Johnny Manziel gives Washington sideline the finger
August 18, 2014Browns Preseason Game 2: Winners and Losers
August 19, 2014The much anticipated Monday Night Football game was not a fun one to watch as the Browns lost to the Washington Redskins 24-23. The main focus by most fans was on the quarterback competition between Brian Hoyer and Johnny Manziel, but they did not see much from either quarterback. Both QBs were underwhelming and played like they didn’t want the job. Hoyer was 2-6 for 16 yards with 42.4 passer rating while Manziel was 7-16 for 65 yards and a touchdown with a 76.3 passer rating. The competition was supposed to be solved by Tuesday when coach Mike Pettine expected to pick the regular season starter, but neither player has stood out and so the battle for the starting spot got even more murky.
Will Pettine choose the starter or extend it for another week?
The rest of the offense was just as bad as the quarterback play. The receivers once again had the case of the drops. The line was inconsistent, especially right tackle Mitchell Schwartz. The only real bright spot was the running back group as Ben Tate ran well with 10 carries for 51 yards and Terrance West came in after Tate, rushing 8 times for 31 yards. The other bright spot on offense was the third string quarterback Connor Shaw. He almost led the Browns to a comeback win on the last drive, but couldn’t convert for the two-point conversion. Shaw was 8-9 for 123 yards and a touchdown. It is not a great sign when the third string QB has the best performance of all three quarterbacks.
The Browns first team defense played well only allowing a touchdown in the first half. The defense had four turnovers in the first half with two interceptions, a fumble, and a turnover on downs. It seems so far that the team will be a running team who will rely on the defense to keep them in the game. All in all this game was a stark reminder to Browns fans that the team has a long way to go in its development.
—
(Photo by: Joshua Gunter/ The Plain Dealer)
8 Comments
On one hand, Johnny clearly could use some more time to develop. But can you name Hoyer a starter after that performance? “Hey, he didn’t flip off a bench”??
It’s comforting that we have a seemingly very good D (and the big play is one that I don’t think a regular CB gives up), and a really solid running game. And for the second year in a row, you don’t watch the game and wonder “what the heck was that playcall!?!”. It’s really just the WRs and QBs that aren’t working right now. Even an average passing attack would make this team a solid one, which is probably the most frustrating part. If that would be even minimally functional, this would be a very fun team to watch grind out some wins.
If I had to look into ol’ Jack Burton’s crystal ball this would be my guess as to how this plays out. Hoyer gets named the starter but as with the preseason he feels the pressure and believes he has to be “perfect” to win games, which takes away all of the easy “hey there’s no one else left to play” attitude he had last year, which leads to lots of INT’s and 3 and outs. The frustration mounts and sometime in the 5-6 week – both of which people comment on hearing the “We want Johnny”! chants growing louder – of the season he gets dinged pretty hard in the 3rd quarter of a 9 quarter touchdownless drought. As he lays on the field wincing in pain, JFF snaps up the chinstrap and the crowd goes wild. Hoyer, believes that they are cheering his injury, and swears vengeance on all who wronged him, he does this on the sideline via instagram just as the 4th is starting. The exasperated Browns fans collective energy conjures an Ubermenscher in the form of Rolf the keyboardist for the Electric Mayhem band. Rolf bites Manziel in the arse and accidentally injests the powdery candy that Johnny keeps in his pockets. Insane with the fans bloodlust and a massive dose of cocaine Rolf eats both QBs, most of the fans and then dissolves into a pile of dog poo. The fans instantly begin chanting “Can’t blame us for wanting Jameis.” As the entire scene devolves into chaos the riot sirens sound. A stunned Ray Farmer opens a copy of “Tales of a Fifth Grade Nothing” that Joe Banner had left for him. On the inside liner is a hand written note that read “Ray, Salvation lies within”. The pages had been cut out to leave space for a .38 caliber pistol. Ray took the pistol and shot the words “Ray was here” into the ceiling of his office before hanging himself. Alex Scheiner hearing the commotion ran into the room and slipped on the mess left from Ray’s voided bowels. He fell to the floor breaking his neck and from his pocket dropped the tapes that confirmed Haslams complicity in the Flying J scandal.
Team ownership then reverted back to Randy Lerner who vowed to make things right. His first act was to hire Jedd Fisch – Jacksonville’s OC – to the position of HC, replacing the recently eaten by Rolf Mike Pettine.
http://media.giphy.com/media/CbS1yGeBORycU/giphy.gif
It’s like we’ve seen it a thousand times before (although if we can get Morgan Freeman to do the Ray Farmer voice over, you’re really on to something)
Forget Manziel, this team isn’t ready for Pittsburgh period.
when Johnny got back to the bench, the Brown’s PR person was telling him that he’s only allowed to flip off Pittsburgh and that he better use both hands when he does it.
“Both QBs were underwhelming and played like they didn’t want the job.”
Given the history of the position, I can’t say I blame them….
Give Vince Young the chance you never gave him…… Bring this guy out of retirement…..
He can still play at a HIGH level,…. His NFL won/loss record right now is 31-19 as a starting quarterback… He has playoff experience … He’s a 2 time Pro-Bowler… He was voted 2006 NFL Rookie of the Year…..
The NFL is all about “WINS and LOSSES”…. and Vince can WIN…………