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It took 18 long, agonizing, numbingly frustrating years for the Browns to return to the National Football League playoffs. It took just 24 hours for that team to find out the man mainly responsible for that feat will not be on the sidelines to lead them Sunday night against the Steelers in Pittsburgh.

In a season where a deadly pandemic has hounded numerous NFL teams to the point where the league staggered to the regular-season finish line just a few days ago, the Browns have been victimized by the loss of their leader.

Kevin Stefanski, the stoical, detail-oriented head coach and playcaller on offense for the Browns and the man who accomplished what so many before him did not, will sit this one out after a positive COVID-19 test. 

Mike Priefer, the Browns' special teams coordinator, will assume the head-coaching duties. It will be the second stint as an acting head coach for the Cleveland-born coach, having filled in for Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer in week 13 of the 2016 season after he underwent emergency eye surgery.

In addition, the Browns will also be without left guard Joel Bitonio and wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge, who tested positive, depriving the club of arguably its best offensive lineman and a wide receiver who has provided solid depth at his position.

The stunning news with less than a week seemed surreal in a way. It's almost as though this isn't really happening. Finally punching a ticket to the playoffs and now this. All season long, Stefanski interacted with his men and escaped unharmed. 

He is the club's rock. He is extremely well-focused and makes certain his players follow the path he sets. He was the antithesis of his predecessor, who had no idea how to lead a football team. It's worth noting the Browns never lost a game after a loss this season.

Yes, it's the players who determine who wins and loses. But it takes strong personalities at the coaching level to maximize their talents. A perfect example of how much of a difference Stefanski made this season is his relationship with Baker Mayfield.

The inconsistent, sometimes-maddening, interception-throwing  passer is not the same quarterback who began the season. Slowly but surely, he began paying attention to what his head coach was preaching. The interceptions stopped. The victories mounted. Mayfield had bought into what his head coach was selling.

From a team standpoint, Stefanski has had everyone's attention. Winning 11 of the 16 games can do that. And you can bet that as the club meets virtually with their boss throughout this week, he will have their rapt attention.

From a tactical standpoint, the biggest concern now is who replaces Bitonio, the longest-tenured Brown, at left guard. No matter who replaces him, the rhythm of the offensive line, which is one of the NFL's best when healthy, will not be the same. 

Assuming he is healthy, the most likely candidate to replace Bitonio was rookie Nick Harris, but he was  placed on injured reserve Tuesday with ankle problems. He had filled in at right guard for two games. Harris, normally a center, suffered the injury in the loss to the New York Jets in week 16.

Up next is Michael Dunn, who has bounced up and down this season from the practice squad, followed by Blake Hance, recently picked off the Jets' practice squad, and Cordel Iwuagwu from the practice squad. Dunn is the likely starter.

From a coaching standpoint, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt takes over the playcalling duties. Van Pelt and Stefanski put together the general offensive game plan, so that aspect of the game should not be much different. Coordinator Joe Woods, as always, will handle the defense.

Priefer has eventual head coaching in his crosshairs. "I aspire to be a head coach," he said in a 2019 interview with the Cleveland media. "I'd love to be a head coach . . . I would love to be up in front of the team and be the leader, but right now, my job is to be the best special teams coordinator I can be for this team and this franchise."

With Priefer in charge of the decision making Sunday night, assistant special teams coordinator Doug Colman most likely will take over that aspect of the game.

Asked about his new coaching opponent Sunday night in a rematch of last Sunday's playoff-clinching victory for the Browns, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin head-scratchingly replied, via an NFL network tweet, "Obviously, I know very little about Mike Priefer, about global decision-making in terms of being a head coach."