CLEVELAND — For the second straight week, the Cleveland Browns had multiple opportunities in the fourth quarter to rally for a win, but fell short.
Quarterback Deshaun Watson said to put the blame on him after Cleveland blew an early 10-0 lead and lost 20-16 to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
“If I’m gonna be the quarterback of this offense, we all got to be all the way locked in,” said Watson, who finished 24 of 32 for 176 yards with a touchdown and interception. "And right now we’re not doing enough to get the ‘W.’
“So you can put it on me for sure.”
While Watson’s 75% completion rate and 84.9 rating were both season highs, the Browns (1-3) could not take advantage of a Raiders team that was missing star players Davante Adams and Maxx Crosby.
The Browns have led in all four games but fell into last place in the AFC North, tied with Cincinnati.
“We just can’t shoot ourselves in the foot,” Watson said. “Each and every drive is an opportunity for us to put points or get us in good field position for the next drive. But yeah, we just didn’t capitalize on those. We just got to find ways to continue to sustain that fast start that we have.”
Watson was under duress nearly half the times he dropped back to pass. He took three sacks and was hurried 11 times. Per Stathead, the 11 hurries were the second most in his career.
Watson has been sacked 19 times, a career high over the first four games of a season.
Cleveland came in ranking 30th in offensive drives ending in a score, with a 24.3% rate, and scored on 2 of 7 drives (22.7%) on Sunday.
The Browns have been riddled with injuries up front, losing starting left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. last week when he injured his right knee in a loss to the New York Giants.
Cleveland was also missing tackle Jack Conklin, guard Wyatt Teller and tight end David Njoku, and then lost center Ethan Pocic in the first quarter to an ankle injury.
Pocic returned in the third quarter, but couldn’t push through, coach Kevin Stefanski said.
By then, the Raiders were dominating in the trenches. With Las Vegas ahead 20-10 late in the third, Watson was sacked on first and third down, and the Browns punted.
In the fourth quarter, the Browns had a chance to pull ahead but failed in the red zone. Watson fumbled a quick snap in the shotgun position on first down at the Las Vegas 16 and was under pressure when his pass was batted down on second down. After a third-down completion to Amari Cooper got Cleveland to the 9, Watson was sacked on fourth down with 41 seconds left.
Earlier in the fourth, Watson found a streaking Amari Cooper for what would have been an 82-yard go-ahead TD if not for a holding penalty on backup center Nick Harris.
“I thought Deshaun battled,” Stefanski said. “There are obviously some really good moments on there. That’s disappointing when you make a play and it comes back due to penalty. Again, I didn’t see it, so I can’t comment on that part of it. But I thought he battled.”