Ready to celebrate?

Even though COVID-19 has been raging through the Browns' roster lately, disrupting almost on a daily basis the game plans for Sunday's home finale against Pittsburgh, no one has lost sight of the goal.

After blowing their first opportunity last Sunday to secure an invitation to the National Football League playoffs with a disastrous loss to the New York Jets, the Browns get a second opportunity, this time with a much healthier squad on offense.

That side of the football, almost solely responsible for the 10-5 record they have racked up, is inarguably the best attack this franchise has seen in at least a generation. And now that wide receivers Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, Donovan Peoples-Jones and KhaDarel Hodge are back from a COVID-19 hell, the odds have improved dramatically.

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has cooperated nicely by resting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, center Maurkice Pouncey, linebacker T. J. Watt and defensive end Cameron Heyward after his team captured a high seed in the playoffs last Sunday. And word came down Saturday that Steelers cornerback Joe Haden and tight end Eric Ebron are COVID-19 victims.

So with the Browns getting healthier on offense and the Steelers giving at least four of their stars the afternoon off, that pretty much paves the way to a happy conclusion to the regular season, right? Before answering that, think for a minute. These are the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Mere mortals. Put their pants on the same way. One leg at a time. Except against the Browns. Especially on the final Sunday of a season. 

A fact to consider. The Browns have not knocked off the Steelers in the final game of a season since Dec. 26, 1987, a 19-13 victory in Pittsburgh. That's 12 season-ending losses since then regardless of the venue. The latest iteration is winless in nine attempts to close out a season with a smile.

This all underlines another sad fact: The Browns, no matter when during the season they meet,  have won just five (and tied one) of the last 41 games in this ill-defined rivalry. They lost to the Steelers in the second game last season with third-stringer Duck Hodges at quarterback.

But it was the first meeting last season that portends a glimmer of hope Sunday. With Roethlisberger down for the season early on, Mason Rudolph filled in and was brutal as the Browns won, 21-7 in a nationally televised Thursday night game. Rudolph was picked off four times and sacked other times.

The game unfortunately will be remembered more for what unfolded with just eight seconds remaining in regulation. After completing a seemingly harmless screen pass, Rudolph was tackled by Myles Garrett. It escalated into a brawl with Garrett eventually tearing off Rudolph's helmet and hitting him on the head with it, resulting in a season-ending six-game suspension for the defensive end.

With Roethlisberger out, Tomlin interestingly tapped Rudolph for this start, adding more than a little drama to a game already dripping with it. Oddsmakers thought so, too, The Browns, initially installed as 4.5-point favorites, immediately became 9.5-point favorites. 

It is more than apparent they believed the Browns were in much better position to win the game with the return of the four wide receivers. In addition, the offensive line became whole for the first time in a while with tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. and right guard Wyatt Teller back.

Revenge will also be on the Browns' minds, the Steelers bringing them back to earth, ending a four-game winning streak with a 38-7 thrashing in week six. The Cleveland offense struggled with Nick Chubb on the injured list and Baker Mayfield in the midst of a brief struggling phase.

They compiled only 12 first downs, 220 yards in total offense and turned the ball over twice. Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick set the tone early with a pick six on Mayfield's first pass of the game. The withering Pittsburgh pass rush sacked the Cleveland quarterback four times and hit him on nine other occasions.

The Browns also had revenge on their minds in the second Baltimore game, scaring the daylights out of the Ravens, who pounded the Browns, 38-6, in the season opener. The Ravens had to rally late to pull out a 47-42 victory on Monday Night Football. 

The Browns will be missing some key parts of a defense that has had problems when healthy most of the season. Cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Kevin Johnson, linebackers B.J. Goodson and Malcolm Smith, safety Andrew Sendejo and rookie tight end Harrison Smith are out. Rookie A.J. Green has been called up from the practice squad to fill in for Ward and Johnson.

But the strength of the defensive unit, the line, is ready. How ready remains to be seen. The key will be to shut down the Pittsburgh ground game and force Rudolph to throw. 

The Cleveland offense, meanwhile, can't be any worse than it was against the Jets last Sunday. The return of Wills and Teller to the line and the absence of Watt and Heyward for the Steelers on defense is probably the best news from the fans' standpoint.

This, of course, is a must win game. Win and in. But if the Browns somehow lose, there believe it or not is still a chance for mid-January football. They can still make it they lose and Indianapolis loses to Jacksonville at home (won't happen) or Tennessee loses and Baltimore (at Cincinnati) and Miami (at Buffalo) win.

Way too many possibilities needed to eventuate. Forget those scenarios. After vacillating all week, the call here is the Browns will beat Rudolph -- this time with Garrett behaving himself -- for the second straight time with the distinct possibility of seeing Roethlisberger again in the first round of the playoffs.

Mayfield will look nothing like the overworked quarterback we saw last Sunday and head coach/playcaller Kevin Stefanski will not only have his men ready, he'll remember Chubb and Kareem Hunt still play for Cleveland. Make it: 

Browns 21, Steelers 13