CLEVELAND — The Browns are not panicking after a loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday knocked them out of first place in the AFC North.

The Browns, Steelers and Ravens are 6-4. The Bengals rebounded from a loss to the Browns on Nov. 6 to beat the Saints 27-10 in New Orleans and move into first with a 6-3-1 mark.

“I told you guys we weren’t going to put ourselves in the playoffs by winning this game and we weren’t going to take ourselves out of the playoffs by losing this game,” quarterback Brian Hoyer said. “It’s terrible to come out here and have such a missed opportunity at home, but you have to move on. If you sit here and dwell on things like that you’re going to have a hangover worse than any hangover after a big win.”

The Browns have lost twice in the last seven weeks and each time were defeated after a convincing division victory. They beat the Steelers 31-10 and then got hammered by the Jaguars 24-3 in Jacksonville. The 23-7 loss to Houston followed the 24-3 victory in Cincinnati.

The lesson learned was the Browns have to play hard in each of their last six games to stay in the race. They play the Bengals at home on Dec. 14 and finish the season in Baltimore on Dec. 28, so they are still in good shape as long as they heed Hoyer’s warning and move on.

“We didn’t come out with the same spunk,” cornerback Joe Haden said. “We can’t come out flat like that. We’re not a good enough team to not come out with that energy.”

The Browns next two games are on the road. They visit Atlanta next Sunday. The Falcons are 4-6, but they have won two straight and share first place in the NFC South with the Saints. They play the Bills in Buffalo on Nov. 30.

NOTES, QUOTES

–Results of an MRI on starting inside linebacker Karlos Dansby’s knee revealed he could miss a month. Dansby was injured in the first half against the Texans and did not return. The 11th-year veteran has never played fewer than 14 games in a season.

“It would be a huge blow,” defensive end Billy Winn said. “Karlos is our defensive captain. The guy is one of the most intelligent players I’ve even been around. He knows how to win.”

–Travis Benjamin was given a third chance to be the punt returner after losing the job twice in the first seven games. He did not fumble against the Texans. He used a fair catch on one punt and returned another seven yards. That is progress.

–Running back Ben Tate has become a forgotten man in the Browns offense. He was looking forward to playing against his former team but carried only twice and lost nine yards. He has 22 carries for 28 yards in the last three games.

–Rookie wide receiver Taylor Gabriel has been the Browns best deep threat all season. He went into the game averaging 18.1 yards a catch on 24 receptions and caught five passes for 92 yards, an 18.4 average, against the Texans.

REPORT CARD VS. TEXANS

–Passing offense: C — Brian Hoyer passed for 330 yards but completed only 40 percent of his passes by going 20 for 50. He had several dropped passes but the biggest problem was the pass protection broke down under the fierce Houston pass rush. He threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Hawkins who led the Browns with six catches for 97 yards.

–Running offense: D — The Browns rushed 24 times for 58 yards — a meager 2.4 yards a carry — but they got 35 yards on one run by Isaiah Crowell. That means the 23 other runs accounted for 23 yards. It is a big reason the Browns lost. Compounding the problem is Crowell lost a fumble on the Houston 22.

–Passing defense: C — The Browns got very little pressure on Houston quarterback Ryan Mallett. Mallett made his NFL debut on Sunday and though he passed for a modest 211 yards, he threw a touchdown pass to defensive end J.J. Watt and one to tight end Garrett Graham. The Browns did not get stops when they needed them; Mallett completed passes of third-and-nine and third-and-eight on Houston’s first touchdown and fourth-and-three in the fourth quarter with the Texans leading, 17-7.

–Running defense: D — The Texans rushed for 213 yards while star running back Arian Foster sat out with a groin injury. The Browns missed tackles, had difficulty fighting off blocks and left gaps wide open for rookie Alfred Blue (153 yards on 36 carries) to cut back to. The Browns can expect future opponents to exploit their run deficiencies.

–Special teams: D — Billy Cundiff missed a 38-yard field goal wide right and long snapper Christian Yount sailed the ball over the head of punter Spencer Lanning. Lanning retrieved the ball and avoided total disaster by getting off a 22-yard punt. Marlon Moore appeared to fumble a kick return, but the call was overturned when a review determined the ground caused the fumble.

–Coaching: C — This one was out of the coaches’ hands. They did not miss tackles or blocks. The challenge now for head coach Mike Pettine will be to get his team refocused. After losing to Jacksonville he had a similar challenge and the Browns won three straight.