Browns lose to Raiders, end first half 5-3

By STEVE KING

The Browns didn’t win the grand prize, a 6-2 record for the first time since 1994. But they received a pretty nice consolation gift, a 5-3 mark at the halfway point of the season as they head into their bye week.

And, considering how they started this season, and with what they’ve gone through in most of the years during this nightmarish expansion era, including 2019’s 6-10 finish when so much more was expected. the Browns will gladly settle for what they’ve got right now.

This all comes after the Browns lost 16-6 to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Raiders of Sandusky native and head coach Jon Gruden improved to 4-3.

If the Browns can finish the second half of the year with just a .500 record at 4-4, they’ll still go 9-7, their best mark since 2007, and be right in the thick of the race to grab one of the AFC’s three wild-card playoff berths.
And, on paper at least, they would seem to have a good chance to begin that stretch on a positive note. When they return to play in two weeks — well-rested and with possibly some of their injured players, such as running back Nick Chubb and tight end Austin Hooper, returning — the Browns will have two straight home games against the Houston Texans on Nov. 15 and the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 22, and then a road trip to meet the Jacksonville Jaguars on Nov. 29. All three teams are really struggling.

It will be important for the Browns to do well against the Texans, Eagles and Jaguars, because after that, they will have — by far — their toughest back-to-back games of the season. They will go on the road on Dec.6 to face the Tennessee Titans, who went to the AFC Championship Game last season and started this year 5-0, and then return home on Dec. 14 on Monday Night Football against the Baltimore Ravens, who hammered them 38-6 in the opener.