Goal-line stand a source of momentum

CLEVELAND — They say football is won and lost in the trenches.

That was certainly the case on a sun-drenched day in Cleveland, where a spirited goal-line stand late in the second quarter swung the game in the Raiders’ direction.

Oakland was leading the Browns 10-0 as the half was winding down, when Cleveland put together one of its best drives of the day. Quarterback Josh McCown began capitalizing on the Raiders’ shaky secondary by working seam routes with tight end Gary Barnidge (two catches for 55 yards on the drive).

As the two-minute warning approached, the Browns had a 1st-and-goal at the 1. It seemed highly likely that a relatively slow-paced and dull first half would end with the Browns closing the deficit to three.

The Raiders had other ideas. Defensive tackles Stacy McGee and Justin Tuck stuffed a run on first down. On second down, linebacker Malcolm Smith jarred a seemingly sure touchdown catch loose from Barnidge’s grip. The Browns went back to the ground on third down, running Isaiah Crowell up the middle, where he was met by Dan Williams and Curtis Lofton.

The Browns were initially going to go for the touchdown on fourth down, but they jumped offside. Facing a 4thand-goal at the 6, head coach Mike Pettine sent his field-goal unit onto the field.

Cleveland’s field goal made it 10-3, but the game had changed. On the Raiders’ next possession, quarterback Derek Carr led the offense on an impressive five-play, 70-yard scoring drive in 1:26, connecting with Seth Roberts for the final 13 yards to make it 17-3 at the half.

“That was a key moment,” said Lofton, the Raiders’ linebacker. “The defensive line blew them off the ball.”

The Browns made a game of it in the second half, once again exploiting the Oakland secondary. But they weren’t able to dig out of the hole created by that huge momentum swing at the end of the first half.

“Getting the stop and then going down and scoring ourselves was a big turnaround,” head coach Jack Del Rio said. “That was excellent football for us defensively, to not yield once we let them down there, and forcing them to kick a field goal. Offensively, we took that opportunity very efficiently and got seven points.”

Overall, the Raiders’ defense did a lot of bending, but not much breaking. The game was decided when 38-year-old Charles Woodson intercepted a pass at the Oakland 12 with 38 seconds to play.

If this unit continues to gel, the Raiders might look back at this day in Ohio, when they gave up only 39 rushing yards, as a turning point.

Winning in the trenches usually results in winning on the scoreboard.