The Collective Failure Continues As Browns Lose 20-16 In Las Vegas: Game Notes
Opportunities were once again there for the Browns but they squandered them in losing to the Raiders in Las Vegas.
In what feels like an all-too-familiar recipe, the Browns dropped another one to an inferior opponent where they just left too many plays on the field as the Raiders came away with a 20-16 win over the Browns in Las Vegas.
Yet another day filled with the same “well this time it was this guy’s fault” followed by the usual, “that one was on the other guy” types of conversations. From the top to the bottom, the Browns are not getting it done. We can all admit this felt like too familair a script over recent season of Kevin Stefanski-led teams. They have enough talent to overcome the mistakes and missed plays and sometimes they come through for wins—much like we saw in 2023—but other times these games lived on the razor’s edge can tilt the other way.
These last two weeks have been a prime example of the Browns consistently getting in their own way against a less talented opponent and then not getting the key break to spring them to a win. They have failed to come close to playing a complete and cohesive game and it has them sitting at an ugly 1-3 to start the season.
Let’s dig into the game notes from the loss.
The opening script, and following set of plays, were nicely executed by the offense. Some good balance in the schemes, Watson using his legs to extend, and showing general efficiency. During the 15-play, 72-yard drive, the Browns ran the ball four times and used quick passing concepts to beat drop coverage the Raiders wanted to deploy. They also converted their first three 3rd down situations. They were executing as a unit. That execution faltered as the game wore on but they also didn’t face a 3rd down of 3rd and 9 or less until the 4th quarter.
After one watch, granted the television copy, I felt like this was the closes version to 2020 Deshaun Watson as we have seen in Cleveland. I thought he processed well, escaped trouble in the pocket as well as he could, extended drives with his legs, and make positive plays outside of chaos. The stat line shows just 176 passing yards with one touchdown and an interception. But he also added 32 rushing yards and multiple first downs with his legs. Then if you add the play he made to Amari Cooper that was called back, the drop from Cooper that turned into an interception, and few other mishaps this is easily a 300+ yard performance. Again, process over results and his process was good for most of the day.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Browns Film Breakdown to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.