Browns coach Hue Jackson shares the emotion that he, along with Joe Thomas, felt after Cleveland won its first game of the season. (0:42)

There is emotion, and there is stark reality.

The Cleveland Browns get their share of both this week. The emotion that ran unchecked on Saturday was a result of this team getting its first victory. The Browns avoided what would have been the longest week of their NFL lives with a three-point win over San Diego.

It provided cathartic relief. It freed the Browns from questions and pressure about being the second team in NFL history to finish 0-16. And it freed them from having to live with being part of the worst record in NFL history for the rest of their lives.

Winning one game was like pulling out a key piece in Jenga: All the blocks of negativity came tumbling down.

A team that is 1-14 probably has no right to cry with happiness over its one win. It is the object of all the work, after all.

But when it has taken this long, the release is palpable, and the result leads to weepy videos featuring the coach and players.

This week, the Browns can and will deal with "normal" football issues. Who plays quarterback? Will the Steelers play their starters in Sunday's finale? What would winning in Pittsburgh mean to this team? What about two in a row?

Had they lost to the Chargers, the flood of "what about finishing winless?" questions would have been overwhelming. And the pressure to avoid that winless season would have been that much more intense.

And had they gone 0-16, the misery of that finish would have hung over every offseason decision. Free agents and draft picks alike would have been asked why they would want to play in Cleveland, for a winless team. Jokes would have continued.

Instead, happiness and relief were the order of the day on Monday.

Saturday released a lot of pent-up emotion for Tracy Howard and his Browns teammates, but now the focus must turn to the immediate and long-term future. Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire

"I feel better today than I did at any time during this year, to be honest with you," coach Hue Jackson said.

Which is fine. But cold, hard reality awaits Sunday and when the season ends.

The Browns have to win in Pittsburgh to avoid a 1-15 finish, which would be the worst in the team's 66-year history. Not since 2009 has an NFL team finished 1-15, with the St. Louis Rams having that dubious honor. And not since 2003 have the Browns won in Pittsburgh, a streak of 12 games in a row. In seven of the past eight, the Browns have not scored more than 14 points.

That's a Steelers smack in the face.

Other issues also remain.

The Browns aren't sure if Robert Griffin III will play after the quarterback left the victory over the Chargers with a concussion. As the Browns evaluate him, the reality is that he has started four games and left two with significant injuries after being hit while running.

Needs remain all over the roster.

Terrelle Pryor and Jamie Collins can be free agents.

The draft remains paramount, especially as the Browns likely will have the first overall pick, a selection they cannot afford to botch.

Removing that Jenga piece might have let the emotions loose for a few days. But now the Browns must turn to building something more permanent. Because they need to figure a way to put the blocks back so they can't be dismantled.