jmog;1680531 wrote:I would say that I am 70/30 on who starts next week. 70% Manziel and here is why:
1. We can't run the ball against a decent/good DLine right now with Mack out.
2. Hoyer has yet to play well in a game where we couldn't run the ball. He thrives off play action and 3rd/short. When he is in an obvious passing down he struggles mightily. When the defense isn't sure, he does well. We can not consistently get into those downs right now.
3. Manziel did well his first drive, brought a "spark", etc. His second drive, where he got lucky with a Brady 'tuck rule', was case in point of what I've said all year, he is a rookie and will make major rookie mistakes. However, 12 games in it is probably time (he has sat, learned, and hopefully it worked out well, because preseason he was a disaster).
4. It is time to find out if the kid can play at the NFL level. If we had a "Brett Favre" or even an "Alex Smith" at QB right now I would still say keep the kid on the bench learning, but we do not. We have a serviceable QB that is good when he as a running game and terrible when we don't. We do not have a running game right now unless we are playing a team that is terrible against the run like Atlanta.
5. Watching Hoyer's body language on the sideline and in the press conference he has lost his swagger/confidence. If he starts he will know he is on a short leash and will be scared to make a bad play. Typically when a QB is scared to make a bad play you either get a bad play or 3 and outs.
If I had to guess I would think Petine is more 50/50 on who to start.
More importantly, how many of us believe that Booms, Failwedge, and IQQY were all jizzing in their pants when Manziel ran in for the TD?
As to 1, 3 & 5, 1 & 3 were my whole reason for giving JFF a shot, at least in the red zone. I think if Hoyer leads the Browns on that drive, they settle for another FG.
Manziel adds another dynamic (ability to run it) in the red zone that Hoyer doesn't have.
As to #5, that's what I was talking about in my previous post....Hoyer, in his presser, sounded like the guy in Animal House with the "all is well, all is well" comment when all Hell was breaking loose. He's talking the talk but his body language/swagger is saying otherwise. I think he's playing skittish because he knows his head is on the chopping block.
As far as your last comment, can't speak for FW/Iggy but listening to Booms/Kiley this morning, it's safe to say that Booms probably needed a Kleenex and a cigarette (afterwards) when JFF came in the game yesterday.