Are theBrowns maturing right before our eyes? Let’s not get carried away -- that was not the 1972 Dolphins they beat on Sunday. It was the lousy, deteriorating Raiders. But the Browns could have folded under the weight of adversity, as they have so many times before this season, and instead they rose to the occasion to close out a 20-17 victory.
The painfully young Browns are finally learning how to finish. The 94-yard drive to clinch the win was a defining triumph for a team that has now matched their win total of a year ago with four. They have achieved their first road victory after 12 straight losses and their first two-game winning streak since early last year.
Offense: B-minus
The Browns scored 20 points despite racking up 475 total yards, the highest single-game total for team since 2007. The inability to convert in the red zone reared its ugly head again until RB Trent Richardson capped the late drive that put the Raiders away. QB Brandon Weeden remained inconsistent and a bit maddening, tossing two interceptions, but throwing a touchdown bomb to blossoming WR Josh Gordon and passing for 364 yards. The offensive line struggled a bit in both run and pass blocking, but was effective enough. LT Joe Thomas and LG John Greco cleared a path for Richardson on his score with excellent blocks. The embattled wide receiving corps is definitely making progress. Gordon finished with career highs with six catches for 116 yards. Greg Little caught four passes and threw a devastating block to spring fellow wideout Mohamed Massaquoi on a 54-yarder. Bottom line: This offense is starting to jell, but must put more points on the board. Previous game’s grade: C
Defense: B-plus
The Raiders averaged five yards a carry on the ground, but this unit only gave up 10 points until a meaningless score with one second remaining. The Browns have been swarming to the ball in recent games against the run, but the heroes Sunday were the defensive backs. Veteran CB Sheldon Brown performed brilliantly. Not only did his interception off perfect coverage on a deep pass thwart a drive that could have given Oakland the lead, but he also blanketed receivers throughout. Raiders QB Carson Palmer targeted Brown because he sought to keep the ball away from top CB Joe Haden. If not for one bad play by CB Buster Skrine, who mistimed his jump and should have remained in coverage on a long touchdown pass to WR Rod Streater, the defense might have earned an A-minus. Previous game’s grade: A-plus
Special teams: C-minus
KR Josh Cribbs made a silly, overaggressive mistake by trying to return a critical fourth quarter kickoff from eight yards deep in the end zone and was tackled on the Browns 8. Earlier in the game, the line got pushed back far enough to allow PK Phil Dawson’s chip-shot field goal attempt get blocked and end his career-best streak of consecutive makes end at 28. The Browns didn’t make any big plays on special teams, but their mistakes didn’t prove fatal. It was simply a ho-hum performance. Previous game’s grade: B
Coaching: B
Coach Pat Shurmur burned all three second-half timeouts by early in the fourth quarter, but many positives that came out of the game. The call to fake an end-around to WR Travis Benjamin took two defenders away for Richardson’s touchdown burst up the middle. Shurmur also aggressively went for it on 4th and 1 to keep that game-winning drive alive. There is no doubt that the Browns are playing hard, which is a credit to Shurmur considering all the heartbreaking losses this team has endured. Offensive coordinator Brad Childress did a nice job mixing up pass and run and defensive coordinator Dick Jauron continued to dial up opponent-specific schemes that have proven successful. Previous game’s grade: A
Stay dialed in on the Cleveland Browns on Twitter at @CBSBrowns throughout the season with on-site updates from CBSSports.com RapidReports correspondent Marty Gitlin.