Listen, TexagKateers, I'm no Manziel Hater and genuinely want him to succeed in the NFL but yesterday's performance was so horrible
across a multitude of dimensions that it gave me a real scare. I've seen the NFL debuts of other rookie QBs most recently Blake Bortles, Derek Carr,Teddy Bridgewater, Zach Mettenburger, etc. and Manziel was easily the worst
of them without a doubt. He showed little ability to play from the pocket, looked confused and baffled, had very
poor accuracy, and even worse, showed little ability to make plays with his
legs and athleticism, the corner stone of his game thus far.


Yes, one can say with accuracy that no other part of the Browns team played well either, but Manziel's play was arguably the worst part of the
effort.


If he doesn't show radical improvement over the last two games there is a very real possibility he won't be in the Browns plans moving
beyond the current year and they will recruit/sign another starter for next
year.


For reference, the much maligned Tim Tebow, fellow Heisman winner, had his
first NFL start late in the 2010 season as a rookie. He was 8 for 16 for 138 yards with 1 TD and no INTs as well as having 8 rushing attempts for 78 yards and another TD on the
ground. He was out of the NFL 3 years later.

Other notable QBs in their first games:

Troy Aikman: 17-35, 180 yards, 2 INT (1988)

Peyton Manning: 21-37, 301 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs (1998)

Aaron Rodgers: 8-15, 65 yards, 2 INT (2005)

John Elway: 1-8: 14 yards


Calm people. Just calm down.

If you think his play was the worst part of the game you obviously missed O-line play, receiver play and the defensive play.

Blake bortles has had qbr of 21.3, 9, 2.8, 2.3, 23, and 10.4 so far this year. I don't feel like looking up the rest, but I'm pretty sure every rookie has bad starts. So stfu and let him show you a collection of games.

That offensive line was like a turnstile except for one thing: you have to pay to get through a turnstile. They were going through free.

Why do you think they put him in this week? Because the season was over. Pettine knew he had to win out to make the playoffs and that wasn't happening. This week and future weeks are about the future of the organisation. I didn't get to watch the game but I would be interested which other rookies started/got significant playing time. If I had to guess I would say it wasn't insignificant.

Easy for him to look the worst since he touches the ball every play. Time may prove you right, but yesterday did not.

He's also playing in December when everyone is up to game speed but himself.

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Other notable QBs in their first games:

Troy Aikman: 17-35, 180 yards, 2 INT (1988)

Peyton Manning: 21-37, 301 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs (1998)

Aaron Rodgers: 8-15, 65 yards, 2 INT (2005)

John Elway: 1-8: 14 yards


Calm people. Just calm down.

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Sweet!!! Random stats that mean nothing!


Ryan Leaf: 16-31, 192, 1 TD 2 INT

Akili Smith: 10-17, 100, 0 TD, 1 INT

Rick Mirer: 20-27. 154, 0 TD, 1 INT

Ryan Fitzpatrick: 19-30, 310, 3 TD, 1 INT

Calm people. Just calm down.

it's a shame that this first game didn't happen in September.

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Other notable QBs in their first games:

Troy Aikman: 17-35, 180 yards, 2 INT (1988)

Peyton Manning: 21-37, 301 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs (1998)

Aaron Rodgers: 8-15, 65 yards, 2 INT (2005)

John Elway: 1-8: 14 yards


Calm people. Just calm down.

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Sweet!!! Random stats that mean nothing!


Ryan Leaf: 16-31, 192, 1 TD 2 INT

Akili Smith: 10-17, 100, 0 TD, 1 INT

Rick Mirer: 20-27. 154, 0 TD, 1 INT

Ryan Fitzpatrick: 19-30, 310, 3 TD, 1 INT

Calm people. Just calm down.

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It appears that the point is: Almost all rookie QBs suck. What separates them afterward is the ability to learn from the rookie experience and adjust. Having a bad first game should be expected.

You'd look uncomfortable in the pocket too if the defensive linemen got to the pocket faster then you did. There was absolutely no blocking going on by the Cleveland o line.

Maybe the oc should have seen that they were blitzing, and given Manziel some quick slants?

superunknown - Either way, our arguments come to the same conclusion: the first game in any NFL QB's career are not indicative at all of their future success / failure.

Cleveland just being Cleveland and has botched this situation every way imaginable. A split locker room is always trouble.

You can't compare his performance to any other first time starter because:

1) He had less than a week of work with the first team and then he was thrown into a mid December game with playoff hopes on the line for the other team. Other comparative qb starts had much more time to prepare and I guarantee their first start wasn't this late against a team gunning for the playoffs.

2) Due to the poor defensive performance at the beginning of the game, Cleveland was down 2+ scores before Manziel had a chance to really get into any groove. He was forcing plays in the first quarter and first half because his team was already down big. His team and the situations he was in gave him little chance to succeed and great chance to fail.

3) The play-calls in his first few series were terrible. Run, run, pass. You don't force your rookie QB first passing attempt to be on a 3rd and long.

The problem is that the season was likely over for Cleveland, but not Cincy. So they did what any NFL coordinator would do, they went after Johnny relentlessly. Johnny did nothing to make them pay. That's what will make the difference. When he learns to recognize what's coming, check to a hot receiver, and compete that pass with consistency, then this is what he is going to get. Once he does, the defense will have to back off a bit, the O line play will suddenly improve, Johnny will get time in the pocket, and he'll also start to find running lanes.

He just needs game time.

He just needs game time.

Really sad that people come on here and post this nonsense. Judging a career based on one game is silly at best. A Rodgers was bad yesterday. Daulton was beyond horrible in the first Cincy/Cleveland game (QB rating of 4).

The Manning brothers, Troy Aikman, Steve Young and many others struggled badly in their first few games.

Manziel did not play well but there were many other factors such as Hawkins dropping an early pass down the field on 3rd down (perfect pass by Manziel on the move by the way) and the O-line just letting all defenders rush in on Johnny practically every play. The play calling was horrendous as well.

Johnny will only get better and I still say he will be a good nfl QB but it will take some time.

Your right Claud, but the problem was this board was inundated with dummies proclaiming yesterday was going to be some type of "coming out party" where Johnny put it to all his critics.

The wise kept their mouth shut.

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John Elway: 1-8: 14 yards


Calm people. Just calm down.

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JFF >>> elway

I've seen the Browns play the entire year and I can tell you that was easily the worst performance by the team so far. Defense was terrible in the first half. OL play was ridiculously bad and the WR's were actually about on par for the season (i.e. inconsistent at best). All of this obviously sets up JFF to be in a tough position to succeed.

Now with all that said, Johnny was flat out bad. One decision was worse than the next out there. I realize that JFF hasn't always had the best fundamentals, but he was throwing off his back foot right out of the gate in the 1st series and that continued the entire game, so its not like he tried to initially deploy proper footwork and then after getting chased around his footwork went bad.

The good news is that he is a rookie and as others pointed out, rookie QB's are going to struggle. Additionally, its just one game so really tough to tell at this point how he'll turn out. The bad news is he currently has multiple things working against him:

1) Decision making needs significant improvement (which is probably normal for a rookie QB to struggle with initially)
2) Poor fundamentals throwing the ball, which led to the ball just floating around out there
3) Shanahan must ditch the zone read, that's not what makes JFF great. Hand the damn ball off to a RB for designed runs, and otherwise let JFF have the option of pass or if he sees running lanes, then he can run the ball (see Tony Romo and Aaron Rodgers).
4) OL play must improve, which at a minimum should occur by 2015 with Alex Mack returning at Center.

Honestly, I think most of the items on that list can be remediated, however I think I was most shocked with how poor JFF's fundamentals were right out of the gate.

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John Elway: 1-8: 14 yards


Calm people. Just calm down.

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JFF >>> elway

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Well, do you see Elway still in the league? Do you? I think not.

QED

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there is a very real possibility he won't be in the Browns plans moving
beyond the current year

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hope your right, new team please

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Blake bortles has had qbr of 21.3, 9, 2.8, 2.3, 23, and 10.4 so far this year. I don't feel like looking up the rest, but I'm pretty sure every rookie has bad starts. So stfu and let him show you a collection of games.

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The QB whom many have referenced Johnny Football to in the past, Fran Tarkenton, went 8-24 for 117yds, 2 INTs, and a 15.5 QB Rating in his 1st rookie game in 1961!

Relax

Didn't Aaron Rodger sit on the bench for three years?

The thing that stuck out to me is JFF's tendency to float the ball across the middle - especially when he was scrambling. It worked in HS and College - but these pro DB's eat that stuff for breakfast - he's got to keep those throws low and hot.

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The thing that stuck out to me is JFF's tendency to float the ball across the middle - especially when he was scrambling. It worked in HS and College - but these pro DB's eat that stuff for breakfast - he's got to keep those throws low and hot.

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weird, that's the exact same thing commentators said.

Manziel won't even be in the NFL in three years.

He is a boy trying to play in a man's league. Some of us knew what would happen.

The Browns were absolute idiots to draft him, but that is why the Browns are the Browns.

What was Johnny's line to Haslam? "Let's wreck this league together" (or something like that)

It worked. JFF got some $$$.

But he'll be a laughing stock for quite a few years.

That is the "brutal truth."

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Manziel won't even be in the NFL in three years.

He is a boy trying to play in a man's league. Some of us knew what would happen.

The Browns were absolute idiots to draft him, but that is why the Browns are the Browns.

What was Johnny's line to Haslam? "Let's wreck this league together" (or something like that)

It worked. JFF got some $$.

But he'll be a laughing stock for quite a few years.

That is the "brutal truth."

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You're dumb as a box of hair. You have ZERO idea what is going to happen with Johnny's career. ZE! RO!

Doesn't have Mike Evans to bail him out.

Cool. Then we can agree on that!