After conceding a six-goal start the Bulldogs stormed back into the contest with a six-goal final-term onslaught but fell agonisingly short in a Friday night thriller.
"We played half a game of footy and almost stole the win but you just can't give a team like Collingwood a six-goal head start," Morris said.
"They had the jump on us early and from there it made it tough to claw back.
"We have to learn from it.
"If we don't learn from it then it's a total loss. But if you can learn from it and improve, then it's still a loss, but it's not as big a loss."
Collingwood joins the Bulldogs on 10 wins in the battle for third place. The two sides met again in round 22, while the Dogs also face St Kilda and Geelong in the run to September.
Morris said his side could not afford to drop any more games or it risked dropping out of the top four.
"The ladder is that tight with teams vying for top four, and even top eight, so we can't afford to drop any games from here," he said.
"We've just got to get back on the bike and get over it quickly.
"We need that consistency back and to come back pretty quickly because we've got a short week this week and Essendon next Friday night."
Morris said the big positive to emerge from the disappointment of Friday night was the inner-belief of the group.
Trailing by 41 points late in the third term all looked lost until a spirited final-term comeback nearly stole an unlikely victory.
"We never lost belief, and this group doesn't lose belief too easy," he said.
"We were playing pretty badly in the first half, particularly the first quarter, and we knew that we had to get back to the way we know we can play footy to get back into the game.
"We did that in the last quarter, but too little too late."
