BROWNS CAN’T CATCH A BREAK
Go into playoffs without head coach and at least 2 players after positive COVID tests
The Browns will have to play their first playoff game in 18 years without head coach and offensive play-caller Kevin Stefanski due to a positive COVID-19 test.
Special-teams coordinator Mike Priefer will serve as acting head coach for Sunday night’s Wild Card game between the six-seed Browns and the three-seed Steelers at Heinz Field, the team said Tuesday.
Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt will call the plays.
The Browns said they found out Tuesday morning that Stefanski, two other coaches, and two players had tested positive for the virus. Cleveland (11-5) just clinched a playoff berth Sunday. Offensive guard Joel Bitonio and wideout KhaDarel Hodge are the players who tested positive, per multiple reports.
A confirmed positive test requires a minimum 10day quarantine and isolation period per the NFL’s and NFL Players Association’s protocols. So Stefanski is allowed to help his team game plan remotely during the week but is not allowed to help in any way on gameday.
Stefanski, 38, is a coach of the year candidate in his first season in Cleveland mainly because of his excellent offensive play-calling and work with quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Stefanski has concealed Mayfield’s weaknesses with a strong running game and a deceptive scheme full of play actions and rollouts.
Cleveland is playing its first playoff game since a 3633 loss to the Steelers at Heinz Field on Jan. 5, 2003. But the Browns have had COVID-19 problems down the stretch of this season.
Stefanski’s team actually lost to the Jets in Week 16 at MetLife Stadium in part because they had to play without their entire receiving corps due to COVID close-contact protocols.
Mayfield also threw 53 passes and lost two fumbles in an uncharacteristically unusual strategy from Stefanski that backfired.
The Browns beat a Steelers team starting backup QB Mason Rudolph in Sunday’s finale at Cleveland’s FirstEnergy Stadium, 24-22, to reach the postseason.
Now their facility is closed and they are plunged into chaos entering their biggest game of the season.
The Browns are the third Steelers opponent this season to experience a jarring coronavirus setback or outbreak prior to a game against Pittsburgh.
The Steelers basically lost their bye week when the Titans’ outbreak caused the midweek postponement of their Week 4 game to Week 7, a game Pittsburgh eventually won.
And the Ravens’ outbreak postponed a Thanksgiving Night prime-time matchup in Week 12 to the following Wednesday. The Steelers won that game, as well.
The NFL is extremely proud that it completed all 256 of its regular-season games despite the ongoing pandemic, and it should be to an extent, based on the hard work and sacrifices made by so many.
But the unfortunate truth is the NFL also jammed in a game like that Ravens-Steelers Week 12 matchup on the heels of an outbreak to do so.
And now this compromised playoff game is another reminder for everyone that this virus is far from behind us and that this NFL season is far from complete.