Pettine’s “settle down” remark came on NFL Network as he left the field at halftime with the Browns trailing 14-10. “I think Reed is kind of Eifert in the Cincinnati offense, if you will”. The 19-yard touchdown pass was the backbreaking score in the Bengals’ 31-10 rout.
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Pettine added that successful National Football League quarterbacks “have to operate from the pocket”.
The Browns didn’t manage a second-half first down until just more than three minutes remained in the game.
It was the final highlight, as Manziel and the Browns simply couldn’t get anything going in the second half. “We didn’t do enough”. He lucked out not getting called for interference in the end zone. “We had a few momentum coming in to the half, so we really needed that”.
According to Cabot, McCown is expected to be the starter against the Steelers, but only if he is healthy. Josh McCown is head coach Mike Pettine’s favorite at the position, but the 36-year-old has no chance to be a long-term option for the Browns.
“The emphasis that Marvin is putting it to everybody that we don’t lose at home”, Jones said. I already met with the coordinators this morning.
“They came out and played a lot of Cover Two”.
“I felt like I was chasing him all game”, said Bengals defensive end Wallace Gilberry, of Manziel. The fourth started and ended with the Bengals. Manziel and the Cleveland offense played well for a half before unraveling thereafter.
WR Andrew Hawkins (concussion) missed his second straight game. He will have difficulty being a success if he is consistently prohibited from leaving the pocket. The Browns are now in a stretch where they play just two games over the next 26 days, at Pittsburgh on November 15 and against Baltimore at FirstEnergy Stadium on November 30. He and Isaiah Crowell must begin to rush better as they accumulated just 69 yards on the ground along with Manziel. Fine. If that’s the case, the Browns need to know that so they can move on. McCown has 11 touchdowns on 254 attempts. “It doesn’t matter. For me, it’s about how I can be the best tight end to help this team win”.
Sticking with Andy Dalton, a quarterback ridiculed for his mediocrity and less than that in the playoffs, has meant a lot.
Eifert caught five passes for 53 yards and three touchdowns Thursday. The Browns have now yielded 18 touchdown passes in nine games.
The Browns could’ve finished it when the Bengals failed on fourth-and-2 from the 6.
The Bengals, who improved their record to 8-0, got the ball back with 44 seconds to play in the game, and Cincinnati sent McCarron into a regular-season contest for the first time. The killer play was a 25-yard end around for a touchdown by Mohamed Sanu.
“That’s my quarterback out there ready to block”, said Sanu. Coverage teams were excellent. They protested that Pettine wants to take Manziel’s game away from him and force him to adapt to the Browns’ more conservative offense.
The numbers looked much different midway through that second half. The Browns have given up 81 points in the fourth quarter this season after giving up two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to the Bengals.
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According to the NFL Network, Thursday night’s broadcast averaged an overnight rating of 7.3, which was a 43 percent improvement over the week 8 broadcast of a year ago, which featured New Orleans and Carolina.
