The Cleveland Browns and Las Vegas Raiders matchup in Week 12 of the 2025 NFL season was one between two teams with disappointing seasons, bad records, and 2026 NFL draft order priorities. The betting odds for Browns vs Raiders leaned toward the home team, and those only grew with QB Shedeur Sanders set for his first career start.
The Browns brought injured QB Deshaun Watson along to assist Sanders, while Cleveland fans have realistic expectations for the rookie fifth-round quarterback’s starting debut.
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With the game in the desert, Browns fans had to wait until the second window on Sunday to see what the offense looks like under Sanders’ control. OC Tommy Rees promised that the offense would be catered around Sanders’ strengths and desires, so it will be interesting to see how Cleveland attacks the talented but limited Las Vegas defense.
With DBN’s founder, Chris Pokorny, in Vegas for the game, today’s game summary and recap might look a little different, for better or worse. Most likely, the latter.
As our loyal DBN readers know, head to the comment section with your Victory GIF celebrations!
Browns vs Raiders result, score, and recap
In a game of two bad teams, Cleveland’s defense and a few big plays from the Browns offense were enough to knock off Las Vegas 24-10 to move to 3-8 on the season. Sanders completed 11 passes for 209 yards and one touchdown. A big throw to Isaiah Bond and a perfectly set-up screen pass to Dylan Sampson accounted for a vast majority of Cleveland’s passing yards.
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DE Myles Garrett broke his own team record for sacks in a season and has his eyes on the all-time record for sacks in a season, needing five in the last six games of the year.
1st quarter notes
Neither team showed much on their first offensive possession but Cleveland got a huge return from rookie UDFA WR Gage Larvadain, along with a tripping penalty, which gave the Browns the ball inside the redzone. On the second play, RB Quinshon Judkins took the direct snap and ran it in for a score:
The Raiders offense struggled to get anything going throughout the first quarter.
Sanders showed off his creativity and ability to make plays with this deep throw on the run:
Judkins then finished off the drive on another Wildcat touchdown run.
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2nd quarter notes
The Raiders figured out how to get Ashton Jeanty involved in the passing game on their next possession, but Daniel Carlson’s 48-yard field goal attempt pushed wide left, leaving the score 14-0 early in the second quarter.
Sanders’ interception was a poor decision and understanding of what Las Vegas’ defense was doing as the defensive end dropped into coverage. The Raiders continued to go backward on offense, but Carlson’s second field goal was converted to make the score 14-3. For Las Vegas, the struggles on the offensive line make most things difficult for Smith and the rest of the offense.
A bone-headed play by Jeudy took points off the board and gave the ball back to the Raiders:
A stout defensive line led to DE Myles Garrett getting a sack on Smith; the Raiders were lucky to recover the fumble, which kept Las Vegas from attempting a field goal late in the second quarter.
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A 14-3 lead for the Browns heading into halftime with the Raiders getting the ball after the intermission.
3rd quarter notes
Las Vegas had a big kick return to start the second half but another sack of Smith, on 4th down, gave Cleveland the ball back near midfield. With 11 minutes left in the third quarter, the Browns defense had seven sacks of the Raiders quarterback.
A punt by Cleveland on 4th and 4 at the 42-yard line was somewhat surprising, but the Browns defense has been so good and the Las Vegas offense so bad that the decision was a safe one with the score still 14-3. Both offenses continued to struggle to get yards throughout the third quarter with a few Cleveland penalties impacting their second possession of the second half
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Sanders continued to show the ability to make plays out of structure:
Multiple penalties on offense, even if a couple were declined, stalled out Cleveland’s offense, including a creative formation that was penalized (declined) that led to quick pressure and an incomplete pass.
The Raiders were able to drive the ball late in the third quarter, but a drop by WR Trey Turner and an overthrow by Smith on fourth down once again kept Las Vegas off the board. Pete Carroll decided not to attempt a field goal from the 22-yard line.
Judkins’ 11-yard gain got the Browns a first down late in the third quarter, but the team’s star rookie running back left the game with an injury after that play.
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4th quarter notes
Judkins was back on the field to start the fourth quarter, but then was taken back to the injury tent. Cleveland’s offense got into the redzone before a negative run, a holding penalty, and a negative run led to a 53-yard field goal by Andre Szmyt to push the lead to 17-3 with 12 minutes left in the game.
Garrett unofficially passed the Browns season record for sacks in the fourth quarter in Week 12 of the 2025 season. Smith was sacked eight times, with the offense being stopped behind the line of scrimmage 14 times with nine minutes left in the game.
Judkins was able to return to the game on Cleveland’s next offensive possession, a sigh of relief for fans and the team. A perfectly set-up screen to Sampon led to Sanders’ first passing touchdown:
A couple of big defensive penalties put Las Vegas in scoring position and CB Myles Harden dropped coverage on Jeanty, leading to the Raiders first touchdown of the game. The Browns passive offense gave the ball back after taking just one minute off the clock, but they did force Las Vegas to use two of their timeouts.
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A big hit on Jeanty by DT Mason Graham led to the rookie running back limping off the field with an injury. Two plays later, Garrett got his third sack and forced another fumble, which was recovered by DT Maliek Collins with just over two minutes left in the game, with Cleveland up 24-10.
Uncertain why the Browns decided to punt the ball from the 29-yard line instead of attempting a 46-yard field goal, except to try to burn some clock.
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