Cleveland Browns, Johnny Manziel Star in Epic Letdown Loss to Bengals

It was not supposed to happen like that. Johnny Manziel was supposed to ride into town on his white stallion to slay the evil Cincinnati Bengals and simultaneously keep the Cleveland Browns' playoff hopes alive while beginning his legacy as the future of the franchise. That fantasy was quickly dashed by the reality of a 30-0 drubbing.

The table was set perfectly for Manziel, too. The Bengals are a notoriously inconsistent team that struggles to stop the run. The Browns had been averaging 125 yards per game on the ground the previous four weeks. He should have been able to lean on the ground attack while picking his spots to sprinkle in his magic.

There was also the added motivation of Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis' comments on WLW-AM in Cincinnati (via ESPN.com) about him being a "midget." Surly Manziel was dying for his opportunity to humiliate the coach that belittled him.

The Browns offense had been so bad for the last month that it had nowhere to go but up. The unit had not been able to muster more than 10 points in three of the last four weeks. With the added spark of Johnny at the helm, there was no way the Browns couldn't improve, right?

The end result was five first downs on just 34 total offensive plays, 107 total yards of offense and an embarrassment beyond imagination.

“When you get beat, you get beat and you take it like a man and you move on and you try to progress and get better,” Manziel said after the game. “I need to be better. I felt like it was a fail on my part for the position and it’s tough.”

The city was ready for the change in guard, too. The Brian Hoyer supporters had subsided and—for the most part—agreed it was time for the kid to get a chance. The Browns were still technically in the playoff race prior to Sunday's game, and with two division games remaining, anything could happen. The Muni Lot, where the heavy partying happens before games, was full at an extraordinarily early time for this late in the season.

The valet at the Marriott in downtown Cleveland had "Go, Johnny Go!" By Chuck Berry blasting from an iPad with portable speakers. As I walked in for my pregame radio duties, two different hotel employees rubbed their fingers together in my direction. The "money Manziel" symbol was a common greeting before the game.

After was a different story. The pregame love affair on Twitter turned into a horror story, with the leading roles played by second-guessers and doubters. Manziel's entire career would be a bust! It has to be true; the people on the social media networks said so.

That’s what happens when an overly hyped rookie quarterback finally gets a start and goes 10-of-18 for 80 yards and two interceptions. Manziel's off-the-field behavior has not left him much wiggle room for error among the fanbase. This is especially true because he is replacing the very humble hometown boy at the most famous position in sports.

We can't make a judgment about Maziel's entire career based on 60 minutes of football, but we can say he has a long way to go. His footwork was sloppy, his delivery was rushed, he panicked under pressure and he realistically made just one positive play the entire game. Even his legs, which had become such a point of focus heading into this week, failed him. He had just 13 yards on five carries.

Manziel was not the only issue with the Browns. They never established a run game, finishing with just 17 rushes for 53 yards. The defense looked like the worst unit in the league, allowing 347 total yards of offense. The time of possession was as lopsided as you will ever see; the Bengals had the ball for over 17 more minutes than the Browns.

The wide receivers had key drops early in the game, which hindered the offense from gaining any momentum. The offensive line was bullied by the Bengals defense and allowed the defensive line to live in the backfield all day. Guard John Greco could make a nice side income as a matador.

Even with all that going wrong, nothing looked worse than the quarterback position. Part of that is the nature of the position and the fact that everyone focuses their attention there. Part of it is the fact that Manziel carries himself with such braggadocio that it was hard not to key in on his poor play. More than anything, however, it was so evident because of how unexpected it really was.

“They’re all big, and this one was meaningful,” head coach Mike Pettine said to the media in his postgame press conference. “That’s why it’s a surprise. It’s shocking that we just wouldn’t have it.”

The fact that Manziel and the Browns were ran off the field at home is mind-boggling. It's not like the Browns were playing a meaningless game either. Their playoff hopes, what remained of them, were hanging in the balance.

This was a big spot Manziel was inserted into. The fans were ready, the city was juiced and FirstEnergy Stadium was rocking. Johnny and the boys let everyone down. It's tough to define that loss in any other way.

So the Browns are now 7-7 after starting 6-3. They have lost four of their last five games and have a rookie quarterback they will be evaluating until the end of the season. Consider this on-the-job training. It's not exactly what the veterans on the squad were hoping for the final two games of the year.

Pettine and his staff made the right choice by starting Manziel. The change had to be made and the time was right. In fact, it might have happened a week too late. That doesn't change the fact that a switch to a rookie quarterback means rookie mistakes. Apparently, it means a lot of them.

So as Manziel learns his position at the NFL level, the Browns will play out the string and begin preparations for the offseason. The fans, however, are the ones left holding the bag. They placed their hopes and dreams in a team that fumbled its opportunity in 2014.

The leading culprit on Sunday was an extremely polarizing yet marketable 22-year-old rookie quarterback. For one week, he was a failure. It's now up to him and the coaching staff to make sure that reputation doesn't continue and define his career.

All quotes and observations were acquired firsthand unless otherwise noted.