Browns Handling QB Correctly. Finally.

Over the past few seasons, the Cleveland Browns have played a form of Russian Roulette with the quarterback position, and although that’s not the only reason for being 15-65 over the last five years, it’s a good place to start.

In 2013, Rob Chudzinski started the season with second year pro Brandon Weeden as the starter, and when he went down, Brian Hoyer, who at that point had made one NFL start was thrust into action.

When Hoyer was lost for the season, it left Jason Campbell, who had some experience, but also never started an NFL game again after that season.

The next season, then new coach Mike Pettine went with Hoyer to start the season, with rookie Johnny Manziel in reserve. With Hoyer’s season started to go south, and the Browns were in playoff contention, Pettine’s only choice was to start Manziel, who was known more for his improvisational skills at Texas A & M.

In 2015, the Browns signed Josh McCown to be the starting QB, but even though they knew the veteran’s history, that is frequently injured and an extreme losing record, the backups for him were Manziel and Austin Davis, a third year player with eight career starts in St. Louis when Sam Bradford was injured.

The following year had two frequently hurt guys, McCown and Robert Griffin III on the roster with two rookies, Cody Kessler and Kevin Hogan backing them up. After the two vets were injured, predictably, Kessler wound up playing way too much for a third round draft pick.

And last season, Cleveland started DeShone Kizer, another rookie, this time picked in the second round, with Hogan and Kessler in reserve.

This is another change with GM John Dorsey being involved, and it is welcome to say the least.

Dorsey traded for Tyrod Taylor, a seven year veteran, although only 29 years old, and a player who was his team’s starter for the previous three seasons.

As you read above, that has not been the case in any of the last five seasons. In that span, the Browns had oft-injured veterans who hadn’t started in at least a year, save for McCown in ’15, and he was coming off a 1-10 season in Tampa Bay.

Taylor was 8-6 as a starter last season, and is 22-20 over the last three campaigns.

We are very confident Cleveland will be drafting a QB with the first overall pick next month, and so they are not in the situation of having to start a rookie if Taylor has to miss a game, they signed Drew Stanton on Sunday as a free agent.

Stanton is 34, and has never been a full fledged starter in the NFL, but he did start 13 games for the Cardinals in the last four seasons, and registered a 9-4 record in those starts.

He’s not a long term solution for sure, and his numbers over that span aren’t anything to write home about (51.1% completions, 15 TDs/15 interceptions), but he has experience, and once again, means Hue Jackson will not be forced to play the guy who will be the future of the franchise before he is ready.

All that is left is for the organization to resist any temptation to play the rookie if the 2018 starts poorly.

That’s a habit that needs to be broken.

There is now experience at the most important position on a football team, and credible people for the rookie to learn from.

That’s a welcome change from the past five seasons.

More Head Scratching Decisions For Browns

We decided to look at today’s 17-13 loss by the Cleveland Browns to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium chronologically.

The first thing that made us shake our heads was the news that Justin Gilbert and Terrelle Pryor were inactive.

Gilbert wasn’t listed on the injury report although he did miss the last two games with a concussion, so maybe the coaching staff didn’t feel he was fully recovered.

What we thought at the time was we were going to see more of Johnson Bademosi at CB, which didn’t make us warm and fuzzy.

As for Pryor, why is he on the roster if you aren’t going to take a look at him at WR in these last couple of meaningless games.

Dumb, dumb, dumb decision.

Then we saw that Dwayne Bowe, he of the five catches and $9 million contract, was named a captain for the game, because the Browns were playing his old team.

It is not possible to send a more idiotic message to the rest of your players. Another example of the lack of accountability that surrounds this franchise.

Once again, Mike Pettine chose to defer after winning the coin toss.

If Cleveland had a strong defense, there would be no problem with this move, but Jim O’Neil’s troops have been a sieve most of the year.

Why would you want to put your weakest unit on the field first? Pettine chooses to do just that week after week after week.

And on the first possession of the game, Kansas City marches 65 yards in 11 plays, eating up half of the first quarter in taking a 7-0 lead before the Browns touched the football.

When the Browns did get the ball, Johnny Manziel was having trouble completing passes. He missed Gary Barnidge wide open, having to throw early because of pressure.

We figured the Johnny bashes would have a field day with that.

The Browns finally got on the board with a Travis Coons’ field goal from 45 yards after an innovative play by Manziel was called a penalty for an illegal forward pass.

On first sight, it looked like a lateral, and on instant replay, it didn’t look like enough evidence to overturn, which the officials did.

It took away a first down inside the KC 20.

It then appeared like the Browns’ defense didn’t realize that Alex Smith could run with the ball. He gashed the unit for over 50 yards in the first half, with 29 of them coming after Barkevious Mingo whiffed on a sack.

As for the secondary, Tramon Williams got flagged for pass interference on a deep throw and got beat on turn in pattern by a TE.

Really, Gilbert can’t play worse than this.

We counted at least six missed tackles in the first half, which ended with Cleveland trailing 17-3.

In the second half, it looked like Pettine realized he had a mobile quarterback too.

Manziel ran for 34 yards on the half’s first play and wound up with 108 yards rushing for the day.

We don’t approve of this every week, but on a day where the wind was gusting (how many times did the ball blow off the spot?), the QB and offensive coordinator did what they had to do to move the ball.

The Browns had 232 yards on the ground, with Isaiah Crowell getting 88 more on 16 attempts.

Cleveland had a 21 play drive in the half where Manziel ran or threw on 10 of the plays. He and Crowell were carrying the attack.

The downside was the Browns had two chances to win the game in the last six minutes, but couldn’t get the ball in the end zone.

The first drive ended at the Chiefs’ 30 with two long passes after a first down run. There was still three minutes left, abandon the running game.

Cleveland got the ball back with 1:52 left at their own 30, and picked up three first downs, but the game ended on a completion across the middle.

Things could have been handled better.

All that is left for the Browns is to knock the Steelers out of the playoffs with a win at First Energy Stadium next week.

The bigger news will be made the next day, the NFL’s Black Monday.

Shouldn’t Be Manziel Vs. McCown

In Cleveland, we don’t have quarterback controversies, we have quarterback fights.

It’s not enough to say you prefer one signal caller over another, you have to point out that the other guy is god awful as well.

That’s what has happened for many when discussing this year’s passing duo–Johnny Manziel and Josh McCown.

If you are a Manzealot, you have to show your contempt for McCown, while if you prefer the veteran, that means you have to point out that Johnny Football is a punk who can’t stop partying.

The reality is (and we have said this all along) quarterback play hasn’t been to the problem for the Cleveland Browns this season. Both Manziel and McCown have played well.

Quite frankly, that both have played well is a miracle. The offense hasn’t been able to run the football at all this season, and the offensive line hasn’t performed up to expectations.

The wide receiving corps is filled with slot receivers, and some of those guys have had problems catching the ball when it has been thrown to them.

The only reliable weapon for either passer has been TE Gary Barnidge. Brian Hartline was starting to come on before he broke his collarbone in the win against the 49ers.

Looking at passer rating, smack dab in the middle of this statistic in Brian Hoyer (ironic, huh?) at 93.0. McCown rates just ahead of Hoyer at 93.3, while Manziel is a very respectable 85.9.

The difference between the two is Manziel’s touchdown rate is lower than the veteran and his interception rate is a bit higher.

Both guys have done a solid job, and we would even point out that McCown has done better at putting points on the board.

So why play Manziel if McCown has performed admirably? Because there is only one man on the roster who has a chance to be a better than average starting QB in the NFL, and that is the second year man out of Texas A & M.

He’s a first round draft pick and he just turned 23 years old. His future is ahead of him. McCown will be 37 next season, and let’s face it, he is what he is, he’s not getting any better.

Since the Browns will have one of the top five picks in next spring’s draft, the subject of drafting another quarterback, the almighty “franchise QB” will be discussed ad nauseum.

However, we don’t think any of the guys currently mentioned (Paxton Lynch, Jerod Goff, Connor Cook) are rated among the top ten players in the draft, so we would pass if we were the Browns.

Besides, it should be obvious to everyone that Cleveland’s biggest problem is their defense, which has allowed 30 or more points in nine of the 14 games they have played.

If you want to improve the team quickly, don’t you have to go with the best defensive player available?

Remember that if the Browns’ defense gave up 20 points in every game this season, they would be a .500 football team. That’s where this team needs to improve.

We would have no problem if the Browns go into the 2016 season with both Johnny Manziel and Josh McCown on the roster with another rookie drafted in the second or third round as well.

The reason to play Manziel is to see what he can do, it’s not because McCown played terribly.

Still Want to Support Pettine?

After the Cleveland Browns defeated an equally terrible San Francisco team a week ago at home, there were some, particularly in the media, who were giving coach Mike Pettine an endorsement to return in 2016.

Do you still think that today?

After today’s 30-13 loss to Seattle, you would have to say this looked like the same team we’ve seen over the last two months.

The defense allowed 30 or more points for the 9th time in 14 games, and there was poor tackling, poor defense against the run, and dropped passes galore.

But, quarterback is still the issue with this football team, right?

Perhaps the funniest thing was Pettine’s attitude this week, acting like he was doing a good job, making comments about the 49ers effort in the middle of the week, and making comments which could have been construed as negative about a QB who has appeared in the last two Super Bowls.

While the coach’s comments on Russell Wilson are true, the point is why make them at all? Nothing positive was going to be made by them.

Maybe Pettine has the same issues with self-control as he accused his own passer of having?

Maybe Johnny Manziel should bench the coach for two games.

Seattle gained 182 yards on the ground, above the usual 150 Jim O’Neil’s defense gives up. A man with the same first name as my wife’s friend, Christine Michael, gained 84 yards in 16 carries.

Also, the defense allowed the Seahawks to convert 9 of 12 third down situations, and the ‘Hawks’ punter, Jon Ryan, was only used once.

And again, all the media talks about is the QB.

This has been a problem since game one, and there hasn’t been an adequate solution found after 14 games.

In fact, outside of the quarterback position, what other unit has improved since 2014? The correct answer is none, and that’s why Pettine and his staff should be dismissed on January 4th.

There are plenty of other things that confound us too.

For example, why does Pettine and O’Neil continue to use Johnson Bademosi at cornerback? Pierre Desir was the staff’s darling during training camp, but now he is buried behind a special teams ace.

Bademosi made his bones in the NFL on special teams, and isn’t putting players in positions where they can’t succeed a sign of poor coaching?

As for Manziel, all week we heard how he was going to have an issue with turnovers and it will show he can’t play in the NFL.

He showed just the opposite.

He led the Browns to a touchdown (7 yard pass to Gary Barnidge) on the opening drive (by the way, that’s why you shouldn’t defer on the coin toss), and overall had a solid game, hitting 19 of 32 throws for 191 yards.

He did throw an interception on the Browns’ last possession, which we are sure will be held up as why he isn’t good enough.

He had four passes dropped, which to be fair was a problem for Josh McCown too.

And did you hear Fox analyst Charles Davis talk about draft options for Cleveland? He said it on local radio here earlier this week and said it again on the game broadcast.

He doesn’t think there is a college QB who should be picked high in next year’s draft. We believe the same thing.

With the defense being as pathetic as they have been this season, don’t the Browns have to take a defensive player?

Manziel has showed us enough to say he should be the starter going into the off-season based on the progress he has made during this season.

We aren’t saying he is the next Tom Brady or Brett Favre. We are simply saying he has shown he can be an NFL starter, and deserves the opportunity to have that job.

Meanwhile, the Pettine regime will have just two remaining games, both against teams in the playoff hunt.

3-13 looks like reality to us.

Can’t Make Much of Browns Win Today

We aren’t going to make too much out of today’s 24-10 win by the Cleveland Browns over the San Francisco 49ers.

Let’s face it, the 49ers are a terrible team, just like the Browns and since Cleveland was at home, we aren’t surprised by the victory and it doesn’t prove anything about Mike Pettine, his coaching staff, and even Johnny Manziel.

The Browns gained 481 yards against the Niners, even running for over 200 yards on the game, with Isaiah Crowell rushing for 145 yards on 20 carries, the first Browns’ RB to get over the century mark this season.

The defense showed a pulse too, recording nine sacks, meaning over half of their sacks on the season (26 total) have come against Tennessee (7) and today.

Armonty Bryant and rookie Nate Orchard each had two sacks and Desmond Bryant had 1-1/2 on the day.

They still didn’t turn the ball over so that trend continued this afternoon.

After five straight games of allowing 30 points or more, Jim O’Neil beleaguered unit held a terrible 49er offense to just 10 points, including a meaningless score in the final minutes.

As for the thing everybody focuses on in this city, the quarterback play, Johnny Manziel had one throw we are sure he would like back (the pass over the middle right before halftime), but otherwise played well.

He completed 21 of 31 throws for 270 yards and a touchdown in winning his second game of the season.

But you can’t make much of this because the other win was also against one of the NFL’s lesser lights in Tennessee.

He’s proven he can play well against bad teams.

He does have an opportunity now to play against the defending NFC champions next week against Seattle, and two playoff contenders in Kansas City and Pittsburgh.

That will tell us and the front office more about the former Heisman Trophy winner than today’s win.

Two things that cause us to scratch our heads…first, another field goal block, with the pressure coming over the two rookie first round draft picks, Danny Shelton and Cam Erving.

Why wouldn’t Chris Tabor make some adjustments in the protection scheme after the last two games? This is exactly what bothers us about this staff. The inability to make changes when something isn’t working.

The other thing was not using Terrelle Pryor in the passing game. Look, Brian Hartline had 100 yards receiving in his last game of the season (he suffered a broken collarbone in the victory), and Gary Barnidge continues to impress, but why not use Pryor a little.

Yes, he did play, but there didn’t seem to be a play call which intended for the ball to go to him. Why not use him since you are sitting at 2-10 coming in?

In our mind, this win changes nothing. The Browns beat a bad San Francisco team, which they should have done.

Yes, it’s better than losing to the Niners, but you can’t get excited about it.

As for falling back into a tie with Tennessee and San Diego for the worst record in the league? Who cares. That’s for losers and you have to understand the players aren’t out there worried about next year’s draft pick.

Next week will be a huge challenge. We believe the Browns will be the biggest underdog of the NFL season against the Seahawks, with our guess being Cleveland will be at least a 17 point dog.

Is it better than losing to a bad team? Of course. However, you can’t get excited by today’s performance.

The Browns simply did what they should have done.

Some Browns Myth Busting

It has been well documented the train wreck the 2015 football has become for the Cleveland Browns. After a 7-4 start to Mike Pettine’s head coaching career, the brown and orange have lost 15 of their last 17 games.

They are 2-10 this season, and over the last six contests have been blown out (losing by 14 or more points) in five of those games.

However, there have been some myths that have developed about the total collapse that has occurred over the past 12 months.

The Brian Hoyer saga. Contrary to what some people think, the Browns were not 7-4 when Pettine decided to bench Hoyer and play Johnny Manziel.

The reality is Cleveland was 7-6 when Manziel made his first start, after two horrible performances by Hoyer.

In a 26-10 road loss to Buffalo, Hoyer was 18 of 30 for 192 yards and two interceptions. He was NOT on the field for Cleveland’s only touchdown, which came on a drive orchestrated by Manziel in a backup role.

The following week was a 25-24 loss to the Colts in which the Browns outplayed Indianapolis except on the scoreboard. Hoyer was 13 for 30 for 136 yards and two more picks.

And the Browns’ defense was responsible for two touchdowns, a fumble recovery by Craig Robertson in the end zone, and a pick six by (ready for it!) Justin Gilbert.

So, the offense scored just 10 points.

Had the Browns won that game, they would have been 8-5 and very much in the playoff hunt.

Drafting. Ray Farmer gets a lot of criticism for his drafts, and in some cases, it is merited.

But, it is not as though he has been reaching for players and made horrible mistakes.

First, he did not draft Barkevious Mingo, who we think might be able to play if he was put in the spot he was drafted for.

According to Walterfootball.com (site picked at random), Gilbert was projected to be the 15^th pick in the draft. Cleveland traded down from #4, getting a 2015 first round pick in return, and took Gilbert at 8^th. Not exactly a reach.

On the same site, Manziel was projected as the 7^th overall pick, and dropped to #22. Several draft pundits had him as the best QB in that year’s selection process.

In 2015, they had the Browns taking Danny Shelton with the 12^th overall pick, which, of course, they did, and had Cameron Erving going 18^th overall to Kansas City, one pick ahead of Cleveland.

Most mock drafts had all four players with first round grades.

So, what happened?

Pettine is blameless. Many fans think the head coach has been dealt a bad hand because of Farmer’s ineptness, but is that true?

Name one position group that has improved since last season? Right, not a one.

He came here as a defensive coach and that unit, not the quarterback play, is the reason for being 2-10.

If the Browns had allowed 20 points a game in every game this season, there record would be 5-5-2. Assuming they split the overtime games, they would be 6-6 right now and in the thick of the playoff hunt.

And really, outside of Joe Haden, what solid player has missed a lot of time this season?

No, the head coach should get a lot of the blame, and probably will after the last game of the season, when he is given the pink slip.

Just think, only four more games until this nightmare is over.

Pettine’s Decision on Manziel Looks Worse by the Day

The Cleveland Browns are 2-9 for a reason, and that reason is they can’t do anything right.

Just like the New England Patriots, who seem to make all the right moves as they have a chance to win a Super Bowl every year, the Browns are the bizarro Patriots, making horrible decision after horrible decision.

The latest is Poppa Mike Pettine’s decision to go with Austin Davis as the starting quarterback this Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.

We have had issues with Pettine’s moves over the last six weeks or so, and now more and more people in the media are seeing the same things we did.

Both local and national media feel the same way, despite second year QB Johnny Manziel’s issues off the field, the right football decision is to let name the former Heisman Trophy winner the starter for the remainder of the season.

We understand that if Manziel were a middle round pick, he likely would have a shorter leash, and may even be released (although we wouldn’t cut let’s say Pierre Desir because he showed up on a video partying), but he wasn’t.

He was chosen in the first round, and therefore, he must be given every opportunity to succeed.

Is that fair? No, but that’s reality, like it or not.

And the fans and media who don’t understand that are living in a fantasy world.

You simply cannot release a first round draft choice after two years because you don’t like the way he acts off the field. Besides, it’s not like it was a secret that Manziel had a wild streak when he was in college.

That’s even more incredible, he is being “punished” for being himself.

There are reports that several NFL teams are interested in getting Manziel if indeed there is no future for him in Cleveland. That should be reason enough not to cut him.

And even with Manziel’s serial nightlife escapades, put him out on the field.

If he can’t play or isn’t prepared to play, then you have a very good idea that you need to draft a passer early in next spring’s draft.

As several people pointed out during and after Monday’s loss to Baltimore, ultimately the organization is being punished most by sitting Manziel down. The player himself probably knows he will get another shot elsewhere.

We are sure that Johnny Football knows the head coach would prefer not to play him, which probably doesn’t help the player respect his boss.

Davis did a nice job coming in for Josh McCown against Baltimore, but he is under contract for next year, and will be a fine back up signal caller, so why the rush to get him more playing time.

Besides, in the playing time Davis had with the Rams last year, he played more than Manziel, meaning there is more tape on Davis for the coaches to peruse in judging what he can do.

Without a doubt, the best thing for the Cleveland Browns is to play Johnny Manziel on Sunday and for the rest of the season.

Either Pettine knows he’s getting fired and figures he is going to do what he wants regardless, but if he thinks he has a shot at returning, why wouldn’t he play the guy the owner wanted as part of the organization on draft day in 2014.

Pettine’s stubbornness, not a good trait for a losing coach, is getting in the way of making the right decision.

Manziel’s Performance All That Matters

We cannot remember the Cleveland sports media having to cover an athlete like Johnny Manziel.

Sure, LeBron James is a national figure, a worldwide personality really, but James is someone who keeps to himself during the off-season. He is really only seen at charity functions and family vacations.

It seems the more veteran members of the sports media here have more of a problem with Manziel being at nightclubs during his free time than the younger writers do.

Personally, it doesn’t matter to us what the player does during his free time.

Here are a few things we do know–

Manziel was in rehab earlier this year. However, we do not know what he was getting treatment for.

Manziel did have an incident with his girlfriend in Avon in October. The NFL investigated the situation and determined no suspension was in order.

Unfortunately, this leads to wild speculation as to what the former Heisman Trophy winner is doing with his life and his commitment to the NFL and the Browns.

Manziel said he wouldn’t do anything to embarrass the franchise during the bye week, and quite frankly, being seen in a nightclub doesn’t seem like he did that.

He wasn’t riding an inflatable swan, he wasn’t talking on a “money phone”, he was just in a nightclub, probably the same as many of his teammates.

Those guys don’t have TMZ following them though.

Manziel should not have to live his life differently because of his past, his “Johnny Football” persona. That doesn’t matter to those who think he should be studying film 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

The QB could be spending his afternoons studying tape and working at his craft, and wants to take a few hours to unwind.

He hasn’t been spotted publicly drunk, or starting fights. He’s just out on the town.

And there is nothing wrong with that.

Let’s face it, if Manziel throws for 300 yards and leads the Browns to a victory over the Ravens on Monday night, no one will care what he did on his bye week.

And if he plays well for the rest of the season, he should be the starting QB going into training camp next summer.

If he doesn’t play well, the Browns will look for another guy to play the position probably in the 2016 draft.

What the media doesn’t understand is that Johnny Manziel doesn’t care what people think about what he does.

And if the front office and coaching staff judge him by anything other than how he performs in the locker room and on the field, then that says more about them than it says about Manziel.

If he wins and plays well, no one will care. Except the old farts in the media who will continue to bring it up.

We Have Some Questions For You, Coach Pettine.

Only the Cleveland Browns could have a situation where they knock the opposing quarterback out of a game, and have him replaced by a future Hall of Famer, who throws for 379 yards and three touchdowns.

In many ways, the key play of today’s 30-9 thumping by the Pittsburgh Steelers over the Browns was the one where Desmond Bryant forced the offensive tackle to step on Landry Jones’ foot early in the first quarter, because that brought Ben Roethlisberger into the contest.

Big Ben threw three touchdown passes and drew several pass interference penalties by the Browns’ secondary, as the Cleveland defense allowed 30 or more points for the sixth time in 10 games this season.

But, we are sure we will be again talking about who should start at quarterback two weeks from tomorrow when the Ravens visit First Energy Stadium.

Mike Pettine gave the media the “I have to review the film” spiel after the game, and bristled when someone (we think it was Tom Reed) asked if it looked bad that the defensive backfield was terrible and last year’s first round pick Justin Gilbert was inactive for the game.

The coach didn’t really answer the inquiry.

Here are some other questions we would like Pettine to answer.

…Who on the coaching staff thought it would be a good idea to have special teams standout Johnson Bademosi matched up with Steelers’ all pro wide receiver Antonio Brown?

Brown caught 10 pass for 139 yards and two touchdown and drew two interference calls.

Bademosi wasn’t on Brown all the time, but too often, it was either he or raw rookie (first NFL game) Charles Gaines. That’s a ridiculously bad match up.

…Why wasn’t Gilbert active?

He leads the Browns in kickoff return average, and made some nice special teams plays in punt coverage over the last few weeks. And he didn’t seem to be excessively targeted in the Thursday night loss to the Bengals when he did play cornerback.

He is in the same spot as Johnny Manziel. The organization needs to see if Gilbert can be a decent NFL corner.

…Why can’t this team run the football?

Cleveland had 15 rushing and the leader was Manziel, who gained 17 on three scrambles. The Browns have two Pro Bowl players on the line in Joe Thomas and Alex Mack, and John Greco and Mitchell Schwartz are solid. Joel Bitonio was out today, but last year was on the all-rookie team.

The Browns had a couple of decent runs early going straight ahead with Duke Johnson and Isaiah Crowell. They spent the rest of the game trying to run wide and losing yardage.

Why not stick with what was working, at least a little?

…What is the coaching staff doing about the penalties?

Cleveland had 12 flags thrown against them for a whopping 188 yards.

Late in the third quarter, the Browns had the ball with a first down inside the one. They had consecutive penalties (holding on Cameron Erving, illegal formation) to take them out of a scoring opportunity.

That kind of sloppy play points to the coaching staff.

Manziel played well (33 of 45 for 372 yards with a TD toss and a pick). After fumbling on the first play, he showed that he can play and deserves to start the rest of the season, especially with the Browns sitting at 2-8.

He certainly isn’t looking like the bust everyone says he is. And really, there isn’t much evidence that Gilbert is either because he doesn’t play.

Maybe, just maybe, there is some talent on this football team, but it isn’t used properly.

Hopefully, however is coaching next year, and we are confident someone else will be, can put those players in a position where they can contribute.

After all, that is kind of the definition of coaching, isn’t it?

Manziel Overshadows Real Problems With Browns

The big question among fans of the Cleveland Browns this week is who will start at quarterback against Pittsburgh this Sunday at Heinz Field.

Coach Mike Pettine continues to favor veteran Josh McCown, saying he gives the Browns the rest chance to win on Sunday, even though his record as a starter since the beginning of the 2014 season is 2-16.

That appears to say volumes about how the coaching staff (or maybe just the head coach) feels about Johnny Manziel, who has started two games this season and went 1-1.

And even the harshest critic of the former Heisman Trophy winner has to admit at halftime, you had to feel pretty good about how Johnny Football performed.

Unless that harshest critic is the head coach, who felt the need to tell a national television audience that the Browns needed to “calm down” the second year player.

Still, all of this talk about the quarterback is masking the real problems with this football team, so in a way, Pettine should be thankful for Johnny Manziel.

Last Thursday night, the Cleveland defense allowed 30 points for the fifth time this season. Keep in mind, the Browns have only played nine games, so in half of the contests, opponents have put 30 points on the board.

No matter who your quarterback is, it is tough to win football games when you are giving up that many points.

Another problem that has pretty much been swept under the rug has been the blueprint for winning games that Pettine’s team was supposed to use going into the year.

The Browns were to be a running team, pounding the ball behind an offensive line which featured All Pros, and a rock solid defensive unit, led by one of the league’s best secondaries.

With Joe Thomas and Alex Mack anchoring the line, and two other Pro Bowlers, Joe Haden and Donte Whitner in the secondary, it was easy to see why the coaches and fans alike would be excited about these units.

Unfortunately, that hasn’t gone according to plan either.

The Browns simply can’t run the football, ranking 31st (second to last) in rushing, and they continue to search for answers, trying to use such stalwarts as Shawn Draughn and Robert Turbin, instead of seeing what Isaiah Crowell can do with 15-20 carries per game.

Cleveland QB’s have also been sacked 30 times, against second to last in the NFL.

The offensive line has been terrible this season, a year after they were among the best in the league prior to Mack’s broken leg.

As for the defensive backfield, sure there have been injuries, but this group in slightly below the middle of the pack in terms of allowing passing yards. This is compounded by having just 15 sacks, a figure that ranks 23rd in the league.

Keep in mind that seven of those sacks came in one game, a week two victory over Tennessee.

So, to summarize, the defense can’t stop the run, can’t put pressure on the passer, and really doesn’t defend the pass when it is thrown.

Those are the real problems with this football team, not who plays quarterback.

But the head coach doesn’t acknowledge those issues, continuing to say his team is “close” to winning. Let us remind everyone that Pettine’s team is 2-12 in their last 14 games.

That doesn’t seem close.

But let’s talk about the quarterback.