Oakland Raiders Drop Fifth Straight With Loss to Browns
December 2, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon (13) catches a pass and runs for a touchdown against Oakland Raiders cornerback Ron Bartell (21) during the second quarter at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE
The Oakland Raiders hosted the Cleveland Browns today in hopes of ending their four-game losing streak. Well, the Browns showed up and beat the Raiders 20-17 to extend Oakland’s horrible play.
As the first quarter began, nothing really came up from these two miserable teams. Although, Matt Giordano was able to intercept Brandon Weeden about halfway through the quarter. He caught the ball and then ran 24 yards. Neither team was able to put up any points in the first fifteen minutes.
The second quarter was a different story. Weeden led his team to score 10 points before halftime. The first three points came from a 35-yard Phil Dawson field goal. The next seven came from a 44-yard touchdown scored by Josh Gordon, as Weeden lobbed the ball beautifully to his young wideout for the scoring play.
Sebastian Janikowski would drill a 51-yard field goal and it was the only points that the Raiders scored in the first half.
As the third quarter rolled along, the game started to pick up a bit. Phil Dawson nailed a 35-yard field goal to give the Browns some points, but the main highlight coming out of halftime was when the Raiders scored their first touchdown of the game. Carson Palmer floated a perfect pass to Rod Streater, who extended his arms and reeled in the pass, and took it all the way to the end zone for a 64-yard touchdown.
And then in the fourth quarter, Trent Richardson pounded the ball in the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown to put the Browns up by 10. The game appeared to be over for the Raiders as they were still trailing 20-10 up until very late in the game. Then, Carson Palmer hit his tight end Brandon Myers for a 17-yard touchdown, but it was just too late, as there was only one second remaining in the game.
And so the Raiders lost their fifth straight game, and they are playing some horrible football right now. Their defense looks completely out of sync, and their offense just can not get anything together.
Darren McFadden and Mike Goodson are nursing their ankles because of high ankle sprains that they suffered, and the Raiders desperately need them back on the field. Without them, the offense just looks dry and out of place. Darren McFadden is not having the season that anyone hoped for or expected, and frustrations continue to grow.
Next week, the Raiders will go for revenge as they host the Denver Broncos. The Broncos destroyed the Raiders 37-6 earlier in the year.
Stay tuned with Golden Gate Sports all week for Raiders coverage leading up to their next match-up.