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''We're not going to let (losing to Arizona) get us down or stop us,'' McGinest said. ''We're going to keep playing hard and whatever happens, happens.
''We have to look at the film, see the mistakes we made and get better. We can't have self-inflicted wounds.''
The Browns got a similar wake-up call in Oakland in the third week of the season. They started in a hole, just as they did in Arizona, and lost the game. They were 1-2, and nobody was linking the Browns to the playoffs. But that 26-24 defeat to the Raiders snapped the Browns to attention. They won six of their next eight games and swept the Ravens in the process.
With four games left, there is little room for error. They and the Titans are 7-5 and tied for the last wild-card spot. Much can change in the last four weeks, but for now the Browns have the better record in the AFC -- 5-4 compared to 4-4 for Tennessee.
All four of Tennessee's remaining games are against AFC opponents, including a home game against San Diego Sunday and a game in Indianapolis on the final day of the regular season. The Brows' next three opponents (the Jets, Bills and Bengals) are from the AFC. They finish the season at home against the 49ers.
Tennessee plays the Jets in Nashville on Dec. 23, the same day the Browns are playing the Bengals. Both games are critical. The next tiebreaker after conference record (head-to-head would not apply to the Browns and Titans this season) is record against common opponents. Five games for each team will apply.
The Titans are 3-1 in those games with only the game against the Jets remaining. The Browns are 2-1 with games against the Jets and Bengals left. In other words, the game Sunday in Giants Stadium is enormous for the Browns because it figures into both tiebreakers.
So what would happen if both teams finish 11-5 overall, 7-5 in the AFC and both are 4-1 among common opponents? The next step is strength of victory, which in this scenario would measure the combined win-loss-tied percentage of the 11 teams the Browns beat vs. that of the 11 teams the Titans beat. The team whose opponents had the higher winning percentage would win the tiebreaker.
Such mind-numbing math is exactly what the Browns do not want to trouble themselves with for the obvious reason it would detract from preparing for the Jets. The Jets rank near the bottom of the league in offense and defense, but they won two of their last three games.
''We could easily be 5-7 or we could easily be 9-3,'' tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. said. ''We have to play better as a team. It's the little things that win in this league. We've lost one game at home. If we can win four on the road, we should be in.''
The Browns are 2-4 on the road. To reach Winslow's goal, they have to win Sunday and then beat the Bengals in Cincinnati.
