The Sports Xchange

CLEVELAND — Oakland Raiders teams of the past might have wilted under pressure, but the one that held on to beat the Cleveland Browns on Sunday refused to repeat history.

The Raiders (2-1) snapped an 11-game road losing streak dating to 2013 behind two touchdown passes by quarterback Derek Carr to beat the Browns, 27-20.

“We don’t care about anything in the past,” said Raiders linebacker Curtis Lofton after making seven tackles. “We’re going in the right direction and we have new players. Credit goes to our coaches. They did a great job getting us in a scheme that set us up to make a lot of plays.”

The Browns, down 27-10 in the fourth quarter, rallied to cut the Raiders’ lead to a touchdown with 6:26 left and forced the Raiders to punt. But Travis Benjamin mishandled the punt with 4:01 left and the Raiders recovered.

A final Cleveland drive starting at the Browns’ 2 ended with quarterback Josh McCown being intercepted by Raiders safety Charles Woodson deep in Oakland territory.

Carr completed 20 of 32 passes for 314 yards. He did not throw an interception nor was he sacked. Cooper led the Raiders with eight catches for 134 yards.

A 41-yard field goal by Travis Coons and a 4-yard touchdown pass from McCown to Benjamin, his fourth this season, finished the scoring for the Browns.

What we learned about the Raiders:

1. The Raiders will not be road pushovers under first-year coach Jack Del Rio if what happened Sunday in Cleveland is an indication of what to expect. The 27-20 victory in FirstEnergy Stadium snapped an 11-game road losing streak and a streak of 16 straight losses in the Eastern time zone. The Raiders beat the Browns in all three phases to raise their record to 2-1. They were 3-13 last year.

2. The Raiders can run the football if they stick to it. They rushed for just 160 yards total in their first two games, but plowed through the Browns for 155 yards on 30 carries. The balanced attack makes quarterback Derek Carr more effective. The Raiders rushed for a total of five first downs in their first two games. They rushed for six first downs against the Browns.

3. Safety Charles Woodson is 38 years old, but as good as ever. The 18-year veteran saved the game for the Raiders with an interception at the Oakland 12 with 43 seconds left as the Browns were driving for the game-tying touchdown. Woodson leads all active players with 61 interceptions.

Etc.:

–WR Amari Cooper caught eight passes for 134 yards to lead all Raiders receivers. It was his second straight 100-yard receiving game. “I believe I have always been blessed with (run after the catch) ability,” he said.

–LB Khalil Mack was a force for the Raiders from beginning to end. He went into the game looking for his first sack of the season and got to Browns quarterback Josh McCown twice for a total of 11 yards. He also forced a fumble and totaled four tackles. Browns left tackle Joe Thomas referred to Mack as a “tremendous player.”

–RB Latavius Murray rushed for 139 yards on 26 carries. He had a long run of 54 yards. Coincidentally he had exactly 26 carries going into the game for a total of 109 yards. He now has both of Oakland’s rushing touchdowns in 2015.