What to Expect from Browns Offense with Johnny Manziel Starting in Week 15
The Cleveland Browns are moving forward with Johnny Manziel as their starting quarterback for their Week 15 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals.
While we've only seen Manziel on the field for 18 snaps during the regular season, we did get a glimpse into the Browns offensive plans for him in Week 13 when he relieved Brian Hoyer in the fourth quarter against the Bills.
It's difficult to jump to any board conclusions from such a small sample size, but some interesting play-calling patterns did emerge from his brief appearance two weeks ago.
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Let's take a look at each of Manziel's dropbacks against the Bills in an effort to project what the Browns offense might look like on Sunday.
Dropback 1: Scrambles right for three-yard gain
The Browns line up in a basic I-formation with two wide receivers (Josh Gordon split wide left, Andrew Hawkins off the line to the right). The play starts with a play-action fake to Isaiah Crowell, followed by Manziel rolling right in an effort to find Gordon on an in-route toward the right sideline.
The Bills defense plays Manziel perfectly, not overcommitting to the run and taking away both Gordon and Hawkins as options. As a result, Manziel wisely tucks the ball and runs for a modest gain.
Dropback 2: Pass to Miles Austin in flat for 12-yard gain
The second play is essentially a reverse of Manziel's first snap. Lined up in the same formation, but off the play-action, Manziel rolls left.
On this play, the Browns provide Manziel with options at three levels.
Gordon runs a deep comeback route, tight end Jim Dray runs an intermediate level in-route, while Austin runs a drag route behind the line of scrimmage into the flat on the right side.
With only half the field to cover, the Bills are fairly easily able to take away Gordon and Dray as options but leave Austin open for a short pass, and he turns it into a 12-yard gain and a first down.
There certainly wasn't anything spectacular about Manziel's first NFL completion, but he made the smart decision and took what was given him by the Bills defense.
Dropback 3: Pass to Gordon for 18 yards
Once again the Browns are in a two-receiver I-formation set, with Gordon and Gabriel as the wideouts. Manziel runs the play action and hits Gordon just as he crosses in front of the deep safety in the middle of the field.
It's a fairly simple play, but Manziel executes it well. The timing is perfect, giving Gordon the opportunity to secure the catch before the safety closes on him.
Dropback 4: Incomplete pass under pressure, targeted Travis Benjamin
For the fourth consecutive pass play, the Browns run the play action from the two-receiver, I-formation set. Manziel rolls to his left, most likely hoping to find Gordon, who breaks free on a comeback route on the 10-yard line.
Unfortunately, Manziel faces pressure and is forced to get rid of the ball before Gordon completes his route. With a rushed and off-balance delivery, Manziel fires wide of Benjamin on his in-route.
Dropback 5: Pass to Dray for 12 yards
This play is the first time Manziels drops back from a shotgun formation. Terrance West starts out into the backfield but goes in motion into the slot on the left side.
As Manziel drops back, he stares down the the receiver on the right side. (It's difficult to see which receiver this is on film.) At the last second, he sees Dray break free and hits him just before the safety closes, narrowly missing an interception.
While the play works out in Manziel's favor, it's worth mentioning that the Bills had a breakdown in communication on the left side, leaving West uncovered for what could have been an easy touchdown.
Dropback 6: Scrambles up the middle for touchdown
This was one of the more intriguing plays the Browns ran with Manziel, mostly because it's difficult to determine whether or not it's a designed run—something that is key their ability to keep defenses guessing.
Receiver Taylor Gabriel and tight end Ryan Taylor both run to the back of the end zone, drawing the safeties back with them. Dray also attracts some attention to the right sideline with his out route.
Gordon runs a drag route just past the line of scrimmage, attracting some attention toward the middle of the field. However, with cornerback Stephon Gilmore in man coverage, once Gordon passes the line, that leaves the left side of the field essentially wide open.
The moment Gordon crosses past the left tackle, Manziel tucks the ball and runs, which may have been by design.
With the left side of the field cleared and the safeties drawn deep by Gabriel and Taylor, Manziel has room to run into the end zone.
Dropback 7: Checkdown to West for four yards
This was one of the few poorly executed plays by Manziel, but it's a play design that is likely to remain an option for him in the future.
On this particularly play, Manziel feels pressure and starts to run before he needs to take off. At the last moment, he sees West and shovels the ball forward for a short gain.
In the future, this is a design that can easily turn into one of Manziel's classic ad-lib plays. With two receivers going deep, Manziel has options down the field, but it also spreads the defense out.
Three receivers (Dray, Gordon and West) run shallow curl routes. This gives Manziel easy checkdown options, but it also allows the receiver to face the quarterback and react to his movements. If Manziel rolls either direction, the receivers on the curl routes have the ability to adjust and break free into open space down the field.
Dropback 8: Incomplete pass to Dray
Once again the Browns put Manziel in position to freelance, with three receivers running curls, giving them the ability to easily see his movement and react.
However, Manziel rushes his throw to Dray, and it falls incomplete. There is a clear window in which Dray is open when Manziel releases the ball, so it's fair to call this a good decision with poor execution.
Dropback 9: The controversial non-fumble play
This was an ugly play from the start as Manziel bobbles the snap and then later appears to fumble the ball that Buffalo recovers for a touchdown. However, the call was reversed, and it was ruled an incomplete pass.
The play appears to be designed to get the ball to West in the flat, and if executed properly, West would end up with plenty of room to run.
Given the game situation (on their own 18-yard line, losing late in the fourth quarter), it's likely that this play was more about taking advantage of Buffalo's prevent defense than anything.
Dropback 10: Complete to Austin on fourth down, short of first-down marker
Manziel drops back and fires a quick strike to Austin, his first read. While the play fails, the error is not on Manziel.
Austin runs his route a yard short of the first-down marker, dooming the play from the start.
Given the game situation and the fact that Austin was open, this was a quality decision and a good throw from Manziel.
Conclusions
So what does this tell us about how the Browns coaching staff will manage the game with Manziel under center? It's obviously a small sample size, but there are some interesting patterns forming in the play-calling.
The most surprising development was the lack of three- and four-receiver sets—something that Texas A&M used consistently with Manziel.
Four of Manziel's 10 dropbacks came under center in the I-formation with just two receivers. While the play action keeps the defense on their toes, it does allow them to stack the box, limiting Manziel's scrambling ability.
Was this intentional?
It's possible the Browns want Manziel somewhat limited in his freelancing. While his scrambling can certainly lead to big plays, it also puts his health in jeopardy and increases the risk of ill-advised passes into coverage.
The Browns may simply want to play it safe with Manziel at this point in his career. Obviously making the playoffs would be nice, but they certainly don't want to jeopardize anything down the road for a short-term payoff. (Just ask the Redskins about that.)
While Manziel is most dangerous on the move, his biggest weakness coming out of college was his lack of experience sitting in the pocket and going through his reads.
Washington inherited similar issues with Robert Griffin III coming out of Baylor, but it elected to turn him loose as a rookie, designing a simplistic offense with a lot of read-option and one-read pass plays. His health and development both suffered as a result, and we're seeing the consequences play out now.
The Browns' heavy dose of basic I-formation sets may be the Browns' way of forcing Manziel to learn on the job. He's more likely to stay in the pocket and go through his progressions in these sets than in a spread offense that makes it easier to take off running.
Regardless of how the Browns handle Manziel, it will be fun to see him finally get his shot on Sunday. Johnny Football is nothing if not entertaining.
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