However, Manziel fans believe they have some positive ammo and not just wishful speculation. Manziel threw two long touchdown passes and led the Browns to a 28-14 win at home over the Titans.
Never mind that Manziel only completed eight passes, lost the ball on both sacks he endured and that the offense stalled in the second half, but the two TV highlight bombs to Travis Benjamin trump all of that.
Josh McCown is about to enter Hoyer’s world for the remainder of the season. Even if he wins the team some games, there will some people believing that Manziel would have done it better based off of those two long passes in that one game. And if he loses, look out.
Some fans will chant for Manziel once McCown throws an interception. If the Browns fall behind by a big margin, that chant will get louder.
And, the longer the team stays with the veteran signal-caller through the storm, the cries may get louder and louder, like it did last season. Hoyer faltered under the pressure. It remains to be seen how McCown will react.
Johnny Manziel may wind up being another Brady Quinn or Charlie Frye or Luke McCown or Brandon Weeden or any other fly-by-night flavor-of-the-month young backup – history shows that it will likely be the case.
Fans with hindsight may look back five years from now, like they look back during the Couch days, and say things like “boy, it was a mistake to draft that guy,” or, “why did they throw him into the fire so soon.”
Fans are so desperate for the next big thing at QB they’ll talk themselves into believing that this backup will be the answer they so desperately wish to have. Hell, I’ve been there. I still have a Couch jersey hanging in my closet.
I remember believing that Quinn was going to be the next Bernie and Hoyer was going to be the next Brian Sipe. And I wasn’t alone, and history shows that I was wrong.
In one breath, fans will believe that playing Couch from the rip was a mistake but in the next feel that it’s time for Manziel to be given the keys, even though his rookie season was full of problems both on and off the field.
Some fans believe that veterans like Dilfer and Detmer should have been allowed to start longer when they had untested rookies or youngsters behind them, but are forgetting that when they clamor for Josh McCown to take a seat behind Manziel.
And, I’m sure once Manziel does start, he’ll have some fans clamoring for Austin Davis. There were more than a few before and during the Tennessee game.
I believe Pettine and the Browns made the right decision to go back to McCown as the starter. They brought him here to be the starter, they trust him more and believe that he gives them the best chance to win.
While they still don’t know what they have with Manziel, they also still don’t trust him. And in a “win now” business, you go with the guy you trust. Besides, it’s easier to go back to Manziel down the road than it is to bench him if he’s struggling.
In the meantime, fans are already turning their attention to the newest crop of rookie quarterbacks currently playing in college, already ready to fall in love with this guy or that guy and clamor for him to play and become the savior. Another controversy ready to materialize over a guy who may or not even be on the Browns’ roster – remember Robert Griffin III?
Until the next Bernie Kosar rides into town – and even he had some fans screaming for Mike Pagel at various points of his career – the guy in the backward cap holding the clipboard will be the most popular guy. Remember, both Kosar and Sipe began their careers as that guy. Perhaps that’s why this fan base is so obsessed with the backup quarterback … and maybe that’s our biggest problem of all.
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