Hoyer, Browns bounce back to beat Raiders

CLEVELAND — Brian Hoyer threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Hawkins early in the fourth quarter and the Cleveland Browns avoided a second straight embarrassing loss by beating the winless Oakland Raiders 23-13 on Sunday.

Hoyer’s TD to Hawkins put the Browns (4-3) ahead 16-6, shortly after Cleveland’s defense came to the rescue.

Browns safety Donte Whitner forced a fumble late in the third quarter with a huge hit on Oakland running back Darren McFadden as the Raiders (0-7) were driving deep into Cleveland territory.

Cleveland lost at Jacksonville last week, giving the Jaguars their first win. According to STATS, no team in NFL history has lost consecutive games to winless teams in Week 7 or later.

It was hardly a perfect performance, but the Browns, who were held to 39 yards rushing and converted only 2 of 12 third downs, will take it.

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