Overreacting, underreacting and properly reacting to Browns' Week 4 loss to Raiders
LAS VEGAS — You start 1-3 on the season and people are going to react. Not in a good way, it should be added.
The Browns limped home from Las Vegas on Sunday night like so many people who have visited the place. They did so having lost, only it wasn't at a table game or a slot machine; instead it was in a 20-16 loss to the Raiders.
So Cleveland finds itself 1-3 during a portion of the schedule that was seen as the "easy" part of the schedule when it first came out. That assessment clearly was an overreaction, or it's more likely many underreacted to what the Browns really were.
Anyways, enough with the set-up. It's time to dig into the weekly reactions: over-, under- and proper reactions.
Let's start with the overreaction to get it out of the way.
Overreaction: Anyone who's overblowing the Deshaun Watson-Dawand Jones 'incident'
Quarterback Deshaun Watson was hit on a late second-quarter pass by a blitzing Tyree Wilson, who was untouched by right tackle Dawand Jones. Wilson's hit was perfectly-timed, because it knocked the trajectory of Watson's throw off that he couldn't connect with wide receiver Amari Cooper, who may have been in line for a touchdowns.
Watson gets up off the ground and starts barking right at Jones while they're on the field. However, Watson would walk over behind Jones on the bench and appeared to be providing a pep talk of sorts later.
This may very well be a strawman of sorts, one created mostly because of the television cameras and social media. What it really was, when you boil it down, was a quarterback barking at an offensive lineman in the heat of the moment.
Tom Brady has done it, and so has Aaron Rodgers. In fact, most of your favorite quarterbacks have done it. So, let's move along.
Underreaction: Amari Cooper's struggles
Amari Cooper is human. That seems to be something that needs to be pointed out at the top.
That means Cooper has the right to have a bad day or three, to not be perfect and so forth. The reality is, Cooper's really had three bad days out of four game days this season, including Sunday in Vegas.
The worst was the interception which was firmly on Cooper. The ball hit the normally sure-handed wide receiver right in the chest, something that can't be blamed on Watson.
On top of that, and this falls more into the "it's here because it's so shocking it happened" category, Cooper had bolted from the locker room before the media arrived. It's absolutely his right to not speak; but he's typically been as stand-up as anyone when it was time to talk, win or lose.
Anyway, that's a media concern. Time to turn this back onto the field.
Would the penalty-negated 82-yard touchdown have changed the filter on the view of this game? Certainly.
For now, though, all we have are the four games played so far. And the results have been un-Cooper-like most of those games.
Proper reaction: Cleveland Browns are in make-or-break time
The reality is that the Browns probably passed that before Sunday's kickoff with the loss to the Giants. Now, though, there can be no doubt that either Cleveland turns things around now or it's going to be the typical year-after-a-winning-season disaster the franchise has pulled off in the expansion era.
Here's the rest of the schedule leading into the bye week:
Next Sunday at Washington Commanders
Oct. 13 at Philadelphia Eagles
Oct. 20 home against Cincinnati Bengals
Oct. 27 home against Baltimore Ravens
Nov. 3 home against Los Angeles Chargers
The way this team is playing right now, none of those can be termed a given. Sure, they're talented enough to win any of them, but they can also lose any of them as well.
Some healthy players seem to be fast approaching their return, which could help. Right now, this team needs all the help it can get.
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns vs. Raiders reactions: Yelling, Amari Cooper and make or break