CLEVELAND -- The Falcons were inches from the end zone.

Trailing by eight points with 41 seconds left in Sunday's game against Cleveland, Atlanta marched 47 yards and had three chances to put itself in position to send the game into overtime.

	Rudd

The Browns lined up in a basic goal-line defense filled with defensive linemen and linebackers, one of them being Dwayne Rudd. He feared a run by Michael Vick, but on third down, his eyes opened wide.

Warrick Dunn, all 180 pounds of him, hit the hole filled by Rudd. And after the Falcons failed again on fourth down, the Browns were in the playoffs with a 24-16 victory and a Jets win over the Packers.

"Warrick cut it back, and I was right there unblocked," Rudd said. "I'm about 100 pounds bigger than he is, so I won."

Actually, it's 55 pounds. But it didn't matter. After 16 weeks of personal agony, Rudd could wear his helmet with pride. For if it wasn't for Rudd and his 235-pound body, the Browns likely would not be in the playoffs. It exorcised his demons from being penalized in Week 1 for removing and tossing his helmet, which added a game-winning play for the Chiefs.

"It was man-on-man, Mano a mano," Browns cornerback Corey Fuller said. "Dwayne's been taking crap all season. Over the past five games, he's played very well, but it hasn't shown in the numbers. But that play was huge."

And now, the Browns will face the Steelers in the AFC wild-card round.

	“	With us, you know it's going to come down to a two-minute drill for us to win it or a two-minute drive for us to stop a team. In a game of this magnitude, it makes an unbelievable statement to stop them on four cracks that close to the end zone. ”
		— Butch Davis, Browns coach

"I will get a chance to get a little more sleep at night now," Rudd said after nervously watching the end of the Jets' win over the Packers. "I still get it from friends and family. It's been a major joking issue with teams since that Kansas City game. Most of it is fun, and life goes on. I'm just glad we had an opportunity to win nine games. You've got to have short memories in this league."

He knew the price of his mental slipup -- a victory in that opener would have changed the whole season around. The Browns would have been 10-6, preventing them from enduring perhaps the league's most draining season.

Twelve of the Browns' 16 games were decided in the final minute. Sunday's victory over the Falcons improved the Browns' record in those heartbreak games to 6-6. In two seasons, coach Butch Davis' and the Browns are 9-10 in last-minute games.

"With us, you know it's going to come down to a two-minute drill for us to win it or a two-minute drive for us to stop a team," Davis said. "In a game of this magnitude, it makes an unbelievable statement to stop them on four cracks that close to the end zone."

The defense will be needed again next week. The Browns will have to use backup quarterback Kelly Holcomb as Tim Couch is out indefinitely after fracturing his right fibula in the second quarter. More X-rays and MRIs are scheduled Monday.

"I know what Tim is going through," Holcomb said. "I suffered a medial collateral knee injury and a hairline fracture of the top bone in my knee. I know how painful that was. I'm not a doctor, but it took three weeks for me to start feeling better, and mine wasn't as serious as his."

Holcomb, who has been a fan favorite, looked rusty coming in for Couch. He completed seven of 14 passes for only 86 yards in almost three quarters of work. He threw two interceptions and had a quarterback rating of 53.6. His best work was a 15-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Johnson in the fourth quarter that gave the Browns a 17-16 lead.

The thing Holcomb did the best was hand off to William Green and watch him run. Green rushed 27 times for 178 yards and scored two touchdowns. In the seven games since Cleveland's bye week, Green has amassed 756 yards on 172 carries.

"I'm just happy the team stuck with me," Green said. "During the bye week, the team just let me play football. I had been wrapped up too much in just being in awe of playing in the NFL and being around the players."

Green broke through the first and second lines of defense and rushed up to the safety five times. His first touchdown run was 21 yards, and his second was 64 yards. After averaging only 2.3 yards a carry during the first nine weeks of the season, Green finished off the regular season with 887 yards on 243 carries for a 3.7-yard average.

In some ways, the Browns might be more ready for the playoffs than the Falcons, which haven't had many close games this season and don't play well in them.

Even Browns defenders were scratching their heads when the Falcons didn't involve Vick in at least one running play near the end zone. Vick was pounded all day, taking numerous shots after throwing passes or making runs.

On Sunday, the Falcons made six trips inside the Browns' 30. They came up with only one touchdown and were 3-of-4 in field-goal attempts. That's not playoff caliber.

"I'm very disappointed that we did not get the job done ourselves," Falcons coach Dan Reeves said. "We just have to regroup for next week. I don't think there is anyone who plays the game that we cannot beat if we go out and eliminate the mistakes. We can't turn the ball over like we did today."

The Falcons finished the season with three losses in four games. Surprisingly, it's the Browns that enter the playoffs with momentum. And a happy Dwayne Rudd.

John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.