Browns quarterbacks what we all expected them to be
By Thomas Moore
Aug 20, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Josh McCown (13) is pressured in the backfield during the first quarter of a preseason game against the Buffalo Bills at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
It was not a night for the offensive highlight reel when the Cleveland Browns took on the Buffalo Bills at FirstEnergy Stadium on Thursday.
But it was a night that showed the Browns’ quarterbacks are exactly what we expected them to be.
A week after looking like the quarterback that threw for 1,829 yards, 13 touchdowns and just one interception while starting 13 games for Chicago in 2013, Josh McCown turned into the Tampa Bay-version that went 1-10 for the Buccaneers last season, while completing just 56 percent of his passes, throwing 14 interceptions and taking 36 sacks.
McCown, who had a finger on his throwing hand X-rayed after the game, played the entire first half against the Bills and finished just seven-of-10 for 57 yards, two interceptions on poorly thrown passes, and three sacks.
“I’m not going to sit here and talk about trying to start up a quarterback controversy.” – Head coach Mike Pettine
“Two turnovers, (I) felt like other than that, other than those two plays, (I) threw the ball well and did the things I wanted to do with the football but those two plays. Can’t have turnovers,” McCown said after the game. “Obviously, not the standard I want to play at, but inevitably in this game, there is adversity and you’re going to have things that happen, mistakes. I thought as a group we responded well, got down there and got three points so that was good, but certainly not the standard of where we want to be.”
After putting up just 98 yards of offense and three points in the first half, we would certainly hope that is not the standard the Browns are looking for.
Johnny Manziel took over in the second half, and while he led a very nice touchdown drive, anyone calling for Manziel to take over the starting role needs get out of the soon for a while.
Manziel led five offensive drives against the Bills, four of which resulted in the following:
- Punt (7 plays, 34 yards)
- Punt (3 play, -10 yards)
- Punt (3 plays, 1 yard)
- Turnover on downs (7 plays, 28 yards)
And that came on the heels of Manziel converting just one-of-five on third down against Washington a week ago.
Oh, and did we mention he is doing all this against second- and third-team players, many of whom will be out of the league come Sept. 1?
“I’m still going out trying to play my best and make an impression. I want to have these guys go into the film tomorrow and turn on the tape and say, ‘This guy’s really doing things right and this guys really fighting hard to pick things up and make some plays,'” Manziel said after the game. “I’m trying to make an impression and leave a little bit of a lasting memory coming off these games. I wish we would have finished that out the right way, but still despite that, good things were done.”
Look, we’re as happy as anyone that Manziel is slowly starting to look like a competent quarterback, one who we don’t have to fear see enter a game if something happens to McCown. That’s a good thing.
But to try to turn him into anything other than what he is, which is basically a rookie quarterback since he took a voluntary redshirt season in 2014, is ridiculous and really just a redux of the “anyone but Brandon Weeden” argument that led to Jason Campbell‘s “moral victories” in 2013.
We’re actually more concerned with the play of the offensive line than we are with McCown. Yes, the Bills have a very talented defensive front, but isn’t the Browns offensive line supposed to be one of the league’s best? They had all five of their starters in with McCown last night and looked completely overwhelmed by the Buffalo defense.
Even if Joe Thomas sees it a bit differently.
“I think we’re in a pretty good position. Obviously, we’re not a finished product right now, but we’ve got the most important preseason game coming up next week,” Thomas said after the game. We’re looking to make some progress between now and next week. Once the season starts, we’ll have things narrowed down and get pretty good at the things that we think we’re going to do well.”
Based on what we’ve seen from the offensive line in the past, we’ll give Thomas the benefit of the doubt and trust that they will get things figured out in time for the New York Jets on Sept. 13.
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As for the quarterbacks, head coach Mike Pettine realizes looking good against the backups is not the same as looking good against the starters, so he’s sticking with the plan of keeping McCown as QB1.
“I think most teams, that’s a pretty good drop off from any starting unit, down to the twos, and then we also mix in with the starters. There’s an even bigger drop-off to what they’re playing against,” Pettine explained after the game. “It gets factored in, but we’ll see. We’ll evaluate both guys. I’m not going to sit here and talk about trying to start up a quarterback controversy.”
We have an (season) opener coming up so we are going to rep our guys based on how we see fit to get prepared. We wanted to keep the first receivers in with Manziel. We pulled some of the linemen out but kept the first receivers in to get him in there with that group. Josh is firmly the one, and he is in a new system. Those guys have to play together so we will have to strike a balance with that.”
Last night’s game did nothing to quiet those who will foolishly clamor for an unprepared Manziel to take over the starting role for the Browns. To those people, we’ll leave them with a quote from Marlo Stanfield on The Wire:
“You want it to be one way. But but it’s the other way.”