The Browns played a terrific first 30 minutes against the Chiefs, taking a 22-10 lead into halftime. But then they were outscored 23-7 in the second half and lost 33-29.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield addressed the team in the locker room immediately after the game, wanting to put the game in its proper perspective. While Cleveland clearly needs to move onto Week Two, Mayfield told reporters on Wednesday that the Browns should use what happened in Kansas City as fuel.
“I think there’s a fine line of walking, you know, beating yourself up about it and then realizing there’s 16 more. And I think we should beat ourselves up about it because we feel like we should have won that game, but there’s 16 more,” Mayfield said, via Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan. “This one should sting and you need to learn from it because we had that game and we gotta close it out. So I think there’s a fine line of walking that and my message to them was, you know what? We’re going to be really good if we just do our jobs and continue to be efficient and move the chains and help out our defense by staying on the field.
“But this one needs to sting. You need to remember that, that all the little things matter and that’s how you need to approach this week of practice.”
No team or player is interested in moral victories, but the Browns did do plenty of things well in their season opener. Still, there were clear negatives. Mayfield finished 21-of-28 passing for 321 yards with a critical interception late in the contest. Kareem Hunt rushed six times for 33 yards with a TD and caught three passes for 28 yards. Nick Chubb had 83 yards on 15 carries with two touchdowns, but he also had a fumble.
Mayfield noted there’s plenty for the Browns to take from the contest.
“We played a good game against a great team on the road,” Mayfield said. “We have to play a great game against a great team on the road. It’s a good lesson for us as long as we learn from it. so as long as we handle it, it will be a blessing in disguise that it happened in Week One rather than later on down the road.”
The Browns will play their home opener this week against the Texans.