5 reactions to Raiders bounce back win against the Browns

The Las Vegas Raiders narrowly took down the Cleveland Browns on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in an incredible display of grit and perseverance. It wasn't pretty, but it was a win, and the team showed tremendous character.

Things looked grim at the end of the first quarter, as the defense spotted Cleveland 10 early points and the offense failed to get anything going. But Patrick Graham's unit would go on to shut out the Browns for three straight quarters and come up with a slew of clutch stops to finish off the game.

After a tumultuous week in which Antonio Pierce called out his team publicly for their effort and then held a team meeting where the whole roster could air out their concerns, the Raiders looked like a different team on Sunday than the week before.

While the highs and lows of this season so far have taken a toll on Raider Nation, it is important to acknowledge that this team is never out of it. Not during a single game, and not at any point in the season.

Pierce has his pulse on this team and will not allow them to fail. He is a man with command of the locker room, and his knowledge of the game and this franchise will always help provide more answers than questions.

Let's take a look at what happened in the Raiders' resolute victory over the Browns.

The next man up showed out

In a contest that was riddled with injuries on both sides of the ball for each team, the Raiders depth and replacement pieces came up big time.

Winning a game without the likes of Maxx Crosby, Davante Adams, and Marcus Epps is hard. Then you factor in the losses of Thayer Munford Jr., Michael Mayer, and Divine Deablo, and it seems impossible.

Not for the Raiders.

Charles Snowden had perhaps the most notable performance in the absence of Maxx Crosby, He recorded three tackles, a sack, a TFL, a pass deflection and three QB hits on Sunday, including the game-clinching sack on Deshaun Watson late in the fourth quarter. He is no Maxx Crosby, but he was more than enough on Sunday.

Tre Tucker and DJ Turner also stepped up with Adams out. Tucker caught five passes for 41 yards on just six targets, and he added a three-yard rushing touchdown on an end-around near the goal line. Turner also scored a touchdown, this one on an impressive 18-yard run. Without Adams and against a top-notch Browns secondary, it can be difficult for younger or more inexperienced wide receivers to step up, but that was not a problem Sunday.

Isaiah Pola-Mao is the other contender for the team's best player against the Browns on Sunday as he filled in for Epps, who was placed on season-ending IR this week. Pola-Mao had six tackles, a sack, a TFL, a QB hit, and a pass deflection. Simply put, he was everywhere on the field for the Raiders. Losing Epps' experience and IQ on the field was a bit of a concern heading into this week, but Pola-Mao put those concerns to rest against Cleveland.

DJ Glaze also performed admirably on Sunday while replacing an injured Thayer Munford Jr. The Browns may have been missing some players, but reigning DPOY Myles Garrett was not one of them. Surprisingly, Garrett did not wreak any havoc when lined up against Glaze. He was called for a holding penalty, but he and the rest of the line paved the way for the team's best day on the ground this season by a long shot.

K'Lavon Chaisson also had a solid day filling in at DE. He recorded four tackles and was in the backfield a number of times, and he was right there as well on Snowden's game-winning sack.

Alexander Mattison needs to be RB1

It has never been more clear that a player needs more playing time than Alexander Mattison on this Raiders team.

I love Zamir White and given his physical attributes, he definitely has some potential. But he is not there yet, and the four-game experiment with him as the starting running back has failed.

Mattison ran for 60 yards on just five carries Sunday, which is 12.0 yards per carry. His day includes rushes of 24 and 17 yards as well. White, on the other hand, ran for 50 yards on 17 carries, a measly 2.9 yards per carry.

With Jackson Powers-Johnson in the lineup, the offensive line is creating holes for rushers, and White just isn't seeing them right now.

Levi Damien displayed the state of White's game pretty clearly:

This is not to say that White should be completely benched, but his role should diminish and Mattison should be RB1 on the depth chart next week.

Luke Getsy shows promise

Just a week after most of Raider Nation was calling for his job, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy responded by putting together a great game plan without Davante Adams or starting RT Thayer Munford Jr.

I know that the team only scored 20 points, but a few things were out of Getsy's control.

Brock Bowers had an early drop that was completely uncharacteristic, and Gardner Minshew overthrew Jakobi Meyers on three separate occasions during the game Sunday when he was open. White also coughed up the football on a standard running play.

But Sunday also displayed a better play-calling variety than Getsy has shown all season, and the running game finally got going. There were also a handful of on-the-fly adjustments made by Getsy and Minshew that proved crucial during the contest.

The Raiders ran for 152 yards on the ground during Sunday's game, which matched their season total so far through three games. Not to mention, they added two rushing touchdowns and ran for 5.2 yards per carry, almost two yards better than any of their three performances in Weeks 1-3.

Part of this was the presence of rookie G Jackson Powers-Johnson, and perhaps DJ Glaze as well, but it has more to do with the creativity Getsy and the offense displayed.

Six different players had designed runs called for them, including Bowers and wide receivers Tre Tucker, DJ Turner, and Tyreik McAllister. He had these players lining up in the backfield, running end-arounds, and more.

This kept the Browns defense on their toes and they were unable to stop the Raiders rushing attack.

Getsy and Minshew also began to go no-huddle during the game at seemingly random points, which was new. But it was not random. Whenever Myles Garrett subbed off the field for the Browns, the Raiders went no-huddle to keep him off the field. Without a break in the huddle, Garrett could not sub back in. This was paramount for the Raiders on one of their scoring drives in the second half.

The offense cooled down a bit toward the end of the game, but Sunday was an improvement.

Robert Spillane is one of the best linebackers in the league

I know this isn't news to Raiders fans, but the more performances that Robert Spillane has like the one he did on Sunday, the more league-wide recognition he will receive.

Spillane was everywhere once again for Las Vegas, recording 12 tackles and a tackle for loss.

This was the 14th game of his career in which he recorded 10 or more tackles, and his fifth straight dating back to last season.

He also achieved this impressive feat during Sunday's contest:

With Maxx Crosby sidelined due to injury, Spillane was the heartbeat of the Raiders defense against the Browns, and the unit turned in one of their better performances this year; perhaps their best.

Antonio Pierce made his 'business decisions'

I do not want to speculate about what exactly went down in the locker room this week as it pertains to Pierce's now infamous "business decisions" comment, because I was not there.

Many speculated on social media about players he was referencing, and fans felt like a trade of Davante Adams or Michael Mayer was on the horizon.

But neither of those scenarios played out, and it was dealt with in-house, as expected.

However, two precarious things did happen at the beginning of the game on Sunday: Jackson Powers-Johnson started, and Jack Jones did not.

Powers-Johnson was likely to enter the starting lineup at some point this season, but for it to happen just days after Pierce called out the team's poor performance feels like a calculated decision. His mindset and the nastiness he brings to the offensive line are not something that can be ignored forever. So Pierce made a change, pretty simple.

The one thing I cannot figure out is why Jones did not start the game, and why he sat out the entirety of the first quarter.

Perhaps it was a suspension of sorts, but regardless, Jones and the team seemed to respond well. Jones came out and played good football, and the defense picked up the slack when he was sidelined in the first quarter.

Here's what the two had to say about the situation:

Again, there is no confirmation on exactly what happened but it was dealt with in-house, and it did not affect the team. That's about all you can ask for when dealing with team and media controversies in the NFL.

Fans know the relationship that Pierce and Jones have. This is nothing to be concerned about going forward but it definitely sent a message to the team.