It was a game that was a back and forth battle, neither team giving an inch as both the Raiders and Browns fought for their playoff lives. The Browns had to play without starting quarterback Baker Mayfield, and Nick Mullens was thrown into the fire. Early on, the Browns defense struggled to stop the Raiders offense. The drive resulted in a touchdown pass from Derek Carr to give the Raiders the early 7-0 lead. Afterward, both offenses were stagnant for a while. Las Vegas would add a field goal to give the Raiders a 10-0 lead heading into halftime.
The Browns were able to jump-start their offense in the third quarter, as a mix of play-action passes, and running plays put the Browns in the red zone. Nick Chubb weaved his way around defenders and got into the end zone for a touchdown to cut the lead to 10-7 Las Vegas. Vegas would put three points on the board, as kicker Daniel Carlson drained a field goal to push the score to 13-7 Raiders. Browns quarterback Nick Mullens kept the Browns in the game, as he remained poised in the pocket and delivered crisp passes to his receivers to move the chains. There were some questionable calls on this drive as it looked that the Browns were playing too conservatively.
Less than four minutes in the game and on 4th down, the Browns went for it. Nick Mullens felt the pressure and moved left to right and then scrambled back to his left and floated a pass in the end zone, the ball was caught by tight end Harrison Bryant. The crowd went wild, and this game was going to come down to the wire. On the Raider’s next drive, Derek Carr heaved a deep ball down the field and overthrew his receiver, Greedy Williams picked off the pass, thus giving the Browns the momentum.
Once again, the Browns play-caller Alex Van Pelt, made some questionable calls as the Browns’ offense went three and out. Less than a minute remaining, Las Vegas marched down the field. Daniel Carlson connected on a 49 – yard field goal as time expired. The Raiders squeezed out a win by a score of 16-14.
The Browns suffered a crushing defeat, as they were a win away from being in first place in the AFC North to ending the night in last place in the division. The Browns’ defensive play was sporadic, while Nick Mullens did his job in giving his team a chance to win. The Browns have to shake off this loss quickly, as they will head to Lambeau to face the Packers on Christmas Day.