Raiders Hope to Continue Winning Ways Against Browns
The Las Vegas Raiders are on the road for the second straight week to play the Cleveland Browns on Saturday at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland with their post-season hopes clearly on the line.
The good news for the Raiders (6-7) is that they hold a 16-10 margin over the Browns (7-6) in the all-time series and have won the last three games in a row.
The Raiders defeated the Browns, 16-6, on the same field last year, with Daniel Carlson kicking field goals of 29, 33, and 24 yards, Derek Carr throwing a four-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Hunter Renfrow to break a 6-6 tie in the fourth quarter as the Silver and Black held the Browns to 223 total yards.
Josh Jacobs rushed for 129 yards on 31 carries as the Raiders controlled the ball and the clock, and the Las Vegas limited Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield to 12-of-25 passing for 122 yards without a touchdown.
The Raiders also beat the Browns in overtime, 45-42, at the Oakland Coliseum on a 29-yard field goal by Matthew McCrane in 2018 after Carr passed for 437 yards and four touchdowns, and Marshawn Lynch rushed for 130 yards on 20 carries, including a 52-yarder.
The first victory in this three-game streak for the Raiders came when they beat the Browns, 27-20, in 2015 at FirstEnergy Stadium as Carr passed for 314 yards and two touchdowns to build a 27-10 lead early in the final quarter on a six-yard scoring run by Latavius Murray.
Of course, longtime members of Raider Nation remember the greatest game in Raiders-Browns history came when the Silver and Black pulled out a 14-12 victory at Cleveland Municipal Stadium on the shores of Lake Erie in an AFC Divisional playoff in the 2980 season on a cold, snowy day.
Fullback Mark van Eeghen scored his second one-yard touchdown of the game with 9:22 left in the game to give the Raiders the lead, but quarterback Brian Sipe was driving the Browns toward a winning touchdown or field goal in the final minutes.
Instead of setting for a game-winning field goal, Sipe dropped back and tried to hit star tight end Ozzie Newsome, but Raiders safety Mike Davis cut in front of Newsome and intercepted the pass to pull out the victory with 49 seconds left on the clock.
The play has become known as “The Mistake by the Lake.”
Those Raiders went on to upset quarterback Dan Fouts and the San Diego Chargers in the AFC Championship game before upsetting the Philadelphia Eagles, 27-10, in Super Bowl XV and became the first wild card team to win the NFL’s greatest game.
Two years later, the Raiders faced the Browns again in the 1982 AFC Wild Card game and beat them, 27-10, as Marcus Allen rushed for 72 yards and two touchdowns, Chris Bahr kicked field goals of 27 and 37 yards, and Jim Plunkett passed for 386 yards at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The Raiders didn’t reach the Super Bowl that season, but two years later they trounced the Washington Redskins, 38-9, in Super Bowl XVIII.
Somehow, these Raiders must take inspiration from those Silver and Black teams, beat the Browns, and stay alive in the playoff race.
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