Mike Pettine: 'It's better to be dealing with favourites tag'

Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine has insisted that the challenge of dealing with positive expectations is good for the club.

The Browns have made a solid start to the season and in their last outing they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers for just the second time, when faced with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Pettine's side now go into their matches against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Oakland Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as favourites, and he has admitted that the tag is pleasing for a team that has been labelled as perennial strugglers in the past.

"It's a problem that we want to have," Pettine told reporters. "We want to have to deal with being favoured in games.

"We want to have to deal with, 'Hey, this is a potential trap game for you.' Part of being a good program is being able to handle all those different situations."

The Browns have a 3-2 record this season going into their clash against the Jaguars.