Jackson questions his 4th down call vs. Browns

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ALAMEDA -- Hue Jackson says he lives on the edge.Sunday, the rookie Raiders coach almost walked off that figurative cliff in the course of Oakland's 24-17 defeat of Cleveland. That night, Jackson tossed and turned and questioned himself for going for it on 4th-and-1 from the Cleveland 5-yard line late in the game, rather than sending out Sebastian Janikowski for the gimme field goal."I know, I know," Jackson said Monday in his weekly media conference. "Let me tell everybody, that's on me.

"There's a bunch of people mad at me when I went to go eat last night, 'Why didn't you kick?' What do you mean why didn't I kick? I decided not to."With 4:49 remaining and the Raiders up 24-10, a 23-yard Janikowski field goal would have essentially ended things by making it a three-score game. But Michael Bush was stopped for no gain and the Browns took over and promptly marched 95 yards for a touchdown to get within 24-17 with 1:11 to play.Then, the Browns attempted and recovered an onside kick at the Oakland 49-yard line with 66 seconds left."Trust me," Jackson said, "my heart was starting to drop, every tick that was going off that clock.The Browns picked up seven yards before failing to convert a first down."Again, I have a lot of confidence in my players, and I told you, one of these times, I'm going to get bit," Jackson said. "And I almost got bit. So you learn from it. I didn't sleep last night. I'm really tired right now, and that's part of it."So, did Jackson second-guess himself?"I've got to be a little bit smarter than that the next time," he said. "Truth be told, I do. Sometimes you can believe in your players a little bit too much. Sometimes good coaching is probably a little more important than making a decision about your players at times."That's on me, and I always tell them that. I made that choice, not them. I'll learn from it and get better from it. Luckily it did not cost us."And if Jackson had it to do all over again, would he have kicked the field goal?"Probably not," he admitted with a sly smile. "Knowing me, probably not."

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