The Cleveland Browns host the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 8 of the NFL season and look to head into their bye 6-2, and this is how that can happen.
The Cleveland Browns are riding high at 5-2 and sitting comfy in a playoff spot at the moment. If the team can hold on to that current spot then they’ll break a streak that has lasted since 2002. That streak is of missing the playoffs for 18 years. This year may finally be the year the team breaks the curse and moves past the stigma of this team being a joke.
The Raiders are going to be a tough out, offensively they are loaded in the passing game. They’re not a great rushing team and defensively they’re nowhere near as good as they need to be, and the Browns can exploit that fact offensively. That said, the Raiders can keep up with any team. They have a high-octane offense that utilizes fast wide receivers and accurate passing. It’s a one-dimensional offense, but it’s one that works and works well.
The Browns will need to be creative in how they handle Derek Carr and Jon Gruden’s offense. They get points, don’t give up sacks, and have the ability to hang with the best of defenses. The fact that the Browns defense is not great is also a bit worrying.
That doesn’t mean the Browns are done and out, however. They have the tools needed to win this game, and these are the three ways they can do just that.
Control the clock
The Raiders’ passing offense is good. Not the Greatest Show on Turf but against the Browns secondary, especially with those corners (besides Denzel Ward), the Raiders offense appear on the verge of making this defense look as talented as a middle school secondary. The JV middle school secondary.
So against a bunch of 13-year-olds, yeah, the Raiders are poised to be world beaters offensively. While it would behoove the Browns to help Baker Mayfield followup on his impressive outing from last week against the Bengals, the Browns have to worry about what the Raiders offense can do to them through the air. That means running the ball as effectively as possible and making sure the Raiders have as minimal time as possible to get on the field and score.
Establishing a run against the Raiders won’t be too hard, they’re giving up 4.6 yards per rush, 11th worst in the NFL. Hopefully, Kareem Hunt can find his grove again and help lead the Browns on the ground. It’s clear that D’Ernest Johnson’s brief spell of production may have been a flash in the pan, so it’s imperative to get Hunt going early and often.
Otherwise, the Raiders may find themselves in a shootout with the Browns and while they did just beat the Bengals last week in one, the Browns don’t want to keep getting into nailbiting shootouts as the year goes on. A blowout win is just as enjoyable.
Get pressure against Derek Carr
Derek Carr is having a solid MVP year in his third year under Jon Gruden. Carr is completing 70% of his passes and has only thrown two interceptions. The problem? Carr is behind a really good offensive line that has only given up 11 sacks all year. The Browns front-four looked really good against Cincinnati, Washington, and Dallas, but they’re all in the top seven in the league for most sacks given up. Las Vegas is in the top eight in the NFL for least amount of sacks given up.
Tied with the Browns actually.
This is a “make your money game” for Myles Garrett. The Browns pass rush as a whole is actually quite terrible. The Browns are eight in the league defensively in most sacks with 18, which sounds great. Until you realize that Garrett has nine of those 18 sacks, and only two players (Adrian Clayborn and Sheldon Richardson) have at least two sacks. That’s 13 sacks between three players. That’s not a good sign that this defense is capable of showing up against good teams.
The Browns need their non-Garrett’s to show up in games when the opposition’s offensive line isn’t made up of a two-legged stool, a door-less mini-refrigerator, and three Ents from Lord of the Rings.
Don’t make mistakes
This seems like an obvious one, but it needs to be said. The Raiders have a pretty potent offense and some real deep threats. The Browns cornerbacks, save for Denzel Ward, are like characters straight out of a Diary of a Wimpy Kid. To which to say, they’re going to get picked on all day. There’s no way the Browns defense is going to be able to keep the Raiders out of the endzone completely. The hope is that the Browns will dominate the time of possession and the Raiders offense won’t be much of a factor.
In order to control that time of possession, that means not making mistakes. No interceptions, no fumbles, no holding calls, no jumping offsides, and just no being dumb. The Raiders aren’t a great team, but they’re a good enough team to put a boot in someone’s butt. The Browns have to be cognitive of this fact and not allow them to get away with cheap and easy points. Playing mistake-free football is really the best bet to go to control this team. Granted if Baker Mayfield pulls a second game where he’s 22 of 22, then who knows? Maybe the Browns won’t have to be perfect.