After the Cleveland Browns beat the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, a few Browns players accused the Raiders of playing dirty.
Specifically, quarterback Derek Anderson said the Raiders were taking cheap shots at running back Jerome Harrison on the ground.
“They were beating on [Harrison] when he was on the ground and our guys aren’t going to let that happen,” Anderson said, per Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “There were some unnecessary things going on.”
The officials seemed to agree with the Browns, and the Raiders were flagged several times. But Raiders defensive lineman Richard Seymour, who picked up two personal foul penalties, said he thinks the officials may have been predisposed to thinking the Raiders were playing dirty.
“The referee was behind him and didn’t see what happened,” Seymour said. “The film will show it all. He’s human and mistakes happen. I think everyone just jumped in. A little spark started the whole thing. It seemed that everything was directed toward us. That’s the Raider mystique.”