The Las Vegas Raiders and Cleveland Browns enter Monday's rescheduled clash having both endured volatile campaigns. The Raiders have lost five of their last six and two straight while dealing with a tumultuous season the likes of which has never been seen before. The Browns, looking to win consecutive games for the first time since a 3-1 start, have been besieged by COVID-19 setbacks, with head coach Kevin Stefanski and quarterback Baker Mayfield among many within the organization who tested positive last week, which led to the decision to move the game from Saturday.
Mayfield and Stefanski each will miss Monday's pivotal AFC showdown, but the Raiders and Browns will play on with Week 15 essentially serving as a playoff game for the squads. To the winner will go the spoils of playoff possibilities and to the loser will likely come the harsh reality of an offseason just three weeks away.
Here are three things to watch for when the Browns host the Raiders on NFL Network:
- Quarterback questions aplenty. Upon the season’s onset, Derek Carr found himself in the MVP conversation. Now he finds himself amid the usual doubters despite leading the AFC with 3,926 yards passing. Baker Mayfield has struggled with injuries and now COVID-19 throughout an up-and-down 2021. The Browns’ hopes could reside on the arm of Nick Mullens after Mayfield and backup Case Keenum were unable to test out of the COVID-19 protocol in time to be activated for Monday's game. Mullens’ last NFL action came in a start for the 49ers in Week 15 of last season. While Carr remains very much the engine that drives the Raiders offense, Mullens should have vaunted running game he can lean on -- though that unit has struggled of late (more on that below). Each team’s QB will be forced to stand up to terrifying pass rushes. Carr’s mustered just three touchdown passes over the last four games. Questions aplenty at QB have surrounded each squad as of late and they will continue to do so leading up to kickoff.
- Pass rushers aplenty. Mayfield and Carr are unlikely to rest easy ahead of this one. Three of the top four leaders in QB pressures coming into Week 15, per Next Gen Stats, will take the field Monday. Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby is second in the league with 59 pressures and followed by teammate Yannick Ngakoue (58) and the Browns’ Myles Garrett (53). Garrett boasts a career-high 15 sacks, which are second in the NFL, while Ngakoue is having an under-the-radar resurgence in Vegas with nine sacks and 17 QB hits. Crosby, though he only has five sacks, has still been stellar to which his 90.9 season grade by Pro Football Focus is a testament. He’s PFF’s No. 2 edge rusher behind only Garrett (92.1). There’s talent on the edge aplenty in this Saturday tilt.
- Will Nick Chubb-led rushing attack get right against Raiders? Though Mayfield takes much of the heat for any Browns offensive struggles, Chubb and the rushing attack have long been the centerpiece of the Cleveland offense. And over the past two weeks, the Browns’ ground game has failed to get going. Perhaps that changes against the Raiders’ 26th-ranked run defense. Cleveland faced Baltimore in each of its last two games and was held to a season-low 40 yards rushing in a Week 12 loss and just 100 yards in a Week 14 win. Chubb’s worst two showings of the season were in those games, and he’ll look to rebound from gaining a combined 75 yards in that span. Seventy-four yards away from his third consecutive 1,000-yard campaign, Chubb looks to shoulder a big load with backfield mate Kareem Hunt unlikely to play. However, that could lead to some more reps from D’Ernest Johnson, who’s come up big in a pinch for the Browns already this season.
