Up by eight points with 30 seconds to play, the Browns were unable to fend off a charging Raiders offense in this past weekend's loss in the Bay Area.
Oakland marched down the field on a six-play, 58-yard drive to tie the game before ultimately winning, 45-42, in overtime. It was a frustrating end to an afternoon in which the Browns dominated in stretches and led by as many as 14 points in the second half.
Compounding matters was how Cleveland's defense — which has been so impressive thus far this season — couldn't get a stop when it mattered most.
"We've got to finish," defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said Friday.
To be sure, the Browns defense has been the team's backbone throughout the first month of the season. The unit leads the league in takeaways with 13 and has held two of the four opponents — New Orleans and the New York Jets — to 275 yards or less of total offense.
It was a bit surprising, then, when the unit couldn't seem to slow down an Oakland team that rallied after intermission and finished with almost 600 yards. While the Browns forced two turnovers in the contest, they couldn't seem to deliver when it mattered most in the fourth quarter.
Williams said it's a matter of a digging deep in a game when fatigue and exhaustion came into play. Cleveland's defense was on the field for 92 plays.
"You keep fighting it, you keep pushing it," he said. "Do you finish a competition in a winning platform, in a winning way? Boom, we have got to go ahead and get that done in a game, so it breeds confidence. Confidence that you know that you can do it, causes you and allows you to pull the trigger even faster."
The Browns will face a Baltimore offense that's enjoying something of a renaissance with veteran quarterback Joe Flacco and a new-look receivers room that includes speedster John Brown and Michael Crabtree.
After last week's hiccup against Oakland, Williams doesn't see any flinch in his group. It's business as usual, he said, against a tough opponent.
"I feel like their confidence is strong," he said. "We just have to produce."
