It was Johnny Manziel time on Sunday for the Cleveland Browns.
It should remain Johnny Manziel time moving forward. There s no turning back now for better or for worse.
The only surprising thing is that it took this long. Coach Mike Pettine finally made the much anticipated move Sunday sitting down suddenly struggling starting quarterback Brian Hoyer in favor of Manziel the highly celebrated and closely scrutinized rookie chosen in the opening round of the NFL draft in May.
Pettine was non committal following the Browns 26 10 defeat at Buffalo saying he and his assistant coaches will review the game before deciding whether Manziel or Hoyer will be the starter for the Browns game next weekend at home against the Indianapolis Colts. Pettine said the Browns won t overreact and won t place all the blame on Hoyer.
But the Browns invested plenty of hope in Manziel when they drafted him and now it should be time to find out whether he can deliver. It s the way of the NFL. Once a team turns to its young would be franchise quarterback it generally stays with him until he demonstrates whether or not he can play. It would be extremely difficult to go back to Hoyer now.
That s not saying it s not possible that the Browns will stick with Hoyer as the starter. Pettine gave the job to Hoyer entering the season even though Hoyer had not played particularly well during the preseason. Pettine clearly has a degree of faith in Hoyer and Hoyer rewarded that trust for much of the season by playing well and keeping the Browns in playoff contention.
But those playoff hopes are dissipating now with the Browns record at 7 5 and the AFC wild card race so crowded and Hoyer has had a string of shaky outings. He completed 40 percent of his passes in a Nov. 16 loss to the Houston Texans. He threw three interceptions in a Nov. 23 victory at Atlanta. He threw two more interceptions Sunday against the Bills.
Manziel came in and gave the Cleveland offense a lift with a 10 yard touchdown run. He completed five of eight passes for 63 yards.
The starting job might have been Manziel s entering the season if he d played better during the preseason. Pettine went with Hoyer following a dreadful outing by Manziel at FedEx Field in which he played poorly and directed an obscene gesture at the Washington Redskins sideline. Manziel has attracted attention for so many of the wrong reasons whether deserved or not most recently with an incident with a fan in the lobby of the building in which Manziel lives.
Now it s time to find out if Manziel can remain in the NFL spotlight for the right reasons.
Or at least it should be.
Around the NFL
Jim Harbaugh s value uncertain amid trade rumors college interest
Andrew Luck throws 5 TDs as Colts take down Redskins
Early Lead Watch Manziel score on first drive
Early Lead Will NFL consider re seeding playoff teams
No comments:
Post a Comment