Kovacevic: Take the playoffs seriously ... but not the Browns and never Myles Garrett

CLEVELAND -- Myles Garrett’s a scumbag. 

Just wait, I’ll get to the football and all that fun playoff stuff in a moment. This feels like the right place to start. 

A year ago, right here at FirstEnergy Stadium, he clubbed Mason Rudolph over the head with a helmet, accused him of using a racist slur only when it was convenient five full days later, then continued lying about it for months to anyone who'd listen.

He's never acknowledged his lie. He's never apologized to Rudolph, either for the clubbing or for the lie.

Hence, scumbag. Strong term but accurately applied. And the kindest I can summon for the circumstance.

He earns no reprieve for being an amiable, charitable representative in the Cleveland community or even when he flies all the way to Kenya to do wonderful work, as our Tom Reed witnessed with his own eyes while with another outlet. Not all rights erase all wrongs, for the obvious reason that they aren't all equivalent. In this case, his wrong was assaulting an opponent on the football field, an act so heinous it drew immediate rebukes from across the sporting world, even his own teammates. And his follow-up, one might argue, was that much worse than assaulting a man's integrity.

A couple minutes after the Browns could only squeeze by the Steelers' B-team, 24-22, on this Sunday, Rudolph migrated toward where Garrett was having a conversation with Vance McDonald, visibly awaiting a chance to make the initial approach, to be the bigger man. When that conversation kept going, though, Rudolph moved along in search of other hands to shake. Maybe he thought those two would talk forever. Maybe he thought Garrett wanted no part of him. Can't say.

As Rudolph broke off, though, Garrett chased after him, caught his attention, and a brief exchange ensued.

I asked Rudolph what was said.

“Myles came over and said, ‘Good game’ postgame, and that's all it was," came Rudolph's reply. "I told him 'Good luck' and that I had a lot of respect for him.”

Garrett's recollection was similar: “I just told him, 'Good game' – he played a hell of a game – and we'll see y'all in a week. He played tough. He had 300 yards and a couple of touchdowns. He played very well, and he kept them in it to the very end. Had to show a little praise that he did well in this game and he was able to make some big plays for them.”

The moment was captured by a USA Today photographer on the scene, and one of those pictures moved Rudolph to put this on his Instagram account while riding the bus back down the Turnpike:

The bigger man. Yet again. And infinitely bigger than I'd ever be in a similar setting.

The smaller man?

He loses. Yet again. 

Just like he and his team will lose next weekend. Yet again.

____________________

Oh, the Browns won on this day. Says so right there in the headline. Clinched a playoff berth, even. First one in 18 years.

That's, like, Buccos-level.

I stopped to grab a coffee in downtown Cleveland upon leaving the stadium, and a couple dudes were smoking cigars through masks at the establishment next door. Not just any masks. mind you. The kind that allow for barks when the humans here are let loose near one of the end zones.

I wanted to make fun of them. But they appeared drunk, I was tired, and besides, I didn't get a congratulatory sentence out before one of them spied my credential and began asking about "Bonds, Van Slyke, Bonilla," and I interrupted before he'd broach unmentionable territory.

Touché, canine-men.

So forgive the Browns, their fans, their fawning media and even these few players posing in these gosh-we-made-the-playoffs T-shirts:

That's common in baseball. I'm thinking it's without precedent in the NFL.

Which is awesome. Live it up, Cleveland. As Clint Hurdle himself spoke on that 2013 night, where the Pirates snapped their own playoff-free streak of 21 years, "Always take time to enjoy your victories."

He did. Those Pirates did. 

The King did:

The Browns should enjoy their victory, as well.

For a day or so.

Because, come Sunday night at Heinz Field, roughly three hours after the 8:15 p.m. kickoff, they'll be booted right out of those playoffs faster than they can say Madison Bumgarner.

It's not just that they crawled across the finish line in the ugliest way imaginable, first losing to the Jets -- New York, not Winnipeg -- with a chance to clinch, then barely beating an opponent that should've shown up as the Washington Generals for this script. The Steelers arrived, of course, with zero collective need to win and, if that wasn't enough, they left behind in Pittsburgh a Hall of Fame quarterback, the NFL's premier candidate for Defensive Player of the Year, the NFL's All-Decade center, one of the league's top five defensive linemen, a starting Pro Bowl corner, a starting safety and the placekicker.

Two stinking points.

Kevin Stefanski, who I'd identify as the Browns' first-year coach if that weren't a redundancy, partook in the postgame festivities and, in fact, gave the game ball to Jimmy Haslam, the team's owner, in the locker room.

“I'm really proud of that football team. I'm proud of the finish," Stefanski would say later. "But I'm really most happy for our fans. They deserve this. They've been waiting for this, and we're happy to deliver it to them."

After a slight pause, he added, "A lot of work left to be done. I do want to make note of that."

Work and luck. Meaning even more luck than the Browns laughably needed in this one.

My handful of caustic assessments in this context:

5. MAYFIELD'S JUST BAD

I'd elaborate, but I've already been really mean in this column. Mercy rule in effect.

4. HAVEN'T BEATEN ANYBODY 

Colts and Titans. That's it. Don't dare count this one. 

But they beat Indy with a healthy Odell Beckham Jr., and he's been lost since the season's midpoint. They also lost Olivier Vernon in this game to an ominous-looking ankle injury, potentially leaving Garrett without his bookend defensive end. And Garrett himself hasn't performed to par since an injury three weeks ago, limited in snaps even in this vital game and registering just four tackles.

It'd be possible that this is the worst playoff team in the entire NFL, except that the NFC East still hasn't been relegated.

3. CAN'T HOLD EVERYONE

The Steelers' defenders were held all afternoon ...

... and take that from someone who seldom cites officiating in any context, let alone from a single-sided view. But that's Vince Williams being held -- no, hogtied -- with no flag on Cleveland's game-sealing drive. And again, it went on throughout.

Now, think about this: The Browns needed to hold a defense that didn't have T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward, and Baker Mayfield was still sacked four times.

“I think us fighting and clawing in that game shows the resiliency of this team," Alex Highsmith remarked after this blossoming rookie had one of those sacks and a team-high nine tackles. "We're a fighting team."

Even without Bud Dupree, the Steelers will field by far the best pass-rushing defense in the AFC bracket. The Browns' line can't handle it, and Mayfield's style, as seen again here, is to run right into it. 

Either way, it says here, the pass rush will be the decisive element. Awful as the NFL's been in calling holding this season, there's no way it'll be this awful on back-to-back Sundays.

2. CAN'T COVER ANYONE

But next on that list would be the Cleveland pass defense, which, like the blocking, was only effective when bending the rules:

That should've been the tying two-point conversion near the end, and the only reason it wasn't was that Cleveland's Robert Jackson grossly interfered with Chase Claypool. This is what the Browns have to do. Their secondary is maybe the saddest component to their game, even with standout corner Denzel Ward, who missed this one but should be back next week.

Rudolph was terrific. When I brought up his 22-of-39, 315-yard, two-touchdown day with Mike Tomlin, the assessment was, "I thought Mason's performance was gritty." It was occasionally pretty, as well, with three of his completions spanning 40-plus yards, six others in double-digits. With due respect to Ben Roethlisberger, a few of those were the strongest throws I'd seen at the position all season. Kid's always had the arm.

He's also got some smarts. And he might've demonstrated that best here by realizing, perhaps unlike Roethlisberger, that Chase Claypool can be quite the meal ticket if he's used: Claypool had five catches for 101 yards, including a 41-yarder and a 28-yarder. Now, it took 11 targets to reach that, and Claypool wasn't masterful on all of them, but consider the output.

Consider, too, that Diontae Johnson's three catches included a 47-yarder, a 41-yarder and a fourth-down conversion.

In a way, it was as if Rudolph was picking up where Roethlisberger left off against the Colts.

“That was part of the plan coming in," Rudolph said of his long attempts. "We knew we wanted to challenge them deep and take our shots carefully."

It'll be the plan again next Sunday. Ben's got a TV. I'm betting he saw what we saw. Randy Fichtner seems to have been cured of quick-slant syndrome. The breakthrough's behind us.

Then there's this factor: They're still the Browns.

1. THEY'RE STILL THE BROWNS

Don't tell me that alone didn't contribute to this comedic sequence on the Steelers' final onside kick:

Just picture poor No. 89 if he'd been the one who bungled the Browns right out of the playoffs. He'd be the new poster boy for all the old bag-wearers among the fan base.

This. Close.

Joel Bitonio, a veteran guard who's about to taste his first playoffs, gushed afterward, "We're working to change the culture here. There was a culture of losing, a culture of not being able to finish some of the games that we've been in. Hopefully, we're setting the stage for a winning culture in Cleveland for a long time.” 

Bitonio false-started on a fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter, forcing a punt.

Hey, at least he didn't try to give birth to a football.

____________________

The Steelers lost in Cincinnati.

Yeah, I was there for that, too. I remember it. Here's betting they remember it, too, and in the context of a full month of dreadful play that dragged through the first half against the Colts.

I write nothing about the Browns as if to suggest the Steelers are some rocket-propelled contender for the Super Bowl. They're anything but. And if I look recklessly ahead, should the Steelers and Bills both advance and meet again up in Orchard Park, N.Y., the visitors will deserve every bit of their underdog status.

But that's then. This is now.

Did the second half against the Colts mark some big breakthrough?

The Steelers, and Roethlisberger in particular, had better hope so. They can't afford for it to be a blip, and they can't afford yet another of Ben's now-patented slow starts next Sunday.

But did this game here clarify that in any way?

Nope. Not in the slightest.

The backup quarterback looked promising for the future. The receivers made some splash. James Conner ran hard. Kevin Dotson blocked hard. Highsmith, to repeat, was really good. Stephon Tuitt and Minkah Fitzpatrick stood out with the contrast one would hope among all those practice-squad dudes. On top of all that, no one was hurt, apart from a brief absence by Marcus Allen after banging his arm on a helmet.

Oh, and the head coach had himself a moment ...

... in chewing out JuJu Smith-Schuster for maybe the dumbest dance of his life, right after his own touchdown catch but also right before the aforementioned failed two-point conversion that would've tied the score.

I've known forever that Tomlin does this behind closed doors. It's nice that the whole Nation got to see this one.

The Steelers might be a good football team again, one that's both ready and aware of how to handle the playoffs.

But the Browns?

As Mayfield astutely observed of this outcome's meaning toward next week, "It sets up a must-win."

You betcha. 

Hey, send the big guy out for the coin toss again. He's quite the inspiration for these must-wins.