Cleveland Browns: 4 takeaways from the loss to the Bengals

5, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel (2) walks off the field after the Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Cleveland Browns 31-10 at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Browns did what pretty much everyone expected on Thursday night in losing to the Cincinnati Bengals.

No one expected the Browns to do much of anything against the undefeated Bengals and the Browns did not disappoint during the 31-10 defeat.

Penalties at inopportune times, no idea on how to stop the run, barely 200 yards of total offense – we all saw it, we’ve all seen it before and we’ll all probably see it again for the season comes to a close.

So here are four takeaways, one for each of quarterback Johnny Manziel‘s second-half completions, from a disappointing night at Paul Brown Stadium.

Manziel still not ready to be the answer.

Johnny Manziel looked respectable in the first half when he was able to do the things that he is most comfortable with, namely rolling out and making a play.

He was 11-of-18 for 128 yards in the first half, hitting Duke Johnson with a nice touchdown pass just before the half. Manziel and the offense were also helped out by Isaiah Crowell carrying the ball nine times for 42 yards.

But once the second half started, it was Manziel 2014 all over again.

In the second half, the Browns managed just 32 yards of total offense and two first downs. The first four possessions of the half were all three-and-outs, Manziel was sacked three times and completed just four of his 15 pass attempts.

The big difference? The Bengals focused on keeping Manziel in the pocket and he had no answer for that. It’s easy to look good when you are doing the things you want to do – every NFL player looks good playing to their strengths – but the true test comes when the defense pushes you out of your comfort zone and you have to respond.

“I think it was just inconsistent. I thought he did some good things, but I just thought in the second half, especially after we fell behind, he was just trying to make too many big plays instead of just taking completions,” head coach Mike Pettine said after the game.  It’s also a function of how well did we play around him. I don’t know if in the second half we played well enough around him for him to play well.”

Manziel definitely looked better – at times – last night and showed that there is something to build on. But if he can’t learn to throw from the pocket, there are going to be plenty of games that look like the second half in his future.

Although as Pettine pointed out, it wasn’t all Manziel’s fault. (Of course that is true every week, but not everyone wants to hear that when it is Josh McCown at quarterback.)

Can we get some help around here?

It’s not fair to pin every problem from the offense on the quarterback, no matter if it is McCown or Manziel. They can only do so much if no one else is helping out.

Johnson had two nice catches in the first half for 38 yards – and that was it for the game. He may not be much of a runner (three carries for zero yards), but how does he not catch a pass in the second half?

Travis Benjamin has not caught a touchdown since Week 3 (reminiscent of last season) and has just 10 receptions for 95 yards over the past three games.

Taylor Gabriel (one catch out of six targets) and Gary Barnidge (two catches out of seven targets) both had trouble hanging onto the ball.

And while the Browns did run for 4.1 yards per carry, 31 of their 69 rushing yards came on Manziel scrambles, which is not an optimal way to run an offense.

Manziel or McCown, it doesn’t matter if you can’t run the ball and if the guys can’t catch the ball when it is thrown to them.

No defense for the defense.

What is there left to say, really, about the defense?

The Browns gave up 30 or more points for the fifth time this season, gave up more than 150 rushing yards for the seventh time, didn’t force any turnovers, and allowed Cincinnati tight end Tyler Eifert to catch three touchdowns on just five targets.

“We’re supposed to stop them and we didn’t,” Desmond Bryant told cleveland.com after the game. “It doesn’t matter how many plays we’re out there. We have to get stops in critical situations – on third downs and red zone – and we didn’t get it done.”

“Honestly, they came out with a little more want to (after halftime) and they got it done and we didn’t. We’re not where we want to be and we should be fighting harder to get where we want to be.”

Nine games into the season and the defense is still not “where it wants to be” is not the most comforting thought.

Welcome to the 2015 season, Dwayne Bowe.

It only took nine games, but wide receiver Dwayne Bowe finally found his way onto the stat sheet, catching three passes for 31 yards.

After months of hearing that Bowe is horrible and (at the very least) should be cut immediately, if not sooner, it was nice to see him actually do something on the field.

Of course, this being Cleveland, Bowe’s performance has to include some manufactured nonsense.

Bonus item: What’s next?

The loss drops the Browns to 2-7 on the season and it is becoming easier and easier to envision a scenario where this team finishes the year at 2-14.

The Browns now have seven games left in the season and the time has come for everyone to decide just what it is they want to accomplish over the next couple of months.

If they decide to keep the status quo and just ride things out, then putting McCown back in as the starting quarterback is probably the direction the Browns will go. If he’s not healthy enough to face Pittsburgh next week, then he should certainly be ready for Baltimore on Nov. 30 after the bye week.

In addition, keep running the same defense with the same personnel, hope you get lucky a couple of times, maybe find a running game on offense, and possibly pound out a couple of wins.

While there is probably only so much you can do in-season with an NFL team (there are no minor leaguers to call up, for example), the options on the table would appear to be:

• Barring an injury, let Manziel play out the rest of the season. At this point McCown is what he is as a quarterback, and while he may still give the Browns the best option for winning, is there really much difference between finishing 2-14 or 4-12? Manziel is still very raw, but it could be time to find out just how much he can learn from his mistakes and build on what he does do well on a weekly basis.
• Pettine returning his focus to the defense and helping out defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil. The defensive philosophy that Pettine runs has shown in the past that it can work – the Browns were not this bad last season running the same defense – and the time has come for Pettine to return to his roots and see if he can help O’Neil get things back on track.
• Make some lineup changes, most notably on defense. Other than the quarterback position, there’s not much worth changing on offense, but that is not the case on the defense. Give more playing time to Xavier Cooper and less to Randy Starks. Sit down Donte Whitner and see what Ibraheim Campbell can do. If Joe Haden continues to miss time with injuries, have his spot be the responsibility of Pierre Desir and Justin Gilbert, not Johnson Bademosi.

Will any of that make a difference? Who knows? But could it really be any worse?

“When we get in and get back from this time off, we will assess what pool of players are available and go ahead and make those decisions from there,” Pettine said when asked about the possibility of upcoming changes. “This will be a good time to step away and reassess where we are moving forward.”

The Browns only one game on the schedule over the next 25 days, so if the team decides it is time for a change, these next few weeks would seem to be the perfect opportunity.