble by running back Zamir White that was returned to the house from 25 yards out — Las Vegas didn’t pack it in. Many Raiders teams of year’s past would’ve folded in that same circumstance, but the Crosby- and Adams-less Silver & Black rose to the occasion as defensive end Charles Snowden sprinted on a stunt to sack Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson on 4th-and-3 with Cleveland on Las Vegas’ nine-yard line to seal the deal.

“Didn’t work out initially, we don’t put him on the 50-man roster, injuries happen, and he gets pulled up and we’ve asked him to do a lot, from special teams, to playing linebacker, to playing D-End,” Pierce said of Snowden, “That height, that length and more importantly that effort, I thought that was — prime example that last play, full-blown, we need to have it 4th and 3, game on the line, and he did everything he could.”

Let’s hit the quick slants as fast as Snowden closed on Watson for the game-sealing sack:

—Some folk will dismiss special teams as an afterthought. But it looms large — especially when it’s a miscue. Take for example Dustin Hopkins missing the extra point after Cleveland scooped up White’s fumble for six. That single point was a major difference as the Browns could’ve gone for a game-tying field goal instead of seeing Watson get smothered by Snowden.

—Six different Raiders carried the ball for positive yards as the ground game churned out 152 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries (a healthy 5.2 yards per carry average. Alexander Mattison led the way with five carries for 60 yards with White pitching in 50 yards on 17 carries. All that production with two rookies on the offensive line in Jackson Powers-Johnson (left guard) and DJ Glaze (right tackle).

—Las Vegas defense held Cleveland to 241 total yards — 149 passing yards and 92 rushing yards — in the victory. While the Browns went 3-for-3 on third down conversions on the opening drive, the Raiders stymied the visitors on every other attempt as Cleveland finished 3-for-10 on third downs.

—Snowden had a pretty full stat sheet in the win as he totaled three tackles (two solo) to go along with his sack. He also deflected a pass in the fourth quarter and tallied three quarterback hits, which tied defensive tackle Christian Wilkins for the team lead.

—Gardner Minshew finished 14 of 24 for 130 yards with zero touchdown passes or interceptions for the Raiders. The quarterback was sacked twice, but overall, it was a paltry performance.

Quote of Note:

“For sure, I think — I don’t know, I felt like the vibe was off last week. I feel like as long as we continue to foster that, the celebrations in the end zone, the celebrating big plays in practice, as long as we’re having a smile and enjoying what we’re doing and enjoying the people that we are around, I think we’re a really good football team. Thank y’all.” —Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew on how the team maintains momentum going into a Week 5 AFC West matchup with the Denver Broncos