Johnny Manziel get’s First win of his Career
Sep 20, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel (2) throws a pass during the third quarter against the Tennessee Titans at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
Clevland Browns 2014 1st-round pick and quarterback Johnny Manziel just put him self on the NFL map. It didn’t look like he would be relevent this year at all after a disastrous rookie season. He became a different man after a stint in alcohol rehab and gradually winning back the trust of his teammates.
But he didn’t quite win back the trust of head coach Mike Pettine, who acquired Josh McCown this offseason to be the starter. Then McCown was concussed in Week 1 and Manziel wasn’t pretty when he was thrown in there but he showed flashes. With McCown still unable to play in Week 2, Manziel made some noise, beating Marcus Mariota’s Tennessee Titans.
Manziel look like the same guy the won the Heisman Trophy ant Texas A&M with his ability to make things happen. Manziel showed his arm strength connecting on two deep balls to speedy receiver Travis Benjamin. On one of them he pulled out his old collegiate magic, spinning out of a sack and making the deep throw while running to his left.
Stats aren’t the real measure of the way Manziel controlled the game out there on Sunday. He simply made the plays that needed to be made when the Browns needed him to make those plays. On the day, Manziel connected on only 53 percent of his passes for 172 yards but he had the two TDs, 11.5 yards per attempt and a quarterback rating of 133.9 for the first win of his short career.
So the question is what happens when the McCown is back?
Do you bench your 1st-rounder in favor of a guy that’s only had one good stretch of football in his 13 prior years?
The Browns look like they can compete if they leave Maziel in there.