Claremore Daily Progress

Breaking News

Sports

December 3, 2012

NFL: Browns snap road skid with 20-17 win over Raiders

ASSOCIATED PRESS Associated Press

OAKLAND — Just when it seemed as if the Oakland Raiders had seized the momentum, Sheldon Brown took it right back and then watched Brandon Weeden and the Cleveland offense put away a second straight win.

Weeden threw for a career-high 364 yards and a touchdown and made key plays on the clinching 94-yard drive after Brown's interception and the Browns snapped a 12-game road losing streak by beating the Oakland Raiders 20-17 on Sunday.

The Raiders (3-9) were in position to tie or take the lead when Brown intercepted Carson Palmer's pass to Juron Criner. But it was the drive by Weeden that truly put the game away.

"Probably a defining drive of the season,'' Brown said. "We had an opportunity to see the character of that offense.''

Trent Richardson capped the drive with a 3-yard run, Weeden hit fellow rookie Josh Gordon on a 44-yard score in the second quarter and Phil Dawson kicked two field goals as the Browns (4-8) won consecutive games for the first since September 2011.

That ministreak started with a 27-19 win at Indianapolis on Sept. 18, which had been the team's last road win until Sunday.

"It's big. Kind of get the monkey off your back,'' Weeden said. "It'll give us confidence moving forward. We still have a young team, and to beat a good team on the road like this can only help us moving forward.''

The Raiders have lost five straight for the first time since a six-game losing streak in Lane Kiffin's first year as coach in 2006 and have been eliminated from playoff contention for a 10th straight year.

There was more bad news after the game as Oakland coach Dennis Allen had to fly to the Dallas area to be with his father, former NFL linebacker Grady Allen, who has a serious health issue. Dennis Allen is expected to rejoin the team Wednesday night, a day before the Raiders host Denver.

The biggest blunder for the Raiders came when Criner got behind Brown but Palmer underthrew the deep ball with Oakland already in position for a game-tying field goal.

"I was trying to take a shot there, go for the touchdown quickly and just didn't put the ball in the right spot, didn't give Juron a chance to make a play on the ball,'' Palmer said.

The Browns took over at the 6 with 9:31 to play and then ran more than 6 minutes off the clock on the 14-play drive.

Weeden completed an 11-yard pass on third-and-3 to Gordon to get the Browns started and also had a big 22-yard pass to tight end Benjamin Watson.

Weeden then converted a fourth-and-1 sneak from the Oakland 45 and Desmond Bryant jumped offside on a third-and-1 from the Raiders 10.

Richardson scored two plays later to give the Browns a 20-10 lead with 3:27 to go as the Browns won for the fourth time in seven games since an 0-5 start to match last season's win total.

"That was kind of a statement,'' Weeden said. "We strung together a lot of really good plays. That shows the potential we have as an offense, and that's encouraging. We had a lot of guys make different plays.''

The Browns have been improved defensively of late and Weeden had one of his best games as a pro. He completed 25 of 36 passes and overcame two first-half interceptions to lead the impressive late drive against a banged-up secondary that lost safeties Matt Giordano and Mike Mitchell and cornerback Phillip Adams to concussions.

Richardson ran for 72 yards and Gordon had six catches for 116 yards as Cleveland took advantage of Oakland's struggling defense.

"We can't stop the run, we can't stop the pass,'' Raiders cornerback Michael Huff said. "Things just aren't going well on defense. Right now I guess we're just a bad defense. We can't really hide it. At this point, the numbers don't really allow it. We're just bad right now.''

Palmer was 34 for 54 for 351 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown to rookie Rod Streater. He added a 17-yard TD pass to Brandon Myers with 1 second left but it was too late. Myers caught 14 passes for 130 yards, tying Tim Brown's franchise record for catches in a game.

Oakland showed signs of life late in the third quarter when Desmond Bryant blocked a 28-yard field goal attempt by Phil Dawson.

Four plays later, Streater made a good adjustment on a deep pass from Palmer that cut Cleveland's lead to 13-10. But that's as close as the Raiders got.

 

Text Only
Sports
  • DSC_9471web.jpg Howe, Whatley shine at OU Showcase

    Claremore High School seniors Bryce Howe and Matt Whatley caught the eyes of several NCAA Division I and JUCO scouts Friday in Norman.
    Howe and Whatley, as well as Claremore’s Cole Weiesnbach and Cameron Smith, competed with the Bearcats — a competitive baseball team coached by Jenks’ Jeff Owens — at the University of Oklahoma Showcase.

    June 15, 2013 2 Photos

  • DSC_0119web.jpg ‘Staying close to home’

    Home is where the heart is.
    Claremore graduate Isaac Hollihan loves playing baseball and takes his academics pretty serious.
    For the next four years, Hollihan will continue his baseball career a short distance from his Claremore residence at Rogers State University.

    June 13, 2013 2 Photos

  • TRACK: Tyson Gay healthy heading into nationals

    For a little bit, Tyson Gay's first step tearing down the track made him wince and his next made him wonder: Would he ever be the same sprinter again?
    The runner who captured three gold medals at the 2007 world championships. The runner who broke the American 100-meter record in 2009.

    June 18, 2013

  • Texas Longhorns men's track coach retires

    Texas men's track coach Bubba Thornton is retiring after 18 years and 12 conference championships.
    According to a statement from the school on Monday, Thornton and athletic director DeLoss Dodds mutually agreed to terminate the coach's contract effective Aug. 31. The Longhorns won this year's Big 12 indoor and outdoor championships and finished sixth at the NCAA outdoor championships.

    June 18, 2013

  • Daytona frontstretch getting $400M facelift

    Daytona International Speedway is getting another facelift, this one considerably bigger than the last.
    Three years after a complete repaving project, the famed track is overhauling the frontstretch to enhance the "fan experience.''

    June 18, 2013

  • STANLEY CUP NOTEBOOK: Rough ice affects play in Game 3

    Teams try to avoid risky plays in the postseason that they might try in the regular season. And when the ice surface isn't smooth, even greater care is necessary.
    Boston took that approach with less-than-ideal ice conditions during its 2-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks that gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup finals on Monday night.

    June 18, 2013

  • STANLEY CUP: Rask shuts down Blackhawks, Bruins take 2-1 lead

    The puck bounced off the post and rolled across the crease, away from the goal line. The red light flashed briefly, but replays would confirm that Tuukka Rask's shutout streak was intact.
    For the last 122 minutes, 26 seconds of the Stanley Cup finals, the Bruins goalie has prevented Chicago from scoring.

    June 18, 2013

  • New $15M scoreboards planned for Jazz arena

    Owners of EnergySolutions Arena are upgrading the home turf of the Utah Jazz with a new $15 million scoreboard system.

    June 18, 2013

  • NBA FINALS: Heat have no room for error versus Spurs in Game 6

    They lost three times in three months in one of the most overpowering stretches the NBA has ever seen.
    Now the Miami Heat have lost three times in five games.
    So superb during the regular season, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Heat have to be something even more for the rest of the NBA Finals.

    June 18, 2013

  • NBA FINALS: Spurs' coach puts 'Pop' into news conferences

    During his team's Game 3 rout of the Heat, Gregg Popovich was shown on TV talking to his players while they were in the process of burying Miami with a stirring offensive display.

    June 18, 2013