Browns try Hoyer one more time

Mike Pettine and the Cleveland Browns had a decision to be made
entering this week's game against the Indianapolis Colts and it was one that had the potential to influence the 7-5 Browns season.

With a clump of teams in contention for wild card spots,every game is of importance and with the arm of Andrew Luck and his high scoring Colts coming to Cleveland,the Browns found themselves in a quandary.
Do they stick with the erratic arm and play of the veteran Brian Hoyer and gamble that he can recover from his month long funk?
Or is it time for first round pick Johnny Manziel,who led the Browns to their only touchdown in a losing effort last week against the Buffalo Bills?

The Pro-Hoyer argument-
The player that led the Browns to their surprising 7-5 record.
Veteran leadership.
Player that is more prepared to start and knows the offense best.
Need to know whether the Browns are sure about re-signing him at season's end.

The Pro-Manziel argument
Led the Browns to their only TD in Buffalo.
Much more zip on his passes and opens up the deep ball more.
Adds some excitement to the offense and the creativity out of the pocket..
Time to see what the Browns have in their first round pick and do they need to look yet again for a young QB.

As much as the pros are influencing,the cons are as well.
For Brian Hoyer,they are pretty straight forward.
Has played poorly over the last month and his passes are often far too inaccurate for a starting quarterback.

For Johnny Manziel
Questions on preparation on and off the field.
Does the team follow the rookie?

Mike Pettine chose Brian Hoyer and I agree with the decision-to a degree.
Once you make the decision that Johnny Manziel is the guy,you cannot go back to Brian Hoyer.
Therefore,you want to make sure that the "guy" isn't Brian Hoyer before you make that move.
On the field considerations only would make me go Manziel and I don't believe that Hoyer is going to magically turn his game around this week against Indianapolis.
However,he deserves one final chance to try before the team shunts him aside for good.....

The Browns placed Miles Austin on injured reserve after Austin injured a kidney against the Bills.
That's a loss,but look for Andrew Hawkins and Taylor Gabriel's targets to go up against the Colts.
The Browns also signed running back Shaun Droughn formerly of the Chiefs to a contract to add some back depth.
That is a need with Isaiah Crowell being questionable with an injury issue for this week,Terrence West being less than reliable with the football and Glenn Winston being untested along with the release of Ben Tate.
Running back has went from a strength to a position with plenty of questions in just a few weeks....

In other news,the Cavaliers released Will Cherry and added veteran A.J. Price.
Price isn't quite what I was looking for in a backup point guard,but he is a veteran,which is what I would like to see the Cavaliers have behind the often brittle Kyrie Irving.....

The NEW Kardiac Kids? Browns nip Saints 26-24!

Photo Credit;Joshua Gunter Cleveland Plain Dealer

For the second consecutive week,the Cleveland Browns went down to the game's final play (well,there was a kickoff) to decide a winner,but this time the site and the victor was changed as Billy Cundiff drilled a 29 yard field goal to lift the Browns to an upset 26-24 win in their home opener over the New Orleans Saints.
Brian Hoyer threw for over 200 yards and a touchdown,Terrence West ran for his first NFL score and Tayshaun Gipson grabbed a pass that bounced off Jimmy Graham's hands and returned it sixty two yards for the other Browns touchdown.
The stunningly 1-1 Browns host Baltimore next week in what has suddenly become an interesting game.....

Brownie Bits

1) Many keys in this game and I'll get to those as we proceed,but I feel very good about this team.
Maybe for this season,this is not sustainable and perhaps it is,however when you consider the lack of pass catching talent and this team won this game without Jordan Cameron (let alone Josh Gordon),one has to feel pretty good about what is being possibly put together in Cleveland.

2) The play that put Billy Cundiff in position to kick the game winner was the broken coverage on Andrew Hawkins,who was so wide open that Brian Hoyer almost put too much air under the football like a punt.
I appreciate Hoyer not wanting to overthrow and had he thrown the ball differently,Hawkins may have cruised in for a touchdown,but it was scary watching the ball float and Hawkins having to twist under it to make the grab,,,

3) However,the real game saver was neither Billy Cundiff's kick or the pass to Andrew Hawkins,it was a fourth down conversion by Brian Hoyer on a pass to Gary Barnidge,who wouldn't remind you of Kellen Winslow Jr,let alone Kellen Winslow Sr.
That was where I began to believe in this team.
In the past,I would have expected a Colt McCoy swing pass for 2 yards when you needed six....

4) Now I know Jimmy Graham had a huge day,but you expect the best pass catching tight end in the game to do so and Joe Haden isn't going to be able to cover him one on one in the end zone and neither is anyone else.
Too much size and strength there.Let's remember that this was Jimmy Graham before killing the Browns for giving up numbers to the tight end.

5) Loved the offensive line work too.
The Saints and Rob Ryan like to use the blitz and overwhelm you with numbers along with having two very good pass rushers in Cameron Jordan and Junior Gallette.
The Browns line looked very strong against the group as only Gallette on the final drive of the game reached Hoyer for a sack.
Combine that with the solid run blocking and I really liked how they handled the Saints.

6) I like the pair of rookie backs in Terrence West and Isaiah Crowell.
West has the edge for now,but Crowell is the breakaway back.
I know Mike Pettine and Kyle Shanahan like the committee back system and when Ben Tate returns,things will be somewhat muddled,but Crowell might grab hold of the job and never look back,if he got a game with 20+ carries,
His skills are that good...

7) Yes,I know Johnny Manziel made his debut and I'm not against a "Johnny Football" Package,but if you have one,let him throw the ball and make something happen.
Having the play result in a handoff makes me think of all those Josh Cribbs Wildcat formation that ended in a sweep for four yards a few years back.

8) The Browns overcame two kicking game breakdowns in the win.

Photo Credit:John Kuntz Cleveland Plain Dealer

The botched snap on an extra point meant the Browns were down by one on the final drive rather than tied and Billy Cundiff smacked a field goal off an upright that a Saints penalty overturned.
Fortunate that these were able to be overcome,but I hope that this is not a worry of things to come.

9) Karlos Dansby is a beast.
Not the typical veteran that has a nice contract and then plays out the string here.
Dansby's sack of Drew Brees on the last New Orleans drive took the Saints out of field goal range and allowed the Browns to play for a field goal to win rather than a touchdown.
Dansby is all over the field and exactly the type of three down linebacker that you love to have as Dansby makes the routine tackle,rushes the passer and is solid in pass coverage.
Love this guy!

10) The Browns will need to toughen up against the run though.
Allowing 174 yards to the pass happy Saints is not a good day.

11) Like the new colored Browns end zones.
The team took an online vote for brown or orange and brown grabbed an overwhelming win.
It looked good and I liked it,but I voted for orange and here is why.
The football is brown and can't you just see a "breaking the plane" replay that is shown as "inconclusive evidence" with a brown football into a brown end zone?
This is still Cleveland sports after all!

12) Now that we have colored end zones finally,next step-Brownie the Elf at midfield!
Let's do this!

13) Wrapping up,I'm excited.
Winning games without all weapons present and showing heart and toughness every week-that is what Cleveland Browns football should be all about.
I'm really beginning to start buying into "Play like a Brown" and not because that generally has meant bad football....

QB Quandary in Ohio-Part II-Browns choose Hoyer over Manziel

The Cleveland Browns and new head coach Mike Pettine have made their decision,for now at least and selected Brian Hoyer as the starter for the team entering their season opener at Pittsburgh two weeks from Sunday.

Hoyer was given the starting job over first round draftee Johnny Manziel after a pre-season that saw neither candidate exactly distinguish themselves in their first two games of the exhibition season.

Watching the two games makes me wonder what the hurry was to make the selection when you consider the less than championship level that both guys played at,but usually teams play their starters for the majority of the third game of the pre-season slate,so that was likely the reason for making the call now.
There are legitimate cases to make for both Hoyer and Manziel getting the starting job.
Hoyer,because of his veteran status and play in his appearances last season/
Manziel because of his first round selection and ability to make plays on a team that could have zero playmakers at wide receivers if Josh Gordon is suspended.

Adding everything,I agree with Pettine's decision to go with Brian Hoyer for now and emphasis on the words for now.
My reasoning is this- If you start Hoyer and he plays poorly,you then have a slow start most likely and have nothing to lose by playing Manziel.
Starting Manziel first and he stumbles and you have to bench the player that has been drafted to be the star of the team in his first action.
It's better for the Browns to let Hoyer start and see what happens.
That allows Manziel to learn and in the event that he sees the field,he should be better prepared to handle the speed of the game.
The experience of Hoyer (as limited as that is) gives the Browns the best chance to win right now in a season that starts with the Steelers,Saints and Ravens before the bye and then if say the Browns are 0-3 entering the bye week,the Browns have that week to get Manziel up to speed and then 13 games to see just what "Johnny Football" has to offer.
If you start Manziel and he goes 0-3.,the fans will be groaning as you go back to Hoyer.

The selection of Hoyer may not be the flashy pick,but at this time,it's the right one....