The Silver and Black Give The Browns The Blues
In the current state of the NFL, where we see spread offenses, five-wide formations, run-pass option (RPO) and others, the Las Vegas Vegas Raiders took the Cleveland Browns to the old school.
The skies were cloudy, the temperature was cold and the wind was tossing the tiny ship…Wait, that’s another story.
Week Eight saw the Raiders go to Cuyahoga County and absolutely chicken kick the Browns, 16-6.
The weather was absolutely a factor in this battle of teams really looking towards the playoffs. The Raiders came into this game with the game plan to run the rock. And run it is what they did.
Heading up the running game was Vegas RB Josh Jacobs as he carried the pill 31 times for 128 yards. This is exactly what the Raiders and the brain trust of general manager Mike Mayock and head coach Jon Gruden had in mind when selecting the former Crimson Tide standout in the first round two seasons ago.
Las Vegas QB Derek Carr had another efficient game going 15-24 for 112 yards and a touchdown toss to WR Hunter Renfrow. He again had no turnovers in engineering a ground attack that saw the Raiders pound it out 45 times on the ground for 208 yards which kept an improving Browns offense off the field.
Cleveland was without WR Odell Beckham, Jr. who is on the shelf for the rest of the season due to an ACL tear. The Raiders held the number one rushing attack in the NFL to 101 yards. QB Baker Mayfield was under 50% as he went 12 of 25 for only 122 yards.
Coach Gruden and Mike Mayock and the vision of running the football were on full display. In light of the new NFL that has become so pass-happy, Las Vegas was able to dominate the line of scrimmage.
With this win, the Raiders move to 4-3 on the season while dropping Cleveland to 5-3 on the year. This victory for Vegas is sure to play a vital role in any tie-breaking scenarios at the end of the year.
