Johnny Manziel Impressive in Extended Time Debut for Cleveland Browns
It was brief, it was unsuccessful and it will ultimately be irrelevant over the long term, but there's no doubting that Johnny Manziel's first stretch as the Cleveland Browns' primary quarterback was enthralling.
Manziel took over for Brian Hoyer during the fourth quarter of the team's loss to the Buffalo Bills. Hoyer forced the coaching staff to make the move with his second interception on a day when he threw for just 192 yards on 30 attempts.
While Manziel's first snap of the season didn't come in this game, it was his first prolonged period in the starter role.
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Before this week, the rookie quarterback had thrown just one pass and didn't have a rushing attempt. He did catch one long pass from Hoyer, but that play was negated by penalty. A penalty that was actually called on Manziel.
The Browns have seemed reluctant to insert Manziel into the starting lineup throughout this season.
Hoyer had struggled repeatedly over recent weeks without even a hint of Manziel's arrival. Head coach Mike Pettine emphasized that Hoyer had his full support just last week when he told reporters that he "never considered" benching his veteran quarterback despite his struggles against the Atlanta Falcons.
Wide receiver Andrew Hawkins backed up his head coach, telling Tom Reed of the Northeast Ohio Media Group (h/t NFL.com): "I don't think there's ever a time during a game when we think we're out of it because we have No. 6 running the show. ... When you have confidence in your leader and he has confidence in himself and the rest of the team then the sky is really the limit on any given Sunday."
After a preseason in which Manziel proved to be a raw quarterback prospect who needed time to prepare himself for the speed of the professional game, it was no surprise that the franchise was willing to be patient. Once the regular season began it was always going to take poor play from Hoyer for Manziel to see the field.
During the regular season, there aren't enough opportunities for Manziel to impress and compete for Hoyer's starting job outside of game situations.
All Manziel could do was prepare to play when given his opportunity, and even that had its limitations. As a raw rookie with essentially no playing time, Manziel had no way of preparing to be dropped into a road game against one of the best defenses in the NFL while being down by 17 points.
With that in mind, Manziel's statistics initially appear favorable for his performance.
The former Texas A&M quarterback attempted just eight passes, but he completed five of them for 63 yards. Those aren't startling numbers, but they are efficient. Furthermore, Manziel added in two rushing attempts, both of which ended with positive yardage, for 13 yards and one touchdown.
It was a brief display, but not a display that suggested Manziel wasn't capable of performing at this level. It was arguably a more impressive stretch than any he put together during the preseason.
Manziel's first drive started at the Browns' 20-yard line. The offense came out in a tight formation and with a fullback ahead of Isaiah Crowell in the backfield. Manziel was under center, from where he could run a hard play fake before bootlegging into the opposite flat.
He executed the play fake perfectly and ran into the flat while looking downfield. However, he only had one receiver downfield, Josh Gordon, who was running a shallow crossing route. Gordon was covered by four defenders, so Manziel made the smart decision to run out of bounds for three yards.
This was a smart play call from offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan.
Shanahan got Manziel outside of the pocket and gave him just one receiver to look for down the field. The quarterback understood immediately that if Gordon wasn't open, then he could run to the sideline for a short gain. On 1st-and-10, that is a decent option.
That option set up a 2nd-and-7 when Shanahan once again used play action to put his rookie quarterback in a position to make an easy read.
The Browns came out in essentially the same formation with a receiver to each side, one tight end and a fullback in front of Crowell in the backfield. Importantly, the Bills defense isn't being aggressive against the run even without Gordon on the field.
Once again, the Browns ran a play fake. This time they have inverted the approach, though, so Manziel was running to his left rather than his right.
Manziel comfortably executed the fake and showed the ball well for the backside defender to see. This caused the backside defender to hesitate for a moment. Unlike the previous play, Manziel had three receiving options who got into their routes quickly on this play.
His first read was going to come based on the actions of the backside defender who was unblocked.
That defender immediately looked to close on Manziel when he realized that the quarterback had the football. This meant Manziel must look to get rid of the football or attempt to elude him in space. During the preseason, Manziel would likely have panicked in this situation and attempted to elude the defender.
Instead of doing that on this occasion, he makes the smart decision of dumping the ball off into the flat for his uncovered receiver.
Because the backside defender was responsible for that receiver, he is uncovered down the sideline. The receiver is Miles Austin. Austin isn't very explosive or elusive at this stage of his career, but he is able to run down the sideline for an easy 12-yard gain because of Manziel's quick decision and action.
This is the kind of basic play that Shanahan likes to build his offense on. It's the kind of basic play that you would expect even a rookie quarterback to make.
After an Crowell first-down run, Manziel was tasked with making his first pocket throw. Shanahan used play action once again to aid Manziel, but he was still tasked with reading the coverage downfield when he turned around.
As the above image highlights, the Bills linebackers bought on the play fake, drawing them away from the deep middle of the field.
It was important to note the movement of those linebackers, because that movement is what created a throwing window for Manziel. As soon as the quarterback turned around, he made his decision to throw the ball to Gordon running a deep in route.
Gordon was wide open, but Manziel needed to drop the ball over the underneath linebacker to get the football to him.
The overall design of this play allowed Manziel to get rid of the ball quickly, avoiding a situation where he needed to read through his progression while reacting to pressure in the pocket. Nonetheless, Manziel showed a willingness to pull the trigger, and he delivered the ball on time with decent accuracy.
On the following play, Shanahan used play action again to get Manziel out of the pocket moving to his left.
The Bills defensive line reacted to this play fake better than the previous ones, getting more bodies around Manziel as he left the pocket. Furthermore, his initial receiver in the flat was well covered. Again, Manziel didn't panic. Instead, he set his feet and delivered the ball downfield to his deeper crossing route.
Travis Benjamin was the receiver running that route. Benjamin could have made the reception, but Manziel led him just too far, so it bounced off of his finger tips. The pass was just too far off target, something that only becomes a problem when it is a repetitive issue.
Manziel's biggest play on the drive came immediately after this play.
On 2nd-and-10, the Bills rushed just four while the Browns didn't ask Manziel to carry out a play fake. Instead, Manziel dropped into the pocket and began surveying the field to his right side. He had five receivers running routes, so there were plenty of options past his first read.
Manziel didn't stick to his first read.
Instead, he worked his way back to the middle of the field and found his tight end, Jim Dray. Dray was running down the middle of the field and he was actually well covered by the deep safety, but Manziel fit the ball into his intended target.
While Manziel deserves credit for the velocity he threw the ball at, this was a poor decision. He was very fortunate to avoid being intercepted by the incoming safety.
If the 21-year-old quarterback had held the ball for a moment longer or stepped up in the pocket, he would have been able to use the safety's aggressiveness against him. He would have been able to locate the wide-open receiver to the left of the offense who was running free to the end zone.
Expecting Manziel to make that play at this point is unfair. He was lucky on this play, but he also showed a comfort in the pocket and good arm strength. At this stage, he can learn from it rather than be punished for it.
Two plays later, Manziel ran in a 10-yard touchdown after initially not finding his first read from the pocket. While the result of the play was a touchdown, the action wasn't all that enticing.
Manziel left the pocket very quickly and didn't give his other receivers a chance to come free or find the ball. While his decision worked on this occasion, more often than not it's better for a quarterback to give a play more opportunities to succeed as it's designed.
As Colin Kaepernick has learned in San Francisco this season, developing this kind of bad habit can create major problems later on as a starting quarterback.
Because the Bills sustained their next drive, Manziel only had two drives on the field. His second drive was significantly less impressive than his first. On the first play of his second drive, he ran out of a clean pocket before flipping the ball to Terrance West underneath for a short gain.
That panicked play preceded an accurate throw over the middle of the field that was dropped by Dray. Manziel didn't deserve any blame for the failure of that play.
He did deserve some blame for the 3rd-and-6 play that followed, though, as Manziel couldn't control a slightly off-target snap before picking the ball up in the flat and trying to throw it away. Manziel appeared to fumble the football, but the ruling on the field generously called it an incomplete pass.
Once he completed a pass to Austin short of the first-down marker, his day came to a close.
Manziel is incapable of doing anything without having his actions drowned in media hype. The media hype will undoubtedly close in on his performance in this game, but it shouldn't be used to project his career forward either over the short or the long term.
There simply wasn't enough of a sample to really judge what he is right now or what he can be moving forward.
With that said, this is still a noteworthy day. It's noteworthy for Manziel and for the Browns.
Manziel and Browns fans will likely remember this as the day they got their first true look at their potential franchise quarterback. The decision makers within the organization will note this day as the first significant step towards moving the franchise away from Hoyer and towards Manziel.
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