Raiders versus Browns RECAP!

OFFENSE

• Let’s get the bad out of the way. Absolutely, without doubt, Charlie Frye shouldn’t have thrown that interception in the end zone. Everyone and their mother (seriously, my mom called me and asked what the fuck Chuck was doing) knows you don’t throw across the field, especially when you have as questionable arm strength as Frye does. The Browns had a three point lead, were in field goal range, and were facing an offense that had remembered who they were in the second half. There was no need to take a chance like that, and Frye needs to understand that. With all of that being said, however, I think that it was just a case of Frye’s competitiveness getting the best of him. He wanted to kill the Raiders right there, and while I can in no way condone the play, I can at least admire where the motivation for it was coming from.
• Reuben Droughns had his first 100 yard game of the season, but let’s not start sucking each other’s dicks just yet. Coming in to today’s game, Oakland had given up 332 yards on the ground this year, or an average of 166. So by those standards, the Browns actually underachieved.
• The passing game looked great, although I’ve heard some complaints that Kellen Winslow wasn’t involved enough. Haberdash. Frye did a great job spreading the ball around, hitting nine different receivers including a touchdown pass to Darnell Dinkins. Winslow, Harrison, and Jurevicius all came up with huge first down catches and Jurevicius made an amazing grab in the corner of the end zone for Frye’s third TD pass. Frye also made the smart play almost all game (save for the interception in the end zone) and put the ball exactly where it needed to be, even on incompletions (one such instance that stands out is when Frye was looking for Harrison running a wheel route and threw to the outside, so that even though it was incomplete, only Harrison could make a play on it).
• The play-calling was much improved, especially the use of screens against the aggressive Oakland pass rush.

DEFENSE

• The run defense has to be a concern. Lamont Jordan piled up 128 yards after having only 55 combined in the Raiders’ first two games, and Justin Fargas added 54 on only three carries. All in all, the Raiders tore up the Browns for 194 yards on the ground. You’d think that when facing a team that starts Andrew Walter at quarterback, your defense would be stacked against the run. Well, if the Browns defense was, I shudder to think what Jordan could’ve done if the Browns had played more straight up.
• I’d like to say the pass D was good, holding Walter to a 9/23, 68 yard day, but I don’t think it had much to do with our D. I wouldn’t necessarily say it was Walter’s fault either, since many of his throws were right on target. No, I’d say that the Raiders’ receivers are gutless, and it starts with Randy Moss, who had only one catch for 5 yards (albeit a touchdown catch). There were just too many instances where Walter would put the ball right in the recievers’ hands and they would just drop it, or where Walter would throw up a jump ball—usually to Moss—and the receivers just didn’t make the effort to get the ball.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• The real star of the game. The Browns racked up an astounding 217 yards on returns, and should have had three touchdowns out of them. First, Joshua Cribbs stepped on the sideline, then Janikowski caught Cribbs, and finally Shane Lechler corralled Dennis Northcutt. I think that our return game is quite strong, but I don’t think it’s this strong. Like their receivers, the Raiders special teams should be ashamed.