Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) – Jerome Harrison followed up his record performance last weekend with 148 yards and a touchdown on 39 carries, as the Cleveland Browns earned a 23-9 win over the Oakland Raiders.Harrison had 286 yards rushing on 34 handles and three scores in last Sunday’s 41-34 victory over Kansas City, eclipsing Hall of Famer Jim Brown’s single- game franchise rushing mark of 237 yards set in 1961.
Browns 23, Raiders 9: Browns Take Win In Battle Of Futility
Derek Anderson completed 8-of-17 throws for 121 yards and a touchdown, while Mohamed Massaquoi had three catches for 61 yards and a score for the Browns (4-11), who have won three straight.
Sebastian Janikowski had three field goals, including a career-high 61-yarder to end the half for Oakland (5-10), which was coming off a hard-fought 20-19 road victory over the AFC West-rival Denver Broncos last Sunday. The Raiders had won three of five coming in.
It was the fourth longest field goal in NFL history. Tom Dempsey of New Orleans in 1970 and Jason Elam of Denver in 1998 hold the NFL record with 63- yard efforts. Matt Bryant of Tampa Bay in 2006 booted a 62-yarder.
Charlie Frye returned as the starting quarterback after getting knocked out of last week’s game due to a hard hit and threw for 333 yards on 26-of-45 completions with three costly interceptions. Zach Miller had nine catches for 110 yards in defeat.
David Bowens intercepted Frye’s screen pass on the second play from scrimmage and brought it back to the Oakland 17. Two plays later from the same spit, Harrison went over left tackle for the score.
After an Oakland three-and-out, the Browns made it a 10-0 game on Phil Dawson’s 42-yard field goal that capped a 10-play, 45-yard drive.
Janikowski answered with a 44-yard effort with a shade under three minutes left in the opening quarter to get the Raiders on the board. The sure-footed kicker then drilled a 34-yarder early in the second quarter to get the Raiders within 10-6.
Late in the frame, Cleveland went 93 yards in nine plays with the aid of two Raiders personal foul penalties. Facing a 3rd-and-2 from the Oakland 19, Anderson hit Massaquoi on a go route with 18 seconds left to put the Browns ahead by a 17-6 margin.
Janikowski banged a 61-yard field goal the just cleared the crossbar as the first half expired.
Harrison’s 39-yard kickoff return to start the third quarter set the Browns up near midfield, leading to another Dawson field goal, this time from 33 yards out that built the Cleveland lead to 20-9.
The Browns were turned away deep in the red zone when Harrison lost a fumble on the five-yard line near the five-minute mark, but Oakland couldn’t capitalize and were forced to punt.
With the Raiders driving early in the fourth, Brandon McDonald picked off Frye’s intended pass for Johnnie Lee Higgins and returned it 39 yards to the Oakland 47. The pick led to Dawson’s 34-yard effort that made it 23-9 with 8:31 left to play.
Oakland then turned the ball over on downs at the Cleveland two-yard line with 4:32 left, and Frye was picked off by Eric Wright on the Raiders following possession with 2:59 on the clock as Cleveland held on in the closing minutes.
Oakland will host Baltimore in its season-finale next Sunday, while Cleveland closes out its campaign in a home test versus Jacksonville…Raiders offensive lineman Langston Walker was carted off the field in the first quarter with an apparent leg injury…Oakland cornerback Stanford Routt was ejected from the game late in the first half after getting whistled for an unnecessary roughing penalty…Raiders tight end Tony Stewart was also ejected near the midway point of the fourth quarter after being tagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for making contact with an official…Despite the loss Oakland still holds a 10-8 lead in the all-time regular season series with Cleveland.
via Sports Network
For more information on this game please visit our Browns site Dawgs By Nature and our Raiders site Silver and Black Pride.
See More:
More in: Week 16: All Will Be Revealed, Maybe
