The Day After Takeaways: Browns Coach Hue Jackson Gives His Thoughts on the Loss in Oakland

The Disappointment of the Loss in Oakland in Overtime to the Raiders:

“Obviously, very disappointed with our result. We had a number of chances to put that game away. Being up 28-14 in the third quarter, we felt like we had the game in our hands. Not that we had the game finished but we felt like we were in control. We thought maybe if we did not turn the ball over maybe we could have kind of knocked them out a little bit. In those situation, when you turn the football over, you give a team life. It felt like it was back to back, even though it was not back-to-back plays, but, it was back-to-back series. When you look at that, it was a 14-point swing. We have to do that better.

“Obviously, the defense, they have been doing a really good job for us all season, but yesterday a little bit – that offensive football l team, which I think is a really good offensive football team, they were able to make plays in the pass game and in the run game. They had two pass catchers (Raiders TE Jared Cook and WR Jordy Nelson) over 100 yards and had a rusher (Raiders RB Marshawn Lynch) over 100 yards. We have to shore some things up there, and again, the tight end situation. The young man kept making plays – 87 (TE Jared Cook). We just have to continue to get better. We will continue to work at it. That is not how we have played on defense all year. I know our guys will go back, go to work and do better.

“I am not discouraged. I am disappointed because I think that our team is playing extremely hard. I think that they have been in position to win all four games to be very honest with you. You take the kick against Pittsburgh, which we did not make and you take the kicks against New Orleans, which we did not do. We win the Jets game by Baker coming in and playing extremely well. This game, we are up by 14 at one point and we go down and then we go back up again by [eight].

“You look at that and you go, ‘Wow, this team is talented, is gritty and is tough.’ There is no quit in them. I like that characteristic about our team, but we have to learn how to finish. We have to learn how when we have a team on the ropes, you have to give them that knockout shot so that there is no doubt. There should not be any doubt.”

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