SATURDAY AFTERNOON FOOTBALL: LAS VEGAS RAIDERS AT CLEVELAND BROWNS

BY ADAM GREENE

Thanks to the NFL’s schedulers, we get a solid dose of Saturday football and both games have serious playoff implications. Our weekend begins with the Las Vegas Raiders facing off against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Cleveland is hovering right outside the AFC’s playoff bracket. A game back of the Browns sits a Raiders team that probably isn’t even phoning it in at this point. They aren’t even texting it in. It’s a Facebook wall post at best.

This will just be the 27^th meeting between the two teams since Cleveland moved to the AFC in 1970 after the NFL-AFL merger. Las Vegas leads the series 16-10 all time and has won the last three, including a 16-6 victory on Nov. 1, 2020 last season. Derek Carr threw for just 111 yards and a touchdown in the game, but kept his stat sheet clean of interceptions. Josh Jacobs was the MVP, rushing 31 times for 129 yards. Baker Mayfield was equally as inept tossing the old pigskin, throwing for 122 yards with no TDs and no picks. Kareem Hunt led Cleveland with 14 carries for 66 yards.

LAS VEGAS RAIDERS AT CLEVELAND BROWNS (+1.5, O/U: 38.5)

Location: FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

Broadcast:  NFL Network

Kickoff: Dec. 18, 4:30 p.m.

LAS VEGAS RAIDERS (6-7)

For the second consecutive week the Raiders stunk it up, losing 48-9 to the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday. Vegas has dropped five of their last six and seven of their last nine after a 3-0 start. Carr finished 33 of 45 for 263 yards, a touchdown and a pick. Las Vegas was held to just 44 total yards on the ground. Hunter Renfro caught 13 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown. The Raiders defense sacked Patrick Mahomes three times, but couldn’t make up for the team losing five turnovers, including four fumbles.

CLEVELAND BROWNS (7-6)

The Browns squeaked by a depleted Baltimore Ravens squad last Sunday, winning 24-22. Baker Mayfield was 22 of 32 for 190 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Nick Chubb rushed 17 times for 59 yards. Donovan Peoples-Jones had five catches for 90 yards. Cleveland’s defense sacked Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley four times and held the Ravens to 118 yards on the ground.

THE PICK

Mayfield has been nicked in the NFL’s latest round of COVID-19 cases and, if he’s vaccinated, could still make the game Saturday. If he can’t, then it will be back up Case Keenum for sure, which has shown not to be much of a drop off. Cleveland has 18 players in the Covid protocol (as of this writing) and their vaccination status will determine if they can return by kickoff. Vaccinated players that are asymptomatic can return after two negative tests 24 hours apart. I’m betting they’ll get enough guys back to handle a psychologically damaged Raiders team. Browns 23, Raiders 20

Last week

Straight up: 8-6

Against the spread: 7-7

Season

Straight up: 124-83-1

Against the spread: 106-102

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

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