DeCastro was a peacemaker. He didn't swing and after the helmet strike, he took Garrett down and covered him. If anything, he deserves a damn award for keeping his cool. He actually makes Pouncey look bad.
Garrett will be done for the rest of the season. Remember Albert Haynsworth? Stomped on a player's face? Some 30 stitches? He got 5 games.
These teams play again in 2 weeks. I think we'll see some 2 game suspensions to keep some of the hotheads out of that rematch in Pittsburgh.
Pouncy was justified in swinging at Garrett at first. Garrett was engaged in assault and battery with a weapon. Defense of others is analogous to self-defense. The problem is what happened after DeCastro took Garrett down. At this point Garrett is helpless and no threat to anybody. That's the kick part and the last punch. That's the part he'll be punished for.
The other Browns DE who hit the helmetless QB? What a fcuking Bleich that guy is. Coming to Garrett's aid by hitting a helmetless QB 5 yards away from the fight?
Mason did take offense to Garrett hitting him and driving him into the ground after the ball was thrown. He was tugging at Garrett's helmet and that led to Garrett losing his mind. Some will say Rudolph's actions instigated the whole thing, others will say it was Garrett driving him into the turf. Either way, Mason Rudolph isn't completely innocent.
Regardless, there were multiple penalties that game for illegal hands to the face. That's illegal but it's part of the game. We've all seen helmets ripped off before. If the whole thing stopped when Garrett ripped the helmet off, it would have been bad, but something that happens in football. Swinging the helmet at Rudolph's head crosses a line. That changes everything. To use the self-defense analogy, you can use similar level force in retaliation. If a guy comes at you with a gun, you can shoot him in self-defense. If a guy dumps a beer on you and pushes you down, you can't shoot him because he's not using deadly force against you. Garrett escalated it to a different level when he swung the helmet going far beyond any reasonable retaliation.
Last thought...this game was full of ugly penalties including an ejection for a nasty helmet-to-helmet on a defenseless Steeler WR. I'm pretty sure he was badly concussed and bleeding out of his ear. That WR was hurt far worse than Mason Rudolph. It was the worst kind of helmet-to-helmet, a launch and strike to the side of the WR's helmet. I wonder if the NFL will look at the whole game and maybe spread the fines and suspensions around. There was a helmet-to-helmet hit on Rudolph (PF, no ejection) on a play where JuJu was also hit helmet-to-helmet and knocked out (no penalty). To me it seemed like Browns Coach Freddie Kitchens told his team to be tough and not let the Steelers bully them, punch them in the mouth, that kind of stuff. I think the rookie head coach has a discipline problem with his team.
Here is a video of the hit that led to the ejection. It does not show the WR clearly concussed and stumbling to the sideline with help while blood is running out of his ear:
Alex.