Raiders Beat Browns To Improve To 2-1
CLEVELAND (AP) — Derek Carr and the Raiders finally went on a road trip worth remembering.
Carr threw two touchdown passes, Latavius Murray rushed for 139 yards and Oakland snapped an 11-game road losing streak, beating the Cleveland Browns 27-20 on Sunday.
Carr connected with Andre Holmes and Seth Roberts in the first half and the Raiders (2-1) held off a late Cleveland comeback to win their first road game since Nov. 17, 2013. Oakland also ended a 16-game losing streak in the Eastern time zone, a drought stretching to 2009.
The Browns (1-2) were driving for a tying TD in the final minute, but veteran Charles Woodson intercepted Josh McCown with 38 seconds left. Woodson has at least one pick in each of his 18 NFL seasons.
Carr, who went 0-8 on the road as a rookie in 2014, finished 20 of 32 for 134 yards and Oakland had 469 total yards.
With some fans chanting for backup Johnny Manziel throughout the game, McCown, who returned to the lineup after sustaining a concussion in the opener, passed for 341 yards and was sacked five times.
Rookie Amari Cooper had 134 yards receiving and Sebastian Janikowski kicked two field goals for the Raiders, who moved over .500 for the first time since the 2011 season.
Coming off an impressive home win against Baltimore last week, Carr and his teammates set their sights on ending their road misery and appeared in control when Murray scored on a 6-yard run with 14:30 left.
But McCown rallied the Browns, pulling them within 27-20 on a 4-yard TD pass to Travis Benjamin with 6:28 left. Cleveland's defense got the stop it needed, but Oakland got the ball back when Benjamin, the AFC's top special teams player last week, fumbled a punt with 4:01 remaining.
The Browns finally got the ball back at their own 2 with 2:26 to go, and McCown drove them to Oakland's 35 before Woodson came out of nowhere and snatched a pass intended for Benjamin.
Oakland dominated the first half, opening a 17-3 lead behind the poised Carr.
In the second quarter, a roughing-the-kicker call against the Browns gave the Raiders a fresh set of downs and Carr capitalized with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Holmes, giving Oakland a 10-0 lead.
Cleveland's offense finally moved the ball with McCown connecting twice on third downs to tight end Gary Barnidge, moving the ball to Oakland's 1. But the Browns settled for Travis Coons' 24-yard field goal to cut it to 10-3.
Carr, though, wasn't done. He hooked up with Roberts for 36 yards before hitting him on a 13-yard TD strike with 18 seconds left in the half.
McCown and Cleveland's offense left the field to a chorus of boos, drowning out any chants for Manziel, who guided the Browns to a win over Tennessee a week ago.
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