The Cleveland Browns will be looking to avoid a second-straight loss to a winless team, this time the Oakland Raiders.
It all went wrong for the Cleveland Browns last Sunday. What was supposed to be the start of a run that ended with Cleveland at 6-2 crashed and burned right out of the gates, as the Browns came out flat en route to suffering a blowout loss to what was a winless Jacksonville Jaguars side.
The Browns have a chance to right a wrong this coming weekend when they host the 0-6 Oakland Raiders. Make no mistake about the fact that this could be yet another trap game for Cleveland, and not just if the hosts are overlooking what has, as of late, been an improved Oakland team.
The Browns can either jump-start their season or watch as it spirals out of control. Your move, Cleveland.
Raiders at Browns preview: How Oakland wins
The Browns cannot stop opposing running backs.
Not even a little bit. Not even at all.
Cleveland is dead last in the NFL in run defense, allowing over 155 yards on the ground per game. Former college quarterback Denard Robinson was the latest back to torch the defense of the Browns, going for 127 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries (5.8 yards per run). Robinson had not run for over 33 total yards in a contest heading into last Sunday’s affair.
Darren McFadden will be the next back expecting to have a big day against Cleveland. There’s no reason to believe the Browns can and will stop the run until they prove otherwise, and that could lead to all kinds of problems for the hosts.
Rookie quarterback Derek Carr is slowly but surely settling in under center. He threw for four touchdowns against the San Diego Chargers two weeks ago, and he has a total of eight touchdowns and five interceptions on the campaign.
Life for Carr will only get easier if McFadden is able to open things up by gaining yards on the ground. That could mean bad times for a Cleveland defense that hasn’t stopped the run and that has been responsible for a lackluster secondary.
Raiders at Browns preview: On Hoyer
By stopping the Oakland rushing attack and forcing a rookie quarterback to win the game, and by its veteran quarterback getting the job done in front of a home audience.
There are no excuses for how poorly Cleveland QB Brian Hoyer played against Jacksonville; not center Alex Mack being out indefinitely (broken leg), not the rushing attack of the Browns being held in check, and not wide receivers failing to reel in catchable balls.
Hoyer’s struggles, and also the fact that rookie Johnny Manziel is just waiting for his chance to shine, have been well-documented. It has been reported that Hoyer expects to be paid and played as a starting quarterback past 2014.
Going 0-2 back-to-back against the worst teams in the NFL is a good way to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Raiders at Browns preview: Latest test
Every game brings with it a new test for first-time head coach Mike Pettine. Pettine and his staff did not have the Browns ready for Jacksonville, and blame for the loss begins with the coaches. Pettine can talk all he wants about his dislike of the “Same Old Browns” mantra that has hovered over this franchise since 1999.
Last Sunday in Jacksonville was as “Same Old Browns” as it gets.
Pettine, a defensive coach throughout his career, was supposed to build a top-tier defense in Cleveland. The Browns have had anything but that to date, and there will be serious cause for concern if the offense of the Raiders has its best day of the campaign on Sunday. Oakland has the worst rushing attack in football, and the Raiders are in the bottom-fourth in the NFL in passing.
Raiders at Browns preview: Prediction
Expect Johnny Football to see the field on Sunday. If he plays more than a handful of plays that are spread out over four quarters, than things will have gone horribly wrong for the Browns. Oakland is hungry, they’re improving, and the Browns are a wounded animal.
We’re about to see what the 2014 Browns are made of.
Prediction: Browns win 23-17
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Zac has been covering the Cleveland Browns, New York Giants and National Football League for a variety of websites since 2006. He is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.
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