3 Good things from the Browns loss to the Raiders on Monday night

The Browns had some good things come out of their loss to the Raiders.

The Browns lost to the Raiders on Monday 16-14, courtesy of a walk-off field goal, and while there is a lot to be mad about, there’s also a lot to be happy about. While losses are never preferred they are valuable. They show us what we need to work on and what we don’t need to work on.

There is a lot to be learned in loss, especially when you take out 20 active players from the rotation and tell them to “do their best” before pushing them out of the metaphorical plane without a parachute on.

The Browns landed safely, even if they did take the loss in the process. Luckily, the season isn’t over yet, and with three games left the Browns are not out of this yet. The teams of the AFC North all play each other still and if things go right the Browns can still get into the playoffs. That said, it’s going to take some help and no more losing. So let’s look at three good things from the win, and remind ourselves that this season isn’t over just yet.

These are three good things from the Browns win

The defense, mostly, did their job

Yes, you can pick some moments apart, but no defense plays perfectly ever. There are always mistakes made at some point in the game. The defense did their job. They held a high-powered Raiders offense to just 16 points. Maybe if Denzel Ward tackles a guy inside or Myles Garrett makes a sack this team wins but any day you only give up 16 points to a quarterback as good as Derrick Carr, you count it as a win.

The team was competitive despite all the upheaval.

I genuinely believed that the Browns were dead when they went down 10-0. The Raiders were killing the clock and the Browns couldn’t score, it looked horrible. Yet somehow the Browns were able to mount a comeback late in the game and nearly pulled off the upset. Frankly, I didn’t think the Browns were going to win this game with all of those COVID cases. The fact they only lost by two, in the fading seconds of the game, was a lot better of an outcome than I expected heading into the matchup. That’s something to be mindful of.

Nick Mullens proved the team can move on from Case Keenum

After watching Nick Mullens play against Case Keenum, I’d be fine with saying Mullens is better, or at the very least, is as good. Keenum has never been a quarterback who forces passes downfield and Mullens proved he could. You know, assuming he had a receiver who could catch passes. Moving on from Keenum ends any debates about his status with the team, as well as frees up a nice chunk of money the team is going to need to invest in receivers and defensive tackles.