Browns vs. Bengals: What's the Game Plan for Cleveland?

Thursday night’s Battle of Ohio didn’t initially have much appeal outside of watching to see if the 7-0 Cincinnati Bengals stay perfect. But the Cleveland Browns trotting out Johnny Manziel—Mr. Spotlight himself—in place of injured placeholder quarterback Josh McCown is all the reason you need to tune in.

McCown has been much better than expected while setting Browns passing records this season. The beating he has taken over the last two weeks against NFC West defenses was too much for the veteran to endure, though, and the short week of preparation forced coach Mike Pettine to start his youngster.

Inserting the 23-year-old was an inevitability, injury or not, no matter how staunchly Pettine supported his starter. Either way, the coach seems infinitely more confident in his signal-caller this year after losing his trust after a 30-0 shutout at the hands of the Bengals last season.

"Last year, when he went out there, he was seeing 13, 14 guys on defense," Pettine said, according to NFL Network’s Albert Breer. "He's so much calmer this year, because I think he gets it.

Manziel led the Browns to a 28-14 win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 2 but threw just 15 passes—completing just eight—and rode a rare dominant defensive performance from his teammates. His 10 completions and only 80 yards against the Bengals last season wasn’t nearly good enough, and everyone knows it.

Offensive Game Plan

The game plan is simple for offensive coordinator John DeFilippo: Do what has worked so far and don’t get “cute” with Manziel. Last year, Kyle Shanahan tried taking advantage of the quarterback’s mobility with designed running plays. But he was never, truly, that type of player. He excels with improvisation, and that’s not something that can be drawn up on a white board.

For McCown, running back Duke Johnson and tight end Gary Barnidge have been the Browns’ biggest passing weapons since Manziel’s last start. With Andrew Hawkins and Brian Hartline out this week, their involvement in the game plan can’t be stressed enough. Johnson had just three touches last week. Barnidge drew only three targets from Manziel during the seven quarters he played in Weeks 1 and 2.

Re-kindling the Manziel-to-Travis Benjamin connection has to happen this week, too. Benjamin has fallen off since Johnny went to the bench, but their deep-ball chemistry will be a big factor in preventing the Bengals defense from loading the line of scrimmage with defenders. Three of Benjamin’s four touchdowns were thrown by Manziel, and each was a vertical shot of 40-plus yards.

Filed under the “painfully obvious” category is the Browns’ need to run the ball more, and more efficiently. The Bengals’ 18th-ranked rush defense—five yards per carry and 100 yards per game allowed—should give DeFilippo plenty of reasons to at least try to stay balanced this week.

Defensive Game Plan

Only the New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals are averaging more points per game than the Bengals’ 28.3 per contest. They’re also sixth in total offense despite a run game that ranks just 18th in yards per game.

Stopping them won’t be easy. Andy Dalton’s bevy of weapons, including A.J. Green, Marvin Jones, Mohamed Sanu and Tyler Eifert, are all healthy this year. As a unit, they’re seventh in passing yards per game. Despite having a good supporting cast, Dalton has floundered in prime time throughout his career. His 3-7 record and even touchdown-to-interception ratio speaks for itself. Slowing down Green is obviously Cleveland’s top priority, but finding a pass rush to fluster the quarterback is next on that list.

Name	W-L	TD-INT	Total QBR (Since '06)
Peyton Manning	44-17	183-53	80
Aaron Rodgers	18-11	63-16	75
Drew Brees	28-13	93-31	74
Tom Brady	37-14	109-34	72
Andy Dalton	3-7	11-11	26

Obviously, the Browns need to play better against the run. After beating the Bengals 24-3 on Thursday Night Football last season, Jeremy Hill said the Browns didn’t impress him. He then demoralized them with 148 yards and two touchdowns in their next meeting, that 30-0 blowout in Manziel’s first career start.

Hill’s 3.3 yards per carry aren’t impressing anyone this year, but his combination of size and speed has proved to be difficult for the Browns. As a group, they have missed tackles and been beaten to the edge, seemingly more than any team, and have allowed 10 runs over 20 yards.

Key Player Matchups

WR A.J. Green vs. CB Pierre Desir & S Ibraheim Campbell

Joe Haden has struggled with injuries and inconsistency this season, but he has had immense success against A.J. Green and Andy Dalton in the past. With him out for three games this year, second-year cornerback Pierre Desir has been serviceable in relief duty, but he’ll need all the help he can get against Cincinnati’s most dynamic player.

Playing for injured starter Donte Whitner, Ibraheim Campbell will have a tough task with the first significant snaps of his career. Whether he’s in coverage on standout tight end Tyler Eifert or helping with Green over the top, Campbell’s play will be a huge factor.

DT Geno Atkins vs. RG Joel Bitonio and OC Alex Mack

Pressure up the middle is a killer for young quarterbacks, and Geno Atkins is one of the most disruptive interior rushers. Fully recovered from a 2013 ACL tear, Atkins has sparked the Bengals defensive line with 20 tackles and five sacks. The Bengals’ 20 sacks are tied with a few other teams for eighth best in the league.

Manziel has improved his footwork and reads, but if he scrambles or hesitates in the pocket, Alex Mack and Joel Bitonio will have their hands full trying to prevent Atkins from penetrating. They have both had their own kind of struggles this year and will be challenged throughout the game.

OLBs Armonty Bryant and Paul Kruger vs. OT Jake Fisher

Recent trade rumors, and Paul Kruger himself, indicated the outside linebacker wasn’t happy in his current role. After logging a career-high 12.5 sacks in 2014, Kruger has just a half of a sack through eight games. Armonty Bryant has 3.5 while assuming more of an active pass-rushing role. But Kruger has had his chances; he’s just not getting to the quarterback this year.

Bengals right tackle Andre Smith is out this week, giving rookie Jake Fisher his first career start. Smith is the first Bengals starter to miss a game this season. That loss of continuity, and the presence of a rookie, is an opening the Browns have to exploit.

Prediction

Thursday night games are pretty unpredictable given teams’ short week of preparation and the prime-time setting. But one thing that has been predictable is the close nature of AFC North games. That should continue at Paul Brown Stadium.

Will Johnny Football or Johnny Manziel show up to play? His wild-card status makes the game difficult to project. But it’s foolish to expect a similar performance as last year with everything we have seen so far.

The Bengals look good, though. Really good. So it’s not a game anyone is expecting the Browns to win. However, Cleveland has played teams closely this year, and it has plenty of motivation and enough talent to potentially pull off an upset.

Final Prediction: Bengals 26, Browns 20

Unless otherwise noted, all stats courtesy of NFL.com.

Mike Hoag (@MikeHoagJr) covers the Cleveland Browns for Bleacher Report and is the managing editor of Browns Beat.