Sept. 30 – Alexander Mattison and Zamir White combined to rush for 110 yards and the Las Vegas Raiders’ defense held tough in the second half to beat the visiting Cleveland Browns 20–16 on Sunday.
Trey Tucker and DJ Turner each ran for a touchdown, while quarterback Gardner Minshew completed 14 of 24 passes for 130 yards. Las Vegas (2-2) overcame an early 10-point deficit to hold Cleveland (1-3) to 119 yards and six points in the second half.
Deshaun Watson completed 24 of 32 passes for 176 yards, a touchdown and an interception for the Browns. Jerry Jeudy had six catches for 72 yards for Cleveland, but an 82-yard touchdown was nullified by a holding penalty in the second half and a missed extra point in the fourth quarter.
Cleveland still had a chance to go ahead, starting from their own 31-yard line with 3:17 left. The Browns were up by as many as nine points against the Raiders before Watson was sacked by Charles Snowden on fourth down. The Raiders took over the game and ran away in the final 41 seconds.
The Browns took a 7–0 lead, driving 70 yards in their first 15 plays and driving into the end zone on Watson’s 1-yard pass to Blake Whitehart.
After a three-and-out on the Raiders’ first possession, Cleveland took a 10–0 lead in the first quarter on Dustin Hopkins’ 56-yard field goal.
The Raiders responded on the next possession with an 11-play, 70-yard drive, capped by Tucker’s 3-yard touchdown run.
The Raiders defense got to work from there, limiting the Browns to 45 yards on the next two possessions of the first half. Daniel Carlson’s 52-yard field goal tied the score at 10–10 with 2:52 remaining in the second quarter.
The Raiders took the initiative in the third quarter, taking a 20–10 lead by holding the Browns to 27 total yards on Carlson’s 34-yard field goal and Turner’s 18-yard touchdown run. After an interception by Las Vegas safety Trevon Moehrig, Turner ran 52 yards for a touchdown.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Rodney McLeod Jr. caught White’s fumble 25 yards into the end zone, making the score 20-16. But Hopkins missed the extra point in left field.
Cleveland appeared to have taken the lead on Watson’s 82-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper with 10:16 remaining, but Browns center Nick Harris intercepted him, the play was canceled.
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