The term success and the Cleveland Browns are rarely put in the same sentence. The Browns won their last National Football League Championship in 1964 when running back Jim Brown was still in their backfield. Since then the Browns have become the ugly ducklings of the NFL as they have come close to success on several occasions only to shy away from it. This season the Browns are 7-5 and they are in contention for their first playoff berth since 2002 while one more win would secure their first non-losing season since 2007. But it wouldn’t be the Browns if they were to leave well enough alone. This season Brian Hoyer has been the Browns starting quarterback since Week 1 as he beat out rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel in training camp. However in the last three games, the Browns are 1-2 while Hoyer has thrown six interceptions to just one touchdown pass. During last Sunday’s 26-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills, Hoyer was benched in the second half of the game by Browns head coach Mike Pettine in favor of the rookie Manziel. After the game Pettine added fuel to the fire when he told the world that he would announce the starting quarterback for Week 14 this past Wednesday. Pettine decided to go with Hoyer, but not before making him sweat it out as he will now be looking over his shoulder more than ever.
At the start of the season Hoyer was the feel good story of the NFL. The hometown boy was leading the team that he grew up watching. With Hoyer at starting quarterback, the Browns were 6-3 and they were showing the world that they were not the same-old Browns. But the expectations for the Browns changed when the suspension of wide receiver Josh Gordon was lifted after Week 11. The Browns offense has appeared to regress a bit in the pass few weeks, but all season long Hoyer has had a knack for delivering late in games. Hoyer has brought the Browns back to tie or either win the game on five occasions this season which deserves some more respect and trust from Pettine.
Brian Hoyer
Unlike Manziel, Hoyer had to scrap and claw his way to the National Football League. Hoyer went undrafted in 2009 coming out of Michigan State before being the backup quarterback to Tom Brady as a member of the New England Patriots for three years. Hoyer then spent a season with the Arizona Cardinals where he only appeared in one game before getting his break with the Browns last season until an ACL injury abruptly ended his feel good story. Manziel on the other hand is the flashy breath of fresh air that will sell tickets and ignite a fan base. The Browns moved up in the first round of the NFL Draft last spring to select the former Heisman Trophy winner from Texas A&M and they immediately saw a spike in their season-ticket requests due to it. But Hoyer was out to prove himself once more and he impressed the first-year head coach in Pettine as well as the Browns locker room.
Benching Hoyer was one thing, but for Pettine to need a few days in order to decide who his quarterback will be for this Sunday is very “Busch League”. I would have been fine with Pettine benching Hoyer if the Browns were 4-8 and their season was done. But Hoyer has put this team in position for their first playoff berth in over a decade. Hoyer’s has made some mistakes along the way this season, but his work ethic has earned him some respect. Hoyer is in the last year of his deal with the Browns while Manziel appears to be the future for the team. But what if Hoyer is able to get the Browns to the playoffs this season? At the end of the day quarterbacks in the National Football League are defined by wins and losses more than anything else. Now with uncertainty around the Browns quarterback situation, Pettine is messing up something that is vital to every team which is their chemistry.
Johnny Manziel
Now instead of players on the Browns fielding questions about their upcoming game this Sunday versus the Indianapolis Colts which is important for both clubs, they are being forced to answer questions about Hoyer and Manziel. Even if Pettine had benched Hoyer last Sunday in favor of Manziel, but after the game he let the world know that he was going to stick with the guy that had gotten the team this far, the current controversy would not be as big. With four games remaining in the regular season, the Browns have a puncher’s chance to make the playoffs as they are a part of that 7-5 logjam in the AFC. Hoyer has consistently risen up in the face of adversity and he’ll have to do it one more time. Either this quarterback controversy will make the Browns a better team or they will self-destruct. But it is tough to put that much faith in an organization that has crumbled so many times over the last 50 years. From “The Drive” to “The Fumble”, to “The Move”, to seeing the original Browns in the Baltimore Ravens leave town and win two Super Bowl Championships, it wouldn’t be the Cleveland Browns if they didn’t find a way to mess things up for themselves.
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