Browns vs. Raiders: 5 best games of all-time
By Thomas Moore
The 2007 season may have turned into fool’s gold for the Browns, along with Derek Anderson’s arm, but it was still a fun ride while it lasted.
While many fans will point, with good reason, to Anderson’s four-interception game late in the season against Cincinnati as the game that cost the Browns a playoff spot, that wasn’t the only bad loss the team suffered that season.
Look no further than Cleveland’s Week 3 visit to Oakland to take on a Raiders’ team that would ultimately finish the season at 4-12.
The Raiders jumped out to a 16-0 lead behind a trio of Sebastian Jankikowski field goals and a 41-yard touchdown pass from Josh McCown to Ronald Curry.
The Browns quickly got back into the game right before halftime, as Josh Cribbs returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown and, after an Oakland fumble, Phil Dawson converted a 23-yard field goal to cut the lead to just six.
A week after throwing five touchdowns against the Bengals, Anderson was not as sharp on the West Coast, as he did not lead the offense into the end one until the third quarter on a 21-yard touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards.
The lead was brief, however, as the Raiders scored the next 10 points to take a nine-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. Anderson’s one-yard run cut the Browns’ deficit to just two points with a little more than three-and-a-half minutes remaining.
The defense held and Anderson and the offense took over on their own nine-yard line with a little more than a minute remaining and no timeouts.
The Browns moved down the field, and after a 13-yard reception by Joe Jurevicius put the ball on the Oakland 22-yard line, Dawson came on for a game-winning field goal attempt with just three seconds remaining.
Dawson’s kick was true, but the Raiders called a timeout just before the ball was snapped, forcing the Browns to try again. Dawson’s second attempt was blocked by Oakland’s Tommy Kelly, sending the Browns to what would be the first of several crushing defeats in 2007.
Next: No. 4: The Old Man Sinks the Browns