Reasons The Browns Scored 6 Points And Lost To The Raiders At Home, Ranked
Embarrassing.
I'll start with this: I really thought the Browns were going to win this game. I had visions of sugar plums and being 6-2 heading into the Bye Week dancing in my head. I thought it before the game. I thought it at halftime. And I thought it going into the 4th quarter.
The fact of the matter is that the Raiders really didn't play that well this afternoon. I mean, they scored 16 points on our atrocious defense. They are not a very good football team. Nothing special, to say the least. They were kind of just there. The problem is that the Browns were not there. We played awful. We had a million chances to get the job done today, and we pissed it away time after time after time.
Here are the reasons we lost the game, ranked:
1.) The defense couldn't stop the run
208 yards on the ground. TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHT. To the Raiders, who haven't been able to get the ground game going all year. We knew what was coming, time after time after time. And we still couldn't stop it. Time after time after time. You're not going to win many games getting out possessed 38 minutes to 22. The Raiders rushed 45 times and probably didn't run it enough. We couldn't control the line of scrimmage, and that's just the way it went. We got bullied today by a bunch of nerds.
The Browns had only 6 drives the entire game. This is the fewest by any team in the last 30 seasons. How are we supposed to score points when we don't even have the ball?
2.) Our pass catchers can't catch the ball
How do you drop this? That ball is square in the chest. On a key 3rd and 8. Unacceptable. I mean, David Njoku is out here demanding trades and then letting the ball hit him square in the chest on 3rd and 8. That was a game changing drop. Did he do it on purpose.....? But it wasn't just Njoku. You name them, they dropped one. Or two or three....like Jarvis did. Including a touchdown. I can't question Jarvis Landry's will to win, but I can question how in the world he can make one-handed circus catches but not the easy ones. Kareem Hunt too. And even when Harrison Bryant DID catch the ball, he fumbled it.
Baker Mayfield did his job today. The receivers did not help him out. At all.
3.) The refs
I thought about putting the zebras at #1, not gonna lie. But I knew you guys would jump down my throats. So I'm gonna sneak these son of a bitches in here at #3, but they were just as awful as the defense and receivers.
How in the world do they take back Jarvis Landry's TD but not Hunter Renfrows? Both balls touched the ground. Did they not have the same angle the TV had? That was TERRIBLE. And it completely changed the outcome of the game. Referees just loving screwing the Browns vs. the Raiders. Happens every time.
4.) Our kicker
This is a distant 4th, I'll admit. Did he cost us the game? No. But did the Browns still have a chance when he missed a chip shot at the end to go down 7? Yes, 100%. We still had our 3 timeouts and could've gotten the ball back for another Baker Mayfield miracle drive.
Ugh.
So we're 5-3 heading into the Bye Week. End of the world? Not at all. We still have the 2nd easiest Strength of Schedule throughout the rest of the year. And Nick Chubb is coming back. But do I feel good about it? Not at all. This team should be 6-2....
This one hurts. And now we have 2 weeks to think about what could've been.