Raiders hold off Browns for big 27-20 road victory

CLEVELAND Coach Jack Del Rio hasn’t cared much for all the talk about the Raiders’ road futility.

His team found the best way to end that chatter Sunday by beating the Cleveland Browns 27-20 at FirstEnergy Stadium to snap Oakland’s 11-game road losing streak.

It’s also the Raiders’ first win in the Eastern time zone since 2009, ending a 16-game skid. And while Del Rio has constantly downplayed dwelling on the struggles of the past, he was fired up about it in his post-game locker room speech to the players.

“Who said we can’t travel east and win an early game?” Del Rio barked in a video posted by the team.

Charles Woodson’s interception with 38 seconds to go sealed the win as the Raiders (2-1) moved above .500 for the first time since being 7-6 late in the 2011 season. This marks Oakland’s first two-game winning streak since the middle of 2012.

“It feels good to not only get a win on the road in this time zone, but to put two together,” fullback Marcel Reece said. “When you’re playing inside your conference or division, it counts for two. In the grand scheme of things, it’s a great win for us.”

Quarterback Derek Carr passed for 314 yards in his second straight 300-yard outing and the third of his young career. Running back Latavius Murray and rookie wide receiver Amari Cooper both sets career marks. For Murray, it was his 26 carries and 139 rushing yards and for Cooper it was his eight receptions and 134 yards.

The Raiders were in charge for most of the afternoon and had a 27-10 lead 30 seconds into the fourth quarter before holding off a late Browns push.

Cleveland scored 10 straight fourth-quarter points, including a touchdown that was set up by a fumble Cooper lost at the Raiders’ 44-yard line.

Oakland also failed to take advantage of a muffed punt by the Browns’ Travis Benjamin, quickly going three-and-out and punting. That punt was a big play though, as Marquette King with some help from Taiwan Jones downfield pinned Cleveland at its own 2-yard line.

The Browns marched down to the Raiders’ 29 before Neiron Ball sacked quarterback Josh McCown, the team’s fifth sack of the day. One play later, Woodson put the game away with his interception as he raced over to cut off a pass to Benjamin, who was otherwise uncovered heading toward the end zone.

“This is what Jack’s been talking about all offseason,” Woodson said of Del Rio. “We’ve got to change the culture of football around here. The last couple of years, these games, we don’t pull them out.”

But the Raiders did pull this one out, just a week after rallying to beat the Baltimore Ravens last week with a touchdown in the final minute. With a win next week on the road against the Chicago Bears, Oakland would have at least three wins in its first four games for the first time since starting 4-0 in 2002 the last year it had a winning record.

“It’s always going to be a fight in this league and it always comes down to the last play, most games,” said defensive end Khalil Mack, who had his first two sacks of the season. “It’s always coming down to the big play. We withstood it and we’re moving on to Chicago.”

The Raiders seized their opportunities in the first half as they took a 17-3 advantage. A promising first drive stalled and they settled for a 23-yard Sebastian Janikowski field goal.

They gained just 16 yards on their next two drives and were poised to have another unproductive one when an offensive pass inference call set them back and they went three-and-out. But Cleveland went after King and were hit with a roughing the kicker penalty that gave the Raiders a first down.

The Raiders suddenly clicked again and marched down for a touchdown. Cooper had a big 40-yard catch-and-run to get them close and Carr hit Andre Holmes for a 3-yard touchdown pass.

“It was a huge moment in the game for us,” Carr said. “It put us back on the field and kind of puts a thorn in their side.”

Cleveland followed with its own promising drive, getting all the way to the Raiders’ 1. Oakland stuffed running back Isaiah Crowell on first down, Malcolm Smith broke up a pass to Browns’ tight end Gary Barnidge in the end zone on second down and Crowell was stuffed against on third down.

The Browns initially were going to go for it on fourth down, but a false start backed them up and they kicked a field goal with 1:48 left in the second quarter.

That was enough time for Carr to guide the Raiders down the field. Murray opened with a 20-yard run, Seth Roberts followed with a 36-yard reception and two plays later he caught a 13-yard touchdown pass that made it 17-3 at halftime.

The finish wasn’t as comfortable as the Raiders’ would have liked it, but it was a good removal of the large road monkey off their back.

“For this team to get this road win is awesome,” Carr said. “To go into someone else’s place and get a win, it’s probably one of the hardest things to do in the NFL. I’m just happy for our team.”

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