Johnny Manziel should be named Browns starter (Don’t be scared Browns fans)
September 21, 2015Is This Your (Wild) Card?
September 22, 2015Happy Tuesday, WFNY!
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m pretty excited about sports and life in general right now. The Browns won a game on Sunday in which I attended, the Cavaliers have media day coming up on Monday already, the Buckeyes….well, they struggled but at least they won, Danny Shelton is really fun to root for, I get my new iPhone on Friday, my birthday is tomorrow. Life is good.
I paid the price for watching the Browns win their home opener. Sitting in seats in the upper deck which put my head in direct contact with the sun has left me with one of the more painful sunburns I’ve had in a while (bald heads and direct sunlight do not mesh well, for the record). But I truly couldn’t care less. It was worth it a million times over. This is now the fourth Browns win I have seen in person since the team came back1. This is now back to back seasons in which the Browns have won their home opener. I like this trend. Now if they could just figure out how to win the season opener, that would be even better.
The win was enormous for this team and the fans. Falling to 0-2 would have been an absolute nightmare for the collective psyche. But the Browns won, and Johnny Manziel finally gave Browns fans a little something to be excited about. That last touchdown play was what Johnny Football did best at Texas A&M. The play was somehow simultaneously sloppy and in complete control. It was innovative, gutsy, and probably not something that you can count on to do all the time.
That’s the thing with Manziel. He has such a bizarre skillset as a QB. He is capable of improvising and brings a level of excitement about the unknown of what he might do next. But those traits are also not necessarily typical of what you look for in a successful NFL QB. I don’t know what to make of Manziel, nor do I particularly care to try to dig too deep in breaking down his chances of success. The Browns are 1-1, they have a winnable game coming up this weekend, and I’m just going to enjoy this for now. Manziel’s fate will play itself out. The Browns’ season will play out as it will.
I’ve seen some back and forth arguments on Twitter already about Manziel and McCown and the future of this team and whatever. With the Browns, I just can’t think about it that way. I personally do not think Manziel is going to be the long term QB of this franchise. But I could easily be wrong about that, and I hope I am. I hope this week sparks something that leads to Manziel have a long, excellent future as the QB of the Browns. But whatever happens, happens. For today, I’m just basking in the glow of the win. Or else the glow is from my sunburnt forehead. Who can tell?
*****
Impressed with Mariota
Tennessee Titans QB Marcus Mariota certainly turned some heads in Week 1 with his stellar debut against the Bucs. As someone who took a $1 flyer on Mariota in my auction keeper league, I was certainly eager to see how we looked in person on Sunday. When Ohio State played Oregon in the National Championship Game, I wasn’t that impressed with Mariota. I questioned whether he really had an NFL arm.
While the Titans lost on Sunday, I still came away from that game pleasantly surprised with Mariota. I was mostly impressed by him. Mariota got absolutely killed in that game. He was hit on virtually every play it seemed, particularly in the first half. And while early in the game the Titans couldn’t move the ball and there were turnovers galore (some which counted, some which were taken away by the refs), the thing I liked about Mariota is that he kept getting back up and eventually, he started moving the offense a bit. By the 4th quarter, Mariota and the Titans had made it a close game and were threatening to tie the game up.
I still think Mariota lacks the strength to be the kind of QB to whip the ball all over the field, but I also think there’s a place for smart, savvy, tough QBs. The kind of hits he took Sunday aren’t sustainable, so the Titans need to work on that, but for a rookie QB making his second career start, I thought he looked fine.
*****
QB controversies suck
I don’t know if either of the football teams I root for truly have a traditional “QB controversy”. But whatever you want to call it, I hate the cloudiness that hangs over the QB situation of both teams. Does Josh McCown still get his job back? Or did Manziel do enough on Sunday to show that he deserves the job now? Is it fair to keep sitting Cardale Jones in the first half of games? Is there something wrong with JT Barrett that is causing him to be so inaccurate right now?
None of that is fun. I guess by nature there’s no way to have an enjoyable QB controversy. Good teams have a good QB who starts. They may or may not have a good backup QB, but there’s one guy who is the clear starter. The Browns have controversy because neither guy has been that clear starter. The Buckeyes have controversy because both guys have shown they can be that starter. So it would make sense to say the Buckeyes’ QB situation is preferable. But in some ways, I feel like it’s not. I feel like it’s almost worst for Ohio State because I think it’s starting to bring down what should be a really great football team.
To be frank, I hate the Ohio State QB situation. I hate the way the coaches have handled it and I hate the way the players themselves are handling it. For instance, is Cardale changing his Twitter bio to read “2nd string” after getting pulled against Northern Illinois just another example of Cardale being the fun, cute, lovable guy we saw all offseason? Or is it perhaps a mildly immature gesture of not handling his situation very well?
Can you blame him for not being happy? It has to be hard to focus on being the QB when you know the coaches will be quick to pull you if you make mistakes. I wish the coaching staff would have just named a starter a week before the Virginia Tech game and just rode that guy. Pick a starter, and make it clear that he is not going to be pulled unless he is hurt or it is mop up duty in a blowout.
The way this season has gone is not ideal and it can’t keep going like this. The playcalling has been a mess, the blocking has been less than great, and the QBs are playing timid and scared and it’s leading to them making mistakes and not just relaxing and playing loose. There’s a ton of pressure on this team in particular and it feels a bit like it’s all crashing down right now. Ohio State has enough talent to win, but if they keep playing like this, one of these games it’s going to catch up to them.
*****
New Music of the Week
Time to talk about a little pop music this week. Not typically my genre of choice, I still every once in a while find a really strong pop album that resonates with me in some way. A few years ago, I fell in love with the Passion Pit album “Gossamer”. A couple years ago I thought the Tegan and Sara album “Heartthrob” was really strong.
This week, we have another pop album that I am really loving. I’m talking about the new Chvrches album “Every Open Eye”. I’m a huge fan of Chvrches singer Lauren Mayberry. I think she’s an incredible singer and I’m a huge fan of public persona as well. Their first album, 2013’s “The Bones of What You Believe” was pretty solid and it certainly thrust Mayberry and her bandmates into the forefront of pop music in the indie scene. But “Every Open Eye” is a stronger and more consistent album from front to end.
I’ve been listening to the album almost non stop on NPR’s First Listen streaming site. You can check it out here. This is a nice album to help pass the time until next Friday when we will have an absolute monster of an album to discuss. Brownie points to anyone who knows which album I’m referring to.
*****
That’s it from me. Have an enjoyable rest of your week!
- The first win I saw was the 2006 game against the Jets in which Brodney Pool shoved the Jets out of bounds in air to prevent a potential game tying TD. The second win was the Giants MNF game. The third was the thrashing of the Steelers last season. I hate that I can count out the wins I’ve seen like this. [↩]
34 Comments
Well, getting mollywhopped by the Jets last week, doesn’t look quite so bad after last night.
Do better fans.
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The Jets are a good team with a great defense – and we lost our starting QB (and game plan) on the first series. It was disappointing, but I continue to find no shame in what happened last week.
As long as we don’t step on our d**ks against the Raiders…
At least we’d have d**ks long enough to step on…SILVER LININGS!
interesting … i have heard many say they weren’t impressed by mariota in the NC game. let’s see , he was 24 of 37 for 332 yards 2td’s 1 int & i recall a couple of huge drops by his WR’s in the 1st half … and considering he took a good beating in that game , i was more impressed with him in that one single game that any other he had played in college … mostly because of the toughness he showed.
SOON.
SOON.
Yeah that stupid no good QB who can’t generate any offense and turns the ball over multiple times…Andrew Luck.
And, he, like Johnny, needs to learn better ball security. I think part of that struggle is understanding just how good the NFL players are at not only hitting you, but stripping the ball while they do it. Young QBs have to learn (often the hard way).
Sorry Andrew, I must have somehow missed the section about the Indians winning an important series and staying in Wild Card contention.
(Corey has my back – thanks Corey).
hi MG … good point. that’s why there’s that fine line of sitting on the bench & learning & from actually being in there & experiencing it.
I have family who travel with their own condiments. The worst part is that the older I get, the more accepting I’m becoming of the idea.
Did anybody watch the postgame interview with Brandon Marshall last night?
He’s listed at 6-4. Steve Young is listed at 6-2, and Ray Lewis is listed at 6-1.
No way, no how. Marshal towered over those guys.
Life is good when the Browns win is a pretty sad headline. True but still sad.
The shame wasn’t the loss it was how they lost. It was another opener where this team laid an egg I’m sorry but 1-16 in season openers is beyond pitiful. On top of that 5 turnovers and double digit penalties. But I’m glad that’s nothing to be ashamed over.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubV3t9_CwDc
Ray Farmer scoffs!
We know where you stand.
Reality.
Or not, as the case may be.
If the Indians were two games back, I would be excited about them. Instead, I actually find it mildly annoying how often they tank the beginning of seasons, only to go on a tear late in the year when it’s likely too late to do anything and all the pressure is off.
I am excited about Lindor, though. Been a long time since I’ve been this excited about an Indians player.
I would say that it’s more that I wasn’t impressed on an NFL prospect level. A lot of those completions were short, underneath stuff, the kind of thing any QB can do. When the Ducks needed a big throw on 3rd down, though, that’s where I thought he fell short a bit. But yeah, I wasn’t as impressed then, but I really am now. I loved the way he fought through the tough start of that game and had his team back in the game in the 4th quarter.
Thank you very much.
Very impressed by Mariota. He will be a consistent winner once the team puts a good offense around him. In fact, I predict he will be a Pro Bowler in a few years. He just need to learn the NFL way, as noted by many of the comments.
“Mildly annoying.”
It’s like a marching band playing jackhammers outside of my bedroom window at midnight when I have an important meeting the next morning that requires my full, well-rested attention.
You’ll at least try to sleep through the jackhammers. If they were playing “Hang On Sloopy” then you’d be out there with them.
No, these jackwads are wearing blue and yellow. And there is no sleeping whatsoever.
“It’s only April” stings with me every spring
That sting lingers all the way to fall.
April baseball something something.
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