It’s No Bo, No Go: Browns Set Back the Raiders, 24-17

For die-hard Raider executives and slow learners, here’s your makeup exam in one question:

What do you have when you take Bo Jackson off the Raiders?

A) Instant losing streak; B) the first half of the 1988 season; C) no third-person quotes; D) all of the above.

Everyone with D), go to the head of the class. Without Jackson, the Raiders fell behind the Cleveland Browns Sunday, 24-3, staged a too-late rally and bowed, 24-17, before what remained of the faithful, 40,275, in the Coliseum.

The Raiders have now lost two in a row, are 5-9 and have a chance at their first 10-loss season since Al Davis joined the franchise in 1963.

With Jackson watching from the sideline with his ankle sprain, the Raiders slumped to their old level of production--one touchdown by the offense, and that with 1:51 left in a one-sided game.

In a show of solidarity, the Raider defense slumped too, or was put to the torch by Bernie Kosar who left their cornerbacks smoldering. Heaven knows who it was the defenders missed: Mike Haynes? Lester Hayes? Willie Brown? Otis Sistrunk? Ben Davidson?

“Bo Jackson does make a difference,” said Tom Flores afterward, “but he doesn’t play defense.”

And what did the Raiders think of their own performance? It is foolish to expect a major league athlete to put the rap on himself and his teammates and say, “Of course, it’s obvious, we miss Bo.”

No Raider did, but then Raider fans might not take great comfort in the other factors suggested--like quitting.

“I suppose subconsciously you can get dependant on somebody like that (Jackson) who is able to do so many things,” said Todd Christensen. “But then again, we were a reasonable football team without him before. We should be able to compensate, especially on our home field.”

Then there’s a subconscious problem?

“Nah, that’s too psychoanalytical,” Christensen said. “I just think it’s the fact that we get to this point, you look at the records, it’s a little cold outside. ‘Golly, gee whiz, I just hope I don’t get hurt.’ All those things start to play in for some people.”

Was it only two weeks and a day ago that Jackson had two healthy ankles and the Raiders were dreaming of an 8-7 finish?

By Sunday, hit by the Chiefs’ upset and the loss of their too-many-dimensions-to-count wunderkind , they seemed back on their heels again, or on their backsides.

They took the opening kickoff, managed to hold the ball for a full 8:36, 15-play drive, getting Chris Bahr in position to kick a 39-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.

So much for Raider highlights.

The Browns, winless in their last eight games against the Raiders over 15 years, 0-2 on the West Coast this season and hearing jinx talk, hit the field . . . and took four plays and a penalty to go 73 yards for a touchdown:

1--Sam Seale is called for a 34-yard pass interference penalty against Webster (“That Sissy,” according to Lester Hayes) Slaughter.

2--Kevin Mack runs 4 yards.

3--Earnest Byner runs 3.

4--On third-and-three, with Howie Long breathing in his face, Kosar hits Herman Fontenot crossing over the middle against nickel back James Davis, for 25 yards to the Raider two.

5--Kosar hits Byner in the end zone for the touchdown.

Kosar ran up 177 yards passing in the half, in which the Browns had the ball four times, resulting in two touchdowns, a field goal and a missed field goal from 37 yards. They wouldn’t punt the ball until the fourth quarter. For the game, Kosar completed 21 of 32 for 294 yards and 2 scores.

“What was he,” asked Long later, “30 out of 35?

“Up front, I didn’t think we had a problem. I think our group was better than their group up front. Obviously it didn’t show up (the Raiders, No. 3 in sack percentage, got none).

“I was thinking sack five times. I broke through five different times and I was thinking, ‘I got him. I got him. I got him.’

“The guy doesn’t even look at you. A couple of times, I was pushing him in the chest . . . and the ball was gone.”

Well, then what was the problem?

After last season’s Brown-out here when the Raiders sacked Kosar six times and held Cleveland to a total of 217 yards, the visitors arrived ready to deal with a big rush. They ran very quick patterns.

The classic Raider answer would be bump-and-run but with their famous tandem of Haynes and Hayes watching in street clothes, and new men named Seale and Lionel Washington trying to fill their shoes, the Raiders are fresh out of answers for the moment.

The Browns eased into their 24-3 lead almost effortlessly. Then early in the fourth quarter, with the Browns worrying about niceties such as keeping Ozzie Newsome’s consecutive game receiving streak alive (Kosar threw him one, which he dropped, so Kosar threw him another, which he caught), the Raiders struck.

Actually, Kosar helped. He floated a pass for the sideline that didn’t quite clear strong safety Stacey Toran, who intercepted and returned it 48 yards for a touchdown.

It was 24-10. Were the Raiders coming back as in days of yore?

Nope. Their next possession yielded nothing.

Their next got them a touchdown, when Marc Wilson hit James Lofton with a 28-yard scoring pass, making it 24-17, but with only 1:51 left. The Raiders elected to kick deep, since they had all their timeouts left. The defense came on. The Browns ran the ball three times . . . and on the third, busted Byner loose around left end for 21 yards.

All in all, it was a pretty solid team effort by the Raiders, and if things could be a little better in silver and blackdom, try looking on the bright side.

There’s only one week left.

Raider Notes

In a demonstration of why those consecutive-game reception streaks are so compelling, Ozzie Newsome’s streak of 125 was in jeopardy until the Browns went out of their way to extend it. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Bernie Kosar threw Newsome an eight-yard sideline pass, which he dropped. On the next play, Kosar threw to Ozzie again, who caught it--for a one-yard gain. Everyone watching was grateful to have seen history made. . . . They can’t pin this one on Marc Wilson: The Raider quarterback, booed, if lightly, all day, finished 23 for 36 for 270 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. . . . Wilson completed only five passes to his wide receivers. Was the game plan to work underneath? Nope, the Browns crossed them up. “We expected them to play man-to-man,” Wilson said. “I think they played it three times the first half. They went zone and dropped a million guys off. You have to take what’s there and that was the short stuff.” . . . And Wilson, on the Missing Raider: “The thing that Bo does for the passing game, he slows down the pass rush. They have to be always concerned about him. And every time he gets his hands on the ball, he’s a legitimate threat to score, which concerns a defense.” . . . Whoops!: with the Brown kicking unit out to try a field goal on fourth-and-four in the third period, Matt Millen jumped offside, giving Cleveland a first down at the 18. On the next play, Bernie Kosar threw a touchdown pass to Webster Slaughter. . . . Add secondary: Vann McElroy was knocked out of the game with bruised ribs, taken to the dressing room, X-rayed, re-taped, went back out and was knocked cold by Earnest Byner. “It just got worse and worse,” McElroy said. “By the time I got back into the dressing room, I couldn’t remember anything.” . . . The no-show count--10,844--represented more than 20% of the 51,019 tickets distributed.