BEREA, Ohio (AP) -For kicker Phil Dawson, it was a Monday like so many others over the past decade.
One day after Cleveland began a season of great expectations by unexpectedly getting embarrassed 28-10 in its opener by the Dallas Cowboys, Dawson, a Browns lifer and the only player who has been with the club since its 1999 expansion reincarnation, offered some perspective on a loss that isn't sitting well with the locals.
"It's not time to panic," said Dawson, 1-9 in NFL openers. "It's time to figure out how to improve. We just did not play good enough. This is a 16-chapter book and yesterday was the first chapter.
"It wasn't a good one but we still have a lot of the book to read."
With a nationally televised Sunday night game with the Pittsburgh Steelers up next, the Browns can't turn the pages on the Dallas debacle fast enough.
The 'Boys manhandled them.
Now, they have to make sure the Steelers don't, too.
Pittsburgh has dominated Cleveland in one of the league's most bitter rivalries. The Steelers have won nine straight, 15 of 16 and 22 of 25 since 1994.
"You could put this game in April and Browns-Steelers is important," Dawson said. "This isn't just any week, it's Steelers Week and I think that's a good thing. I think it will help us move forward. If we had a bye week or something right now I think that we'd sit around and think about how horribly we played."
Putting aside the frighteningly lopsided statistics - Dallas prevailed in first downs 30-11; total yards 487-205; and time of possession 37:22 to 22:31 - the Browns are taking comfort in that they've been through something similar. Last season, they were overrun 34-7 by Pittsburgh in the season opener but bounced back to win seven straight at home and finish 10-6.
As they prepared to watch Sunday's film, the Browns were looking ahead by remembering their past.
"Same thing happened last year," defensive tackle Shaun Smith said. "We gave up a lot more yards against Pittsburgh. You've got to look at the positive note. There's still 15 more games left. We should be all right."
Smith's recollection is a bit fuzzy since the Steelers only gained 365 yards a year ago. But he's on the mark in pointing out that the Browns have a lot of schedule left to turn things around - or completely fall apart.
