Cleveland Browns vs Cincinnati Bengals: Film Room Session
Manziel shows he can operate from a clean pocket
The Browns work from a gun tight formation with twin receivers to both sides. The Bengals rush four and drop seven in coverage. The Bengals are playing a zone scheme. The Bengals are forcing Manziel to stay in the pocket while hoping the four man rush gets pressure on Manziel.
Source: NFL Game Pass
The inside receiver on the left side of the formation is tight end Jim Dray. Dray runs a five-yard out and seems to be Manziel’s first read. Dray is taken away by the two Bengals linebackers in coverage. Usually when Manziel’s first read is taken away he will scramble and make it a freelance play. However, here Manziel plays within the structure of the offense and is calm working from the pocket. Given a clean pocket Manziel does a nice job of finding an open receiver. The Browns line does a nice job of stopping the four man rush.
Source: NFL Game Pass
Manziel notices Dray has been taken away by the Bengals coverage and comes back to the middle looking for Gary Barnidge. Manziel does a nice job of shifting his feet and keeping his eyes downfield. Manziel sees his second read Barnidge is also closely covered. Again, instead of scrambling Manziel realizes he has plenty of time to spare with no pass rush from the Bengals and continues to scan the defense.
Source: NFL Game Pass
Running back Duke Johnson releases from the backfield and runs a swing route to the left side. His release makes one of the Bengals linebackers on Dray to commit to Johnson. This leaves a window where Dray settled in between the zone coverage. Manziel realizes he has plently of time with no pass rush and scans back to the left where Dray is settled. Dray is wide open and Manziel is able to complete an easy throw and catch for 13 yards.
The play takes over six seconds to develop and Manziel is calm and poised scanning through multiple progressions before finding Dray. This play shows maturity on Manziel’s part that he is committed to throwing first and running second. However, Manziel is comfortable here because there is no pass rush. Manziel needs to progress and grow to where he is this comfortable against the rush as well.
Source: NFL Game Pass