Cleveland Browns Must Stick With Johnny Manziel

It has to feel deflating for fans who could just taste the idea of playoff football for the first time in 12 years.  Unfortunately the Cleveland Browns fell flat in a must-win game at home and the futility started with their decision at quarterback.  Rookie Johnny Manziel came into town with a lot of hype but also a lot of baggage and inexperience.  Still, his uncanny mobility and playmaking skill was too hard to leave on the bench any longer after the struggles of Brian Hoyer.

It didn’t take long to realize that in the NFL no amount of mobility matters if the player and the team isn’t ready.  The Cincinnati Bengals took control from the outset.  They harassed Manziel all day, completely shut down his receivers and forced him into making rookie mistakes, both running and passing.

He only completed 10 passes for 80 yards and threw two interceptions.

Granted, his counterpart Andy Dalton wasn’t much better but the difference was the Bengals made a commitment to running the ball.  Not counting Dalton runs they finished with 43 rushes for 241 yards and three touchdowns.  Cleveland?  They inexplicably refused to run the ball despite having a rookie at quarterback, finishing with 53 yards on just 17 attempts.

Critics of course will now second-guess the decision of the Browns to put Johnny Manziel in at all, but it’s too late.  The results are what they are.  From this point forward the team must do everything within their power to help their quarterback progress because he is the man now.  There is no going back on the decision.  Making it work in the long term is what matters.