It’s been said — a lot over the years, in fact — that you can’t place too much significance on what happens in Week 1 in the NFL.

Browse the full Cleveland Browns store on Amazon

While I believe that to be true — to a certain degree — I heard something the  other day that makes me doubt that contention even more. It came from a coach in the league who said that the opener is the closest thing to a playoff game atmosphere as you can get in the regular season. He explained that the fans are really amped up after not having any games to watch that count since last winter. No other game has that kind of prelude.

That goes right along with my saying that they these games all count as one in the standings, but some count more than one in terms of what they do emotionally, positively and negatively, to a team.

This pertains especially to the Browns — and their fans — after Sunday’s frustrating 17-16 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. The Best Fans in Pro Sports — those are the Browns fans — have patiently and faithfully supported this team for almost 80 years. The Browns are so big and beloved and important in these parts that how they do on Sundays provides an ebb and flow in the community as a whole. A win puts a pep in the step of everyone, while a loss slumps all their shoulders. It becomes even more pronounced in big games such as the opener.

The Browns punched everyone in the gut not just with their loss to the Bengals but also by how it cane about, with the club being so close to victory yet still so far.

Year after year for almost all of the more than quarter-century of the expansion era since 1999 this type of thing has occurred. Enough is enough already, and too much is too much.

The Browns — the people in management — need to be fully cognizant of this. They need to start winning, especially at home, and early in the season anywhere, so as inspire some hope and confidence not just for themselves — that’s what they’re paid to do — but also for these wonderful fans.

And the Browns need to do it now!!

Steve King

Summit and Stark County Football Scores