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'Just got to play stingy defense': Browns lament rushing yards allowed in loss to Raiders
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- 'Just got to play stingy defense': Browns lament rushing yards allowed in loss to Raiders
LAS VEGAS — The number that stood out to most of the Browns defenders in the wake of Sunday's loss to the Las Vegas Raiders wasn't the total points they allowed. Instead, it was the number of rushing yards the Raiders were able to gain.
The Browns can point to a variety of different reasons why they came up on the wrong end of a 20-16 loss to the Raiders. The players on the defensive side of the football will point to the 152 rushing yards Las Vegas gained against them.
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"I mean, we pride ourselves on being a great defense, and being a great defense, tackling is a part of it," safety Rodney McLeod said. "We just had a few lapses, very uncharacteristic of us. I know it's something that we'll fix and we'll get back to.
"So right now we just got to play stingy defense, and we got to make sure that when it's our job — you know what I'm saying? — to get guys on the ground, we got to do it."
McLeod was at the center of the biggest play the defense made in the game. He scooped up a fumble by Zamir White created by defensive end Isaiah McGuire and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown 10 seconds into the fourth quarter to cut the Browns to 20-16.
That scoop-and-score was the shot in the arm the Browns hoped for after two quarters of offensive stagnation and defensive frustrations. The Raiders had scored 20 unanswered points to take a 20-10 lead, with some of their biggest plays coming in the run game.
Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Tre Tucker (11) scores a touchdown past Cleveland Browns safety Ronnie Hickman (33) in the second quarter Sunday in Las Vegas.
Two Raiders touchdowns came on running plays — Tre Tucker 's 3-yard run in the second quarter and D.J. Turner's 18-yard run to make it 20-10 in the third quarter. However, the Raiders also hit on a couple of big draw plays to Alexander Mattison , who finished with 60 yards on five carries.
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"Early, I feel like the majority of it was tackling," defensive end Myles Garrett said of the Raiders' rushing success. "I feel like we had too many missed tackles and we just got to wrap up. A lot of guys going in with their shoulder trying to lay that big hit, and it came in clutch down the stretch with that forced fumble.
"But for the majority of the plays, the second man's got to be the one to force the ball out. The first guy's got to wrap up and slow runner down or stop his momentum. So that's something to take from it when we watch the film."
That was how McLeod's touchdown occurred. It's also how the Browns started to force the Raiders offense off schedule in the first and fourth quarters especially.
Las Vegas never played on the Cleveland side of the 50 after Turner's touchdown with 5:23 remaining in the third quarter. The one time the Raiders got close, Garrett got in and sacked quarterback Gardner Minshew for a loss of 8 on third down.
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That was one of two sacks for Garrett, the only two times the Browns sacked Minshew. He also had three of their four quarterback hits as he showed no ill effects of the foot issues that have troubled him this season.
Cleveland Browns safety Rodney McLeod Jr. (12) celebrates with teammates after returning a Las Vegas Raiders fumble for a touchdown Sunday in Las Vegas.
What's more troubling for Garrett is the fact the defense hasn't returned to the form it showed a year ago when it was statistically the best in the league. That's something he believes it has to go back to being if the Browns are going to pull themselves out of a 1-3 start.
"I think we got to lean back on the identity we had last year," Garrett said. "Stopping the run, forcing teams to pass, and to some extent we have. They definitely run to different schemes to take advantage of the perimeter and making our guys on the back end tackle, trying to get away from the front seven. We've got to shore that up as best as we can and we've got to lean back on that identity we had last year.
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"We're definitely staying together. We're going to address it as best as we can tomorrow and the day after and make sure we get back to our old ways as far as stopping the run, forcing teams to go quick, and then once we get a lead, pin our ears back and rushing the hell out the ball."
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns defense wants to regain 'stingy' identity after Raiders loss
