Worst loss yet? Browns clobber Raiders in Shedeur Sanders' starting debut

The home fans at Allegiant Stadium booed the Raiders’ offense off the field on at least 12 occasions Sunday afternoon against the Cleveland Browns.

It might have been even more. Brown and orange nearly equaled silver and black in the stands, so sometimes it was difficult to hear the jeers over the cheers.

The only certainty is that there were none of the latter extended to the Raiders down the stretch of a grisly 24-10 loss to the Browns.   

The state of the Las Vegas Raiders has never been lower as they fell to 2-9 on the season with their second listless performance in six days at their home venue.

Las Vegas had arguably already reached rock bottom after a blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football, but is undeniably there now.

The Browns, forced to start a fifth-round drafted rookie quarterback in Shedeur Sanders, were one of the only teams left in the NFL that the Raiders would be favored to beat.

But Cleveland never trailed and didn’t allow Las Vegas within single digits at any point after the first quarter.

Browns rookie running back Quinshon Judkins rushed in a pair of early touchdowns to put the Raiders in a 14-0 hole.

The second one was particularly embarrassing as Cleveland pulled Sanders after he completed a 52-yard deep ball to receiver Isaiah Bond to get down to the goal line.

Judkins lined up as the quarterback in a Wildcat formation to telegraph a power run, but Las Vegas was powerless all the same. Judkins dropped his shoulder and plowed through a tackle attempt from linebacker Elandon Roberts to find the end zone.

Judkins finished with a workmanlike 16 rushes for 47 yards on the ground, nothing fancy but equivelant to his higher-touted, first-round counterpart Ashton Jeanty. The Raiders’ rookie managed 17 carries for 50 yards with most of the production coming late in the game when the Browns were playing back and draining clock to nurse their lead.

Jeanty did score the Raiders’ only touchdown, a five-yard reception, with 5:11 left in the game.

Less than a week after trying to catch the Cowboys off guard with a play-action heavy offensive approach, coordinator Chip Kelly went back to the ground game more frequently against the Browns.

It just didn’t work.

The Raiders’ offensive line didn’t clear the way for any of the skill players to have much success.

Quarterback Geno Smith got sacked 10 times including thrice by NFL Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner Myles Garrett. Former Raider Maliek Collins added 2.5 sacks and two tackles for loss.     

Smith posted 285 yards on 30-for-44 passing but was highly inaccurate on his deep shots. A handful of the boos were reserved for the quarterback himself including a third-quarter sequence where he overthrew Tre Tucker three times in a four-play stretch after the Raiders reached the Browns’ 22-yard line.

That’ was the deepest Las Vegas advanced the whole game until garbage time.

Sanders wasn’t lights-out himself but he hit a handful of big plays including a 39-yarder to receiver Jerry Jeudy near halftime that looked like it would go longer.

But Jeudy slowed down approaching the red zone, not realizing Raiders safety Jeremy Chinn was behind him. Chinn punched the ball out, and Roberts recovered the fumble.

The Raiders’ offense promptly went three-and-out to wipe away a chance to get back in the game.

Smith, Jeanty and Co. similarly couldn’t gain a first down after the Raiders’ other turnover, an interception by edge rusher Charles Snowden returned Cleveland’s 26-yard line, in the first quarter.

The takeaway set up a 41-yard field goal from Daniel Carlson, who had earlier missed a 48-yarder.

Cleveland’s Andre Szmyt converted on a 53-yarder in the fourth quarter to put the Browns up 17-3. They increased the lead the next possession when Sanders found rookie running back Dylan Sampson on a third-and-9 screen pass for a 66-yard touchdown.

It was the first touchdown pass of Sanders’ career as the Colorado product broke a 17-game streak of Cleveland rookie quarterbacks losing in their starting debut.

Father Deion Sanders, sporting a cowboy hat, watched on from a luxury box and cheered wildly.  

Shedeur Sanders wound up with 209 yards on 11-for-20 passing and gave fans of the struggling Browns, which improved to 3-9, hope for the future.

Cleveland’s rookie class showed out with No. 5 overall drafted defensive tackle Mason Graham appearing to injure Jeanty, who was taken one spot behind him, with a big hit in the final minutes.

Las Vegas hasn’t found remotely close to the same success with its draft class, as Jeanty was the only one who made any impact on Sunday.

The Raiders passed on Shedeur Sanders six times in April’s draft despite having a need for a young quarterback and being linked to him throughout the offseason.

He walked off the field victorious and paused at the 1-yard line minutes after the game with the rest of the field cleared to the applause of the faithful visiting fans.

The Raiders are a long way away from experiencing that level of positivity in their own building.