Cleveland has been playing the Oakland/Los Angeles/Las Vegas Raiders since 1970. Here are 5 memorable games in the series.
The Cleveland Browns will face the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 12 of the 2025 NFL season.
It will be the second consecutive trip to Sin City for the Browns, who have lost five in a row to the Raiders in a series that began in 1970.
Related: Browns 2025 Schedule Primer: Week 12 Las Vegas Raiders
The Browns are a decent-enough 7-10 all-time as the road team against the Raiders, with their last win coming in 2012. Overall, the Raiders hold an 18-10 edge in the series, which includes two meetings in the playoffs.
Let’s take a look at five memorable games between the Browns and the Raiders.
November 8, 1970: Raiders 23, Browns 20
The Browns dug themselves a 13-point hole in the second quarter of their first meeting with the Raiders, but started their comeback on a 10-yard touchdown reception by Leroy Kelly in the second quarter. Cleveland tacked on a 63-yard touchdown run by Bo Scott in the third quarter, and after Don Cockroft converted a 32-yard field goal, the Browns were up 20-13 with a little more than four minutes remaining.
Enter George Blanda, who took his first NFL snap in 1949 with the Chicago Bears. Normally Oakland’s kicker, Blanda was pressed into service at quarterback after the Browns knocked starter Daryle Lamonica out of the game in the fourth quarter.
Blanda moved the Raiders down the field, hit Warren Wells with a 14-yard touchdown pass, and after making the extra point, the game was tied at 20 with about a minute remaining.
The Browns got daring, not wanting to settle for a tie in the pre-overtime days, but Bill Nelsen’s third interception of the day gave the Raiders the ball back near midfield with 34 seconds remaining. A few plays later, Blanda made a 52-yard field goal to complete the comeback and send the Browns home in disappointment.
January 4, 1981: Raiders 14, Browns 12
Everything was set up for the Browns when they hosted the warm-weather Raiders in an AFC Divisional Playoff Game played on a day when the wind chill hit -36 degrees.
The weather hampered the offenses of both teams, however, and the Browns scored their only touchdown of the day on a 42-yard interception return by Ron Bolton in the second quarter. The Raiders answered back with a one-yard touchdown run by Mark Van Eeghen, but a pair of Don Cockroft field goals in the third quarter put the Browns up, 12-7, with one quarter left to be played.
Oakland retook the lead on another one-yard touchdown run by van Eeghen, and it looked like the day was lost when Cleveland’s Brian Sipe fumbled the ball back to the Raiders in Cleveland territory with about four minutes remaining. Cleveland’s defense held, however, and the Browns took over at their 15-yard line with one final chance.
Sipe found his touch and smartly moved the Browns down the field with a 29-yard pass to Ozzie Newsome and a 23-yarder to Greg Pruitt. Mike Pruitt then pounded Oakland’s defense with a 14-yard run, and the Browns were at Oakland’s 14-yard line with a chance to win the game.
It had been a rough day for Cockroft as he had missed two field goals, so the Browns attempted one more play before going for the field goal. Oakland’s Mike Davis intercepted Sipe’s pass toward Newsome in the end zone, the game was lost, and a decade of playoff frustration was born with Red Right 88.
September 20, 1992: Browns 28, Raiders 16
One of the few bright spots of the Bill Belichick era in Cleveland was running back Eric Metcalf, the team’s first-round selection in the 1989 NFL Draft. And on a sunny afternoon at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Metcalf put on a performance for the ages.
Metcalf scored all four Cleveland touchdowns that afternoon, a four-yard reception and a six-yard run in the first quarter as the Browns built a 14-0 lead. In the second half, Metcalf exploded for a pair of long touchdowns, first on a 69-yard catch-and-run in the third quarter, and then a 63-yard reception in the fourth.
Metcalf finished the day with 177 receiving yards on just 5 receptions, and had 187 of Cleveland’s 231 yards of total offense. He also became the first Browns player to score four touchdowns in one game since Leroy Kelly in 1968.
The big day from Metcalf overshadowed Cleveland’s defense, which sacked Oakland quarterback Todd Marinovich six times and forced five turnovers.
September 19, 1993: Browns 19, Raiders 16
Almost one year to the day, the Browns and Raiders met again in Los Angeles, with the Browns pulling out one of the biggest comebacks in franchise history.
The Raiders opened the scoring with a two-yard touchdown pass from Jef Hostetler to Andrew Glover in the first quarter, and steadily built the lead to 13 points with five minutes remaining after Jeff Jaeger’s 53-yard field goal.
But Vinny Testaverde, who had replaced Bernie Kosar in the fourth quarter, finally got the Browns into the end zone when he hit Lawyer Tillman with a 12-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to six points. The defense held on the ensuing possession, and the Raiders took an intentional safety, leaving the Browns down by four points with 1:30 left on the clock.
Eric Metcalf returned the free kick to midfield, and Testaverde drove the Browns to Oakland’s one-yard line, where, with time running out, he pitched the ball to Metcalf, who took it in for the winning touchdown.
Just like the year before, the defense’s effort was overshadowed by the comeback, which would not have been possible if Cleveland had not limited the Raiders to just 156 yards of total offense and four-of-16 on third downs.
September 30, 2018: Raiders 45, Browns 42 (OT)
A game that will always be remembered as the coming-out party for rookies Nick Chubb and Baker Mayfield ended in frustrating fashion for the Browns thanks to a blown call from the officials.
The Browns took their first lead of the game in the second quarter when Chubb went 63 yards for a touchdown on his first NFL carry. Cleveland pushed its lead to 14 points midway through the third quarter on Mayfield’s second touchdown pass of the day, a two-yarder to Jarvis Landry, and the Browns were still ahead by a touchdown entering the fourth.
Oakland scored the first 13 points of the fourth quarter, however, to go up 34-28 after a 44-yard field goal from Matt McCrane. The Browns came right back as Mayfield hit Antonio Callaway with a 59-yard pass to set up a one-yard touchdown run by Carlos Hyde. The defense forced a punt, and three plays later, Chubb ripped off a 41-yard touchdown run to put the Browns back in front by seven.
The Browns defense forced another punt, and it looked like Cleveland had sealed the win when Hyde converted a third-and-two play. But a lengthy replay review reversed the obvious first down, and Cleveland elected to punt. This time, the Raiders had no trouble moving the ball, and Derek Carr’s fourth touchdown pass of the day with 30 seconds remaining sent the game into overtime.
In the extra session, the Raiders missed a field goal on their opening drive, but the Browns went three-and-out, punted back to the Raiders, and 11 plays later, McCrane’s 29-yard field goal handed Cleveland the loss.
What is your most memorable game between the Browns and Raiders? Have your say in the comments.