Winners & Losers: Browns Playoff Hopes Weaken at Hands of Raiders

The Cleveland Browns suffered a 16-14 setback to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday night. We take a look at who stood out and who didn’t.

Cleveland Browns playoff hopes now hang in doubt after their 16-14 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. Browns defense needed one last stop and it unfortunately didn’t happen as the Ravens kicked the game winning field goal as time expired.

Browns are now 7-7 heading into Green Bay on Christmas Day. Cleveland has to win out and then get some help from some fellow AFC teams. Going into the game the Browns had first place in the AFC North in sight. Following the game Cleveland is last in the division.

Cleveland could have controlled their fate with a win, but it just did not happen. During the 16-14 loss we have some players who stood out, then one who really didn’t.

Winners:

Greedy Williams

Williams was targeted multiple times deep and didn’t budge. Williams is a strong corner that just won’t be pushed around. The second year cornerback had an interception that very well could have been the biggest play of the game. Williams intercepted Derek Carr on a deep ball and the Browns offense needed just one first down, that did not happen. A nice bounce back game for Williams after last week against the Ravens.

Nick Mullens

Mullens was forced into a tough spot, but that’s what he’s paid to do. Third string quarterbacks don’t expect to play normally, but they are there just in case. Mullens only passed for 147 yards on 30 attempts, but he had 20 completions and took what the defense gave him. Mullens was never going to beat anyone with his arm, but he came in and did his job. The one touchdown pass came on a nice pocket escape. It makes sense to take a look at Mullens as the backup next season.

Joel Bitonio

Bitonio is a all-pro caliber player at left guard, but he’s versatile. Out of need Bitonio slid outside to tackle and played well. Running behind Bitonio gave the Browns some good looks, especially when a tight end or guard followed his path. Bitonio is a pro’s pro.

M.J. Stewart

Stewart started at safety with John Johnson III and was victims of a forced defensive pass interference on an under thrown ball. After that Stewart played pretty well and led the team in tackles with 11. On the day Stewart forced a fumble as well. There isn’t much more you can expect from your backup.

Losers:

Chase McLaughlin

Monday’s loss marks three straight games with a missed kick from McLaughlin. After a really strong start to the season McLaughlin looked to be the guy at kicker. Now the position is kind of a head scratcher with McLaughlin making less than 50% of his kicks in the last three games. Kickers aren’t perfect, but this is what comes with the position when you aren’t making kicks…. controversy. Here’s to McLaughlin figuring it out in the final three games of the season.

Brandon Little is a writer for Sports Illustrated’s Browns Digest website and you can follow him on Twitter here. You can follow Browns Digest on Twitter as well here.

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