Two plays later, the Browns moved 25 more yards when Manziel connected with tight end Gary Barnidge. It’s time. It’s way past time, in fact.
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Yes, Cincinnati is in the driver’s seat in the AFC North heading into the second half of the season. I thought in the second half that they did a good job of taking away the first read initially.
“I thought we competed well for a half”, said Browns coach Mike Pettine.
The one-win Detroit Lions, looking nothing like the team that reached the playoffs last season, fired team president Tom Lewand and general manager Martin Mayhew on Thursday and promised to bring in new leadership to put a consistent victor on the field.
Pettine played Brian Hoyer at quarterback last season until he basically had no choice but to give Manziel, then a rookie, his chance.
What do you think the Browns should do?
On Friday, Pettine made it clear he doesn’t want to prevent Johnny from being Johnny.
For the Browns (2-7), it’s become monotonous.
“We are very disappointed with the results of the season so far and believe a change in leadership was necessary”, said owner Martha Firestone Ford, reading from a prepared statement. Whether it’s pressure in key moments from Geno Atkins – Pro Football Focus’ fifth-best graded defensive/nose tackle (subscription required) – or Carlos Dunlap containing the outside edge so Manziel can’t escape, this defense plays a lot better than its statistical output suggests. And there is no future with McCown. Is there one with Manziel? He’s a quarterback that still needs to play more games and needs intensive coaching on what he is doing wrong or right. There were no Money Manziel gestures and the Browns knew early in the third quarter that their night was over. They need to find out. In their running game, they use their tight ends [blocking-wise] on force players or extended players, so that’s really compatible with the skills of an athletic tight end.
“When we get in and get back from this time off, we’ll assess what pool of players are available and go ahead and make those decisions from there”, said Pettine, adding that he couldn’t say whether Manziel would start again. To be fair, Manziel didn’t have a bad game but he also didn’t do enough to warrant a starting spot in this team. Prosecutors announced they declined to file charges against Kane because of a lack of credible evidence in a case “rife with reasonable doubt”. Cabot writes that the Browns truly favor the veteran over Manziel and they hope he can get healthy with extra rest in order to start again.
But for Manziel, it was a step in the right direction. They proved it last night with a nice performance on the national stage.
Boykin is having a huge year for the Horned Frogs – he has them off to an 8-0 start, and has thrown for more than 2,900 yards, 28 touchdowns and only has five interceptions. Travis Benjamin had a ball hit his chest and then the ground, but he did finish with three catches.
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Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Mohamed Sanu (12) celebrates after scoring a touchdown with center Russell Bodine (61) and quarterback Andy Dalton (14) during the second half of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns, Thursday, November 5, 2015, in Cincinnati. The game could have been tied at 10 at halftime instead of the Browns trailing 14-10.
