Cleveland Browns: 5 Lessons learned vs. Titans in Week 1

2. Learn to deal with the target on your back

With all of the hype surrounding the Browns to start the 2019 season, there is no escaping the fact that Cleveland is the hunted. They were the upstarts last season as they went 7-8-1 after registering just one victory over the previous two seasons. That is no longer the case. They are AFC North favorites and a team with viable postseason aspirations.

The Browns aren’t the only team that knows this, though — every opponent that they’ll face in 2019 does too. As such, Cleveland has a massive bullseye on their back because every team wants to be the one that kills the hype around the Browns. For this team to be successful, they must learn to deal with playing against that type of mentality and respond appropriately.

1. There are still 15 games left to play

As demoralizing as the Week 1 loss to Tennessee was, the biggest thing that the Cleveland Browns need to learn from the season-opener is that it’s just one game. This plays into the maturity in a way but the NFL season is a long one. One loss, in the grand scheme, does not mean all that much if you can correct mistakes and turn things around moving forward.

Just last season, the Colts started the season with a 1-5 record and finished the year at 10-6. And that’s not an uncommon occurrence in this league. Teams get better as the year goes on and learn from their mistakes. Freddie Kitchens must make sure his team does just that and comes back hungry to prove themselves. It’s just an 0-1 record, which is easy to recover from if you make the right adjustments.