QB Obsession For Browns By Media is Out of Control.

We’ve reached a new record with the Cleveland Browns in terms of the sports talk industry.

Yesterday, we heard hosts and fans discussing the 2016 NFL Draft in terms of what quarterbacks are available, even before one game of the 2015 NFL regular season has been played.

Craziness.

The media and some fans are simply obsessed with the position of quarterback, making it the end all, be all, regarding success of a pro football team.

Isn’t Atlanta’s Matt Ryan a very good NFL QB? The Falcons went 6-10 last season.

New Orleans’ Drew Brees once led the Saints to a Super Bowl title. Yet, his team went 7-9 a year ago.

On the other hand, Andy Dalton has led Cincinnati to the playoffs each of the last three years, and the Bengals went 10-5-1 in 2014.

The Houston Texans used Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mallett, and Case Keenum as quarterbacks last season, and that squad went 9-7.

Is having a good quarterback important for a football team? Of course. Does it guarantee success in the NFL? No. Does not having one doom your team to a 3-13 record? It does not.

We have even heard some talk show hosts suggest the Browns should tank the season so they can get their franchise passer in next spring in the draft. Here is a list of QBs taken in the top five picks in the draft over the last 10 years–

2014–Blake Bortles (#3 overall)
2012–Andrew Luck (#1 overall)
2012–Robert Griffin III (#2 overall)
2011–Cam Newton (#1 overall)
2010–Sam Bradford (#1 overall)
2009–Matthew Stafford (#1 overall)
2009–Mark Sanchez (#5 overall)
2008–Matt Ryan (#3 overall)
2007–JaMarcus Russell (#1 overall)
2006–Vince Young (#3 overall)
2005–Alex Smith (#1 overall)

Out of those 11 signal callers, how many would you call an elite player? Certainly, Luck qualifies, and Ryan would certainly be in our list of the top ten quarterbacks in the NFL.

And you can make an argument that Newton and Stafford should be in that group as well.

That means four out of 11, (36%) of passers drafted in the top five become very good players. Not exactly a reason to throw away a season.

Two of these guys (Russell and Young) can be considered out-and-out busts, while Smith and Sanchez would probably be placed in the “journeyman” category. Griffin and Bradford have been hampered by injuries throughout their career, and it is too early to evaluate Bortles.

What kills us is the Browns know they need to upgrade the position, but unfortunately, the NFL isn’t going to cancel the season until they do, nor does the team want put its fans through a 2-14 season either.

So, they are trying their best to minimize the amount of influence the quarterback has to the team’s success.

We have documented before that when the Browns get decent play from their QB, they can win football games. That was certainly on display last year, when Brian Hoyer led Cleveland to a 7-4 start, before he started turning the ball over on a regular basis.

We are also not claiming that Josh McCown is going to be the second coming of Johnny Unitas nor that Johnny Manziel will be the next Brees.

If the Browns get lucky, they will get average, decent play out of the position.

However, we aren’t going to obsess about not having Aaron Rodgers or Ben Roethlisburger either.

Slowly but surely, we think the Cleveland Browns are building a very good football team. Their roster is in far better shape than it was three or four years ago.

That should be the story going into this season. As Gene Hackman said in Hoosiers, “we hope you judge us on who we are, rather than who we are not”.

Browns Lose, But They Are Still 0-0

Last night’s Browns-Bills preseason contest should be exhibit A in any case where a football fan wants to sue NFL teams for charging full prices for these games.

It was that ugly.

Besides the numerous players on both teams that sat out the game with injuries (the Browns had 19 players listed as inactive for the contest), the play from both teams was sloppy and inconsistent.

That should be expected considering the number of guys who played that wouldn’t if the game really counted.

If you were upset early on with Browns’ CB Johnson Bademosi struggling in coverage, remember that if Mike Pettine has to have him covering the starting wide receivers from the opponent, it will indeed be a looooong season for the brown and orange.

And that wasn’t written to denigrate Bademosi, a very good special teams player. However, on the pecking order, he is behind Joe Haden, Tramon Williams, K’Waun Williams, Pierre Desir, and probably Justin Gilbert.

The game was entertaining only to the two head coaches, Pettine and Rex Ryan, who seemed to have a contest on who could dial-up a more exotic blitz package against the other.

Josh McCown looked like a journeyman, throwing two bad interceptions, but we thought the play calling was odd, not that it matters in the pre-season.

Against a team with a pass rush like Buffalo, you almost have to pass on first down to stay out of second or third down and long situations, but offensive coordinator John DeFillipo wanted to establish the run, and McCown had to face a hard rush because the running game wasn’t working.

The veteran did have a good drive before the half, and Isiah Crowell had a couple of good runs, and once Terrance West figured out to make one move and cut up field, he had more success than he did early in the game. McCown needed that, if only to restore confidence among the fan base.

Johnny Manziel led the Browns to their only touchdown drive, and although he is still is looking more and more like a pro QB, he had to run for his life for most of the half. Still, he did make plays.

It would be interesting to see Manziel with the first unit if only to see if he can make plays from the pocket. It is worth noting that GM Ray Farmer needs to find some offensive linemen when teams start cutting down, because outside of rookie Cam Irving, the second team line is a sieve.

TE Rob Housler looked good and probably put himself back in good graces, but undrafted free agent TE E.J. Bibbs continued to impress as well, meaning somebody with talent may not make the team if Cleveland decides to go with three tight ends.

WR Shane Wynn caught the Browns’ lone touchdown pass and had an electrifying punt return called back by penalty, but isn’t he the same player as Travis Benjamin and Taylor Gabriel? The brown and orange need a big target, and that is why Terrelle Pryor is so intriguing. He has size.

He also may have the ability to score from the Browns’ own 30 yard line. Name another player on this roster who has this capability. That’s why the former quarterback will be given every opportunity to make the final roster.

Next week is the “dress rehearsal” against Tampa Bay. Our guess is several of the players with minor injuries will play that game, and that game only.

That should give us a better idea about this team going into the regular season. Because right now, we can’t say we know anything.

Nothing Really Learned From Browns Last Night

When watching NFL pre-season games, this is the rule of thumb we use–

For the first game, only the first quarter matters. For the second game, the first half matters. In the third game, the “dress rehearsal” if you will, the first three quarters matter. And the last game is just to decide who makes the back-end of the roster.

So, what did we learn from last night’s game against the Redskins? Not much.

First, it is tough to judge anything considering the Browns’ two best players, Joe Thomas and Joe Haden, didn’t even play. Nor did Dwayne Bowe, Terrell Pryor, Duke Johnson, and several others who could be key members of Mike Pettine’s squad when the regular season starts on September 14th.

The morning newspaper was filled with praise for new starting QB Josh McCown, which we thought was jumping the gun a little bit.

McCown played just one series, made the throws he needed to make, benefited from a pass interference penalty, and otherwise dinked and dunked the Browns into the end zone.

This is not to say, we don’t think McCown will be better than Brian Hoyer, because we think he will, but we didn’t see anything special about the performance last night. We want to see more.

As for the backup quarterback, Johnny Manziel, he showed improvement from last year, mostly in that he looked like an NFL quarterback.

Gone was the “Johnny Package”, the read option non-sense that is being phased out by most NFL teams because defenses have caught up to it.

And although Manziel scored a touchdown on a run, it was the type of run he should have made. He dropped back, the defense parted like the Red Sea, and he took the opportunity to get his team in the end zone. But, there was a marked difference in the way he approached the offense this year.

Overall, the offense was pretty vanilla with mostly short, safe throws, and perhaps the reason for that was the absence of Bowe, Pryor, and Johnson, who we think will be a big part of the passing game.

It was a little disturbing to see last year’s first round pick, Justin Gilbert, get torched on the opening series of the game, losing Pierre Garcon wide open on a deep pass, which he dropped.

He also whiffed on his next chance, a sideline route. He did recover to defend two passes in the end zone, but he needs to be better in the next couple of contests if he is going to contribute.

The run defense, which was arguably more of a weakness than the quarterback play a year ago, didn’t shine, so that is a bit concerning as well. They still have a hard time keeping backs from getting outside. To be sure, that will be a point of emphasis this week in practice.

Next week, we will get to see the people who are going to play in the regular season a whole lot more, probably through the first half. At that point, we should see more things to start forming opinions.

It was good to see football again, but that’s about all we saw. Nothing to get excited about, nothing to be depressed about.

That’s probably the ideal circumstance if you are Mike Pettine.

Browns Have Other Needs Than QB, Take Care of Them

Just think, a week from now, it will all be over.

You might think we are talking about the Cavs’ first round series against the Boston Celtics, which may be over later this afternoon.

No, we are talking about the NFL Draft and the northeastern Ohio football fan’s annual rite of passage, trying to figure out what quarterback the Browns should go after so they can start qualifying for the playoffs.

We get so absorbed into this and the perceived need for a QB, that people lose sight that you need a complete team to win the Lombardi Trophy.

What do these quarterbacks have in common: Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Eli Manning, Colin Kaepernick, and Alex Smith.

All would probably be considered in the top half of signal callers in the game, but none of them played in the playoff after last season.

This is not to say the Browns don’t need help at the QB spot, but first, they need to see what Johnny Manziel can do, because six quarters isn’t enough evaluation time, and second, they have other needs to fill.

That’s why it is ludicrous to us to consider trading both first round picks for another rookie quarterback.

You probably will wind up with a player who can’t start in the first game of the season, but you also lose the opportunity to add two players who could.

The conversation on sports talk shows regarding getting a passer border on desperation.

In the past week, we heard hosts excited by a scout saying the basement for Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota is Smith, the former first overall pick, who has turned into a serviceable player in Kansas City.

However, if that draft were held today, Smith wouldn’t be the first player chosen, because he’s not a great player.

There is also continued talk about dealing one of the Browns’ first round selections for Sam Bradford, a guy who has played seven games in the past two seasons. While we would be interested in Bradford, that kind of price is simply too high.

We realize it is the silly season.

Rumors about the Browns trading for a quarterback appear daily, because the national perception is that the franchise will do anything to get one.

And there is no question that Cleveland needs a great QB, a lot of teams do. Unfortunately, wanting Jameis Winston and Mariota to be one, doesn’t make them one.

We were asked earlier this week what we want the Browns to do this Thursday night. Our reply was to stay right where they are at #12 and #19, and pick two players who can start and help this football team in 2015.

That said, if you could move a first round pick for a proven top ten quarterback in Philip Rivers, we would consider that, because he’s proven to be quality player.

But we don’t think San Diego will move him, so it’s a moot point.

GM Ray Farmer needs to get help to defend the run, a huge weakness for the Browns in 2014, and they need a difference maker in the front seven. Someone the offense needs to account for.

And although Paul Kruger had a good season last year, Cleveland still needs a dominant pass rusher.

They also need offensive line help, a tight end, and wide receivers. Players who could help the Browns in those area will likely be there when Farmer picks on Thursday night.

Let’s hope the Browns’ front office understands this and doesn’t let their quarterback envy show.

Just be smart, not spectacular.

Forget the Uniform Frenzy, The Browns Are Improving Under the Radar

Tonight’s the night!

Unfortunately, a lot of attention will be given to the Cleveland Browns unveiling their new uniform scheme this evening.

We guess it will be interesting to see what the powers that be came up with, but in reality, they could wear Lady Gaga’s famous meat dress if they went to the Super Bowl.

We understand that a great deal of sports talk conversation on Wednesday will involve the analysis of clothing, not the Cavaliers’ impending playoff series or the Indians start to their season.

It’s Browns’ Town. We get it. However, if you want to talk about the Cleveland Browns, why not focus on the improvements the team has made this off-season. We understand this doesn’t fit in with the “Browns are dysfunctional” narrative that both the national and local media have portrayed, but there is no question here that GM Ray Farmer is addressing the team’s needs and remember, he has 11 draft picks coming from April 30th-May 2nd.

We’ve heard about the lack of quality wide receivers for more than a year, and since the season ended, Farmer signed veteran wide outs Dwayne Bowe and Brian Hartline. And we feel another young pass catcher will be added in the first few rounds in the draft.

There is no question the Mike Pettine’s team had a hard time stopping the run in 2014, and they lost veteran Ahtyba Rubin to free agency. Rubin was replaced by Randy Starks, a two-time Pro Bowl player. Yes, Starks is three years older than the man he replaced, but again, many draft experts have the Browns taking another defensive lineman in either the first or second round of the draft. So, they are upgrading for not only next year, but for the future.

They lost CB Buster Skrine in free agency, and replaced him in the short-term with former Green Bay starter Tramon Williams. Ultimately, one of last year’s draft choices, Justin Gilbert or Pierre Desir, will replace Skrine.

Their other major loss was TE Jordan Cameron, and Farmer addressed this by signing Rob Housler last week. Housler is five months older than the man he replaces, and actually has more seasons with more than 30 catches. Outside of Cameron’s Pro Bowl season in 2013 when he caught 80 passes, his next best year was 24 catches in 2014. Housler caught 45 passes in ’12 and 39 in 2013. And he doesn’t have the concussion issues that have plagued Cameron.

Of course, the one position everyone focuses on is quarterback, and that’s why any optimism is muted.

We have said this before, but when they Browns have just decent quarterback play, they can win.

A passer rating of 80 is below average in today’s NFL. In fact, it would rank 27th last season, so it is barely passable.

Last year, when the Browns QB had a rating of over 80, the team went 6-3. When it was below that mark, they were 1-6.

So, if the Browns get competent play at the position, they have a pretty good record.

While it would be nice to have Andrew Luck or even Joe Flacco, what the Browns really need is someone to not be terrible. That’s the low bar set for Josh McCown and/or Johnny Manziel.

And that’s how Farmer and Pettine have built this team, to find ways to win without having a great quarterback. That’s not to say they don’t want one, but you can’t just lose because you don’t have one.

Pettine’s offense centers around a strong running game and a QB that doesn’t make mistakes until he gets THE GUY.

Still, seeing what the Browns do in the draft is more important than the new uniforms. Unfortunately, that will be all the talk tomorrow.

Hoyer Era is Over, Now Browns Need to Get Better at QB

Yesterday, Brian Hoyer formally announced he can now be referred to as “former Browns quarterback” Brian Hoyer.

Thus ends the “should the Browns resign Hoyer for the 2015 season” debate.

His supporters will point to his record as the Cleveland starter, which is 10-6, better than any Browns’ passer since the team returned to the NFL in 1999.

His detractors, which we would fall into that category, would point out his career passing rating, a mediocre 76.8, and his four start span after Cleveland reached 6-3. His best rating in those four starts was 61.2, and that came in a critical home loss against Houston, in which he completed just 20 of 50 throws.

We have long advocated that GM Ray Farmer needed to get better at the quarterback position, whether they brought Hoyer back for this season or not, and also whether or not, Johnny Manziel is the heir apparent at the spot.

Hoyer’s record is the result of the Browns finally starting to turn the corner in terms of talent.

Although the team’s record of first round draft picks is deplorable, Tom Heckert and Farmer have brought in many good to very good football players over the last three or four years, and those guys have made the team better.

After the 2013 season, the Browns had five players selected to the Pro Bowl and this year had three. And even though Joe Thomas and Joe Haden made the squad each of those years, Alex Mack, Donte Whitner, Jordan Cameron, Tashaun Gipson, and Josh Gordon have made appearances as well.

Prior to the last couple of seasons? It was pretty much Thomas traveling to the game alone.

So, signing Josh McCown essentially swapped him out for Hoyer in 2015, but Farmer still needs to upgrade the signal caller for the upcoming season, if the brown and orange want to improve on their 7-9 record and get to the playoffs.

We would look for another QB when free agency starts next week, and the Browns should have their eyes on Jake Locker and Matt Moore to bring in to compete with Manziel and McCown.

Locker has a career rating of 79.0, but in two of his four seasons, he has had ratings of over 85.0. His problem is staying healthy, having played just 30 games in his four seasons. Perhaps with the Browns’ offensive line, which is solid despite what the critics say, and his coaches telling him to stay in the pocket, he can stay healthy and be productive.

He will be just 27 years old this season.

Moore is a veteran who has been around, he will play this season at 31 years old, but hasn’t started since the 2011 campaign.

He had an 87.1 QBR in that last season, before Miami drafted Ryan Tannehill and installed him as the starter.

In that season, he started 12 games for a Dolphin team that finished 6-10. He completed 60.5% of his throws with 16 touchdowns vs. nine interceptions.

Since then, he has tossed just 29 passes in the regular season.

He isn’t a household name, but he could be a guy like Hoyer was in the beginning of last season, meaning he avoided mistakes and put his team in positions to win.

In our opinion, that would upgrade the spot behind center coming into the season.

Now, if Farmer stands pat with McCown, Manziel, and Connor Shaw, then fans and media alike have a right to be outraged. Then, they are going with the same situation they had going into last season.

That’s not good enough to make another step forward.

Manziel’s Future? It’s Up to Him.

Last year, the Cleveland Browns excited the NFL and fans of the team by moving up a few spots in the draft to take former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel.

The media swarmed training camp and Manziel’s progress in practice and the pre-season were closely monitored by everyone.

He didn’t win the job to start the season as Brian Hoyer led the Browns to a 7-4 record, but Hoyer started to show some warts and Johnny Football made his debut against Buffalo and led Cleveland to a touchdown on his first drive.

Unfortunately, that was the high point of his season.

However, after Hoyer struggled mightily at home against the Colts, a game the defense played magnificently, coach Mike Pettine named the rookie the starter against Cincinnati.

The Bengals led 14-0 after the Browns had the ball once, a three and out, and the myth of “Johnny Football” was gone.

What if Hoyer played well against Indianapolis, making the Browns 8-5, keeping them in playoff contention, and Manziel didn’t see any action after the Bills game?

Everyone connected to the Browns would be looking forward to the first round pick being the starter going into the 2015 season, and no one would be doing stories about how unprepared the kid was to be the starter in those games.

But the games against the Bengals and Panthers did happen and now there are serious questions as to whether or not Manziel has a future in the NFL.

Those games could show Manziel that he needs to put a lot of work into his profession or he will be out of the league fairly soon. Whether he does this or not, the proof will be during the spring mini camps and when the team convenes in Berea (or wherever) in July.

Right now, it doesn’t look like he is making it a priority in his life to be a starting signal caller in the NFL. He appears to be more interested in being a celebrity.

So, what should the Browns do?

We have already advocated that six quarters of action isn’t enough of a look to decide Manziel can’t be an effective player in the league, but he needs to show he has the dedication and he needs an offensive coordinator and quarterback coach who will tell him the style he played in college won’t work in the professional ranks, and teach him to be a pro passer.

If Manziel comes to camp in July and doesn’t put the work in, then the Browns have a big decision, and we wouldn’t have any complaint if they let him go at that point.

Until then, GM Ray Farmer can’t put all his eggs in Manziel’s basket, nor should he settle for Brian Hoyer. The Browns need to attempt to upgrade the position if they want to get to the post-season.

In the meantime, the people who want to “send a message” to the locker room by cutting the rookie aren’t thinking clearly. They view him as a punk who will never amount to anything.

That’s short-sighted. He has some ability and the Browns owe it to themselves to find out if he has the determination and drive to be successful in the league. However, they can’t wait too long.

Six quarters isn’t enough of a sample size. What they really need to see is the level of commitment from the player himself.

Maybe Browns Need to Stop Chasing QBs

In Cleveland, football season consists of two parts: The regular season, when games are actually played, and the draft season, which sometimes starts in the middle of the fall, because the Browns are usually struggling.

Part of the draft season is the constant search for the “franchise quarterback”, something the brown and orange have lacked since the days of Bernie Kosar.

This winter, with Brian Hoyer a free agent and Johnny Manziel teetering on the edge of his professional career, the search for the quarterback is in full bloom.

As GM Ray Farmer said after the season ended, most teams don’t have elite QBs, so most team have to figure out a way to win without one. That’s the boat the Browns are in today.

It is ridiculous to listen to some of the theories espoused by fans in this regard.

Some are willing to suffer through a 1-15 season in order to get “the guy”.

First, it doesn’t appear that an Andrew Luck type (and that’s the type of guy you are looking at) will be available in the 2016 draft.

Others are willing to overpay for a veteran, even an injured one like Sam Bradford of the Rams. Yesterday, we heard 92.3’s Dustin Fox talk about giving up the 19th overall pick for Bradford, who has played seven games in the last two seasons combined.

That’s crazy in our books. Would we give up a third or fourth round pick for the former first overall pick? Yes, but dealing a first rounder (not to say Farmer would consider this) is typical of what the Browns have down over the years.

They are talking themselves into bad decisions. Remember that two of our elite passers, Ben Roethlisburger and Aaron Rodgers, fell to their respective teams. They didn’t trade up to get them.

On the other hand, the Browns seemed to talk themselves into Brady Quinn, Brandon Weeden, and Manziel. They were intrigued, but not “in love” with any of them, meaning there wasn’t a consensus within the organization that these were the guys to make Cleveland a winning team.

So, what should the Browns do this off-season? Well, we would look to upgrade the spot by bringing in a veteran, trying to find someone better than Hoyer.

Maybe Jake Locker or Matt Moore, or perhaps work a deal for Philadelphia’s Nick Foles or Bradford. However, we wouldn’t give up a first rounder in either deal, nor would we think their current teams would expect one.

As for Hoyer, remember that despite all of Manziel’s unpreparedness to play in the NFL, at least some in the organization thought they were better off with the rookie than Hoyer going into the Cincinnati game. That’s how bad Hoyer played in the weeks leading up to that contest.

It is up to the coaching staff and personnel department to figure out a way to win with average quarterback play. Want a role model? Look within your own state, where the Bengals do it on a year in, year out basis.

A strong running game and a solid defense can win you many football games, just look at Seattle, who has a chance to defend its Super Bowl title next week.

Yes, Russell Wilson is a very good QB, but he is at least third on the list of reasons as to why the Seahawks win.

Do the Browns need to upgrade at quarterback? Of course, but it’s time they stopped passing on better players to pick people just to take them. It’s like they are a desperate high school senior right before prom.

Farmer and Mike Pettine has accumulated a lot of solid players at other positions. Maybe they should be dominant at other spots to cover for the weakness behind center.

The Plan Should Be for Manziel to Succeed

It’s hard to believe that so many people have decided to give up on Johnny Manziel after a whopping six quarters of playing time. Both fans and the media, local and national, have declared the Manziel era over after just two starts.

For what its worth, we did not advocate taking the former Heisman Trophy winner with the fourth overall pick in the draft, and we were ambivalent about selecting him at #22. If there was a quarterback to be had, we wanted Jimmy Garoppolo, who New England took in the second round.

However, it is ridiculous to dismiss Manziel after such limited playing time.

It is our opinion that the Browns contributed to the slow transition for the rookie signal caller by not teaching him to be a professional quarterback from the moment he became a member of the organization.

By this we mean they kept talking about his “skill set” and the “Johnny package”. Is Manziel a good athlete? Yes. Can he move and run the football if pressured? Yes. But, to use read option plays and designed runs didn’t help his development. And that’s on the Browns.

They should have told him they were going to train him to be an NFL quarterback, meaning dropping back, reading the defense, planting your back foot, and throwing the football.

If that’s what they tried to do, and the pupil wasn’t willing to listen, then there is another problem, and that one may not be able to be fixed.

But we think the offensive coaches looked at Manziel as a toy, something to play with, instead of teaching him how to make plays in the pocket. And when Brian Hoyer’s play started to subside, they had to change signal callers, and the rookie wasn’t ready.

So, how does he get ready?

That starts with Manziel’s meeting with the coaches when the season ends. They have to find out if the rookie is ready to put the time in to be a successful NFL quarterback. If that answer is yes, then they should tell him this is the course of action following some time off. By the way, we would tell him to keep a lower profile during his time off.

Next, we would tell him after his time off, that it is time to move to Cleveland and be around the training facility as much as he can. If we wants to continue working with George Whitfield, his personal coach, that’s fine, but he should be taking the time he needs to learn his craft.

When it is time to work with the coaches again, he should be heavily involved with Kyle Shanahan and Dowell Loggains working on the things he needs to do to be the starter when the season opens next year.

If Manziel is the competitor he is reported to be, this shouldn’t be a problem for him. He should be burning to show these two starts are not indicative of his performance level.

Both parties have to change for this to work. Manziel has to start settling down and also needs to eliminate his urge to leave the pocket at the first sign of trouble.

The Browns need to stop treating their first round pick as a circus act and start educating on what needs to be done to be a winning quarterback in the NFL.

Why not try this before looking for another rookie passer in this year’s draft?

Manziel Not Good, But Several People Let Him Down

It turns out that Johnny Manziel is just like any other rookie quarterback who has entered the NFL in the recent future and is not named Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck.

That is to say there is a learning curve and struggles early for most QBs in the NFL coming right out of college.

However, coach Mike Pettine gave the right answer after the game when asked who would be his starter at the position next week at Carolina when he gave Manziel’s name as the answer.

After all, there can’t be another first start for the former Heisman Trophy winner. It should be only up hill from here if he has the talent to be successful in the National Football League.

Still, even in his dismal performance, and being 10 of 18 for 80 yards with two interceptions in a 30-0 defeat is indeed dismal, there are several people who let the rookie down. And in saying that, we realize both picks were plays that worked in college for Johnny Football, but don’t work for John Professional.

Kyle Shanahan. We wanted to see Manziel run the offense that worked for Cleveland the first eight weeks of the season, meaning the attack Brian Hoyer ran, but with a quarterback with a stronger arm and more mobility.

Instead we got some elements of the read-option, an offense that really hasn’t work since Robert Griffin III’s rookie season.

On the Browns’ first possession, they faced a third and 2, and it looked like the play call was for Manziel to fake a throw and then run up the middle. He was stopped short, and after the Bengals ate up seven minutes on their initial possession, they got the ball back after three plays.

Why not have Manziel rollout with the option of a short, safe throw?

Then, there was no attempt by Shanahan to establish the running game which was so effective against Cincinnati the first time the two teams met either.

After that initial series, eight of the next 11 plays run by Cleveland were passing plays. So much for easing your rookie signal caller in.

It looks like the offensive coordinator got caught looking at Texas A & M game films from the last two seasons instead of what the Browns did well in their first 13 contests.

Receivers. It wasn’t the finest performance by the Cleveland receiving corps either, particularly Andrew Hawkins, who dropped a throw that could’ve kept the Browns on the field on their second possession.

After moving out of the pocket, Manziel threw a strike to Hawkins for a first down that was dropped after the wide out was hit by Reggie Nelson. Yes, it was a big hit, but we’ve seen Hawkins take bigger hits and hold on. The drop forced another punt, forcing the defense back on the field.

Walt Anderson. Yes, today’s referee was a culprit as well. Apparently, Mr. Anderson likes being on television, calling nine penalties on Cleveland. While some were deserved, two on the Bengals first drive aided them to a 7-0 lead.

The first was Barkevious Mingo’s roughing the passer call on a third down throw. Yes, technically, Mingo’s helmet hit Andy Dalton’s, but the outside linebacker didn’t lead with his headgear. Instead of forcing an early punt, Cincinnati kept possession.

The second call, a horse collar tackle on Justin Gilbert against Giovani Bernard didn’t give the Bengals a first down, but it was still terrible because Bernard didn’t go down as a result of the so-called illegal move.

Also, the illegal man downfield against Ryan Seymour on a screen pass to Jordan Cameron was also a reach.

In a 30-0 loss, pointing to the officials seems a little tacky, but could the game have been different if Cleveland forces a punt early? We’ll never know.

The Defense. The Cleveland problem stopping the run reared its ugly head again today, as they allowed 244 rushing yards. We don’t know the success rate of teams that allow over 200 yards on the ground in an NFL game, but it probably isn’t high.

Manziel didn’t play well in his debut, and the shutout loss today put the Browns out of the playoffs again barring some sort of miracle. However, we should see progress next week.

That’s a reason to stay interested in this football team.