Monday leftovers (Tuesday edition)

The Odell Beckham Jr.-Marlon Humphrey dustup that prevailed throughout most of Sunday’s Browns-Baltimore Ravens game would not have happened had the officials taken charge.

The Browns wide receiver and Ravens cornerback were fighting, often times in what can be generously called a non-football manner, almost continuously from the outset.

Humphrey was clearly getting the better of the Cleveland wideout in the early going, shutting Beckham out in the first half and well into the final quarter of regulation, when he grabbed a three-yard pass from Baker Mayfield. He later caught a 17-yarder.

Humphrey employed tactics that can, again generously, be called borderline. Officials swallowed their whistles, perhaps figuring it didn’t have an impact on the game. But it sure had an impact on Beckham, who was targeted seven times by Mayfield.

Somewhere along the way, one or more of the officials policing the secondary should have told Beckham and Humphrey to “knock it off. Keep this up and we’ll start calling it.”

With about three minutes left in the third quarter, Beckham finally had enough of Humphrey’s grabbing and holding and watching the officials continue to pay scant attention.

Even though Humphrey had been penalized earlier for holding and illegal contact against Beckham, none of the officials appeared to give serious consideration that this was not your normal football battle and was escalating with every play.

During a middle screen pass to running back Dontrell Hilliard that picked up 19 yards, Beckham blocked Humphrey, who appeared to push back. Beckham then took a swing at Humphrey and connected with his helmet.

The two locked up and Beckham pulled Humphrey to the ground on top of him. The Ravens defensive back ultimately placed both hands around Beckham’s throat area, holding them there for a couple of seconds before Beckham’s teammates rushed in and pulled him off.

It was hard to tell whether Humphrey was applying any pressure to the throat in a strangling way, but the hands were clearly on the area. Order was quickly restored and double unnecessary roughness penalties were meted out to both teams, offsetting the original play.

Both players were surprisingly allowed to remain in the game. Both should have been thrown out. Throwing a punch is an automatic ejection in the NFL. So, too, I would imagine, are choking and/or strangling.

Kicking an opponent in the helmet is, too. Just ask Browns offensive tackle Greg Robinson, who was ejected for that NFL no-no against the Tennessee Titans in the season opener at home.

Referee Shawn Hochuli said the incident in this game did not rise to the level of a “disqualifying foul.” Which kind of makes me wonder just what does rise to that level. I guess throwing a punch and choking/strangling don’t.

The gentlemen at the league office who police such matters should look at that one closely. This was totally mishandled.

The rematch is Dec. 22 in Cleveland, the penultimate game of the regular season, a game that very well could have playoff consequences. If so, it might be moved to prime time at night.

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If there were any doubts whether the Browns had sufficient quality depth whenever injuries strike, they were answered big time in the victory Sunday.

The guys who answered to the cry “next man up” bolstered the ravaged Cleveland secondary in the last two games. Next men up like cornerbacks T. J. Carrie and Terrance Mitchell and safeties like Jermaine Whitehead and Eric Murray.

With starting corners Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams and safeties Damarious Randall and Sheldrick Redwine missing games, this crew stepped up and played every bit as well as the starters.

Randall returned to his free safety spot against the Ravens after missing the last two games, logging one of four sacks of Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson on a safety blitz. Carrie had seven solo tackles.

Whitehead caused (with middle linebacker Joe Schobert) a Mark Ingram fumble (recovered by defensive end Chad Thomas) that the offense capitalized on with a touchdown that gave the Browns a 24-10 lead.

He also picked off a Jackson pass in the end zone midway through the fourth quarter, then hit Jackson’s arm on a blitz on the next Baltimore series, causing the football to float up high and drop into the waiting arms of Browns defensive tackle Devaroe Lawrence.

Speaking of the defensive line, coordinator Steve Wilks judiciously rotated his eight linemen, keeping them fresh the entire game. Lawrence and Daniel Ekuale worked inside, while Chris Smith and Thomas saw significant time on the flanks.

And rookie Mack Wilson fit nicely in at weakside linebacker, playing more like a veteran than an NFL neophyte. The overall performance by the bench had to please General Manager John Dorsey.

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Loved the creativity coach Freddie Kitchens and offensive coordinator Todd Monken unveiled against the Ravens. It appears as though the Browns have finally mastered the execution of the screen pass. Their timing on some of them was exquisite.

Then there was an inside pitch to the slot receiver off a fake to the running back going in the opposite direction that caught the Baltimore defense flatfooted late in the third quarter and resulted in a 29-yard play that set up the second of Nick Chubb’s three touchdowns. It was executed superbly.

Confession time: I love misdirection plays. Plays designed to influence a defense to head in one direction while the major flow heads the other way.

This time, Jarvis Landry anchored in the slot with Baker Mayfield lined up in shotgun formation. Mayfield faked a handoff to Chubb heading right of the formation as Landry broke back, headed in the opposite direction.

Mayfield tossed the ball up for Landry to catch in stride. Running full steam by then, he sprinted 29 yards down the left sideline to the Baltimore two-yard line. Most of the Ravens defense bought the Chubb fake. Loved it.

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Also loved the double reverse gadget play that was called midway through the second quarter even though it didn’t work. It began again with Mayfield in shotgun, but this time he handed the ball off to Chubb.

The running back ran right and pitched the ball to Landry coming the other way. Landry pitched it to Beckham coming back to the right. The wideout then pulled up. He avoided a couple of defenders who figured out what was going on, then launched a pass that traveled 57 yards headed for wide receiver Damion Ratley.

The play would have worked if Ratley, who had position on Ravens free safety Tony Jefferson at the Baltimore five-yard line, not let the ball slip through his hands. It was a catchable ball. Everything worked except the payoff.

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His youth is preventing Mayfield from learning how to more diplomatically handle criticism. His skin is way too thin right now. He’ll learn some day.

Instead of just turning the other cheek when an ex-NFL head coach like Rex Ryan, now a commentator for ESPN, carps at Mayfield’s performance in the first three games this season and calls him “overrated as hell,” he can’t help himself and feels compelled to reply.

Instead of saying something like “I’m not going to waste my time dignifying those remarks” and moving on, dismissing him, it probably makes him feel better to reply in a belittling fashion.

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Correction: In the game story, I misrepresented the number of tackles and assists made by the Browns’ defense. It recorded 64 tackles overall, 46 solo and 18 assisted. Schobert still had an amazing game with 17 overall tackles, nine of the solo variety, and added one of the four Cleveland sacks. Larry Ogunjobi, Olivier Vernon and Randall had the others.

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Finally . . . Nice to see Kitchens and Monken incorporate tight end Ricky Seals-Jones in the offense. Paid off on the first touchdown in Baltimore. The former wide receiver is a large target who knows how to get open. Look for more from him in the red zone. . . . Kitchens, putting the big victory in perspective: “We haven’t really won anything, guys. It’s just one game.” . . . Then added, “It does no good unless we build on this.” . . . A rhetorical question: Why did the Ravens put out a video Monday proclaiming Humphrey did not choke/strangle Beckham after Humphrey personally apologized to Beckham after the game? . . . The four sacks raised the season total to 14, a 56-sack pace. . . . Mayfield upped his completion percentage to 59% . . . Defensive end Myles Garrett was quiet with just one solo tackle and a few pressures against Baltimore left tackle Ronnie Stanley. . . . The offense was a season-best six-of-13 on third down and a season-best six penalties for only 41 yards.