On The Mark 12.8.14 #Browns Recap & Opinion

Brian Hoyer Ruins Great Defensive Play In 25-24 Loss To The Indianapolis Colts
By @MarkW2112

With this column, I usually write up a quick Browns recap with highlights or low lights from the game, give you my take and then say what's next for the Browns.  However, I'm going to just give you my take today.  We Browns fans already know how the game went.  The Browns defense was phenomenal against Andrew Luck but, because of the horrific play by Brian Hoyer and the offense, were exhausted by the end of the game which lead Luck to take advantage and score 18 unanswered points to win with 32 seconds left in the game.  So I'm just going to give you my take on Hoyer.

Brian Hoyer has no business being the starting quarterback for the last 3 games of the season.  This was a must win for the Browns today, so what did he do?  Play his worst game since the Jacksonville game in week 5.  He went 14-of-31 for 140 yards and 2 interceptions.  In 4 games, he's thrown 1 touchdown and 8 interceptions.  That is unacceptable.  Supporters of Hoyer will say "but he's 10-6 as a starter!  He's the reason why this team has a winning record!"  Yet he's also the reason why the Browns playoff chances are just about over with.  Jordan Cameron can say he ran a bad route on Hoyer's interception in the end zone, but upon closer look, he was staring down Jim Dray all along who was double teamed.  And while it doesn't help that Josh Gordon appears to not be in football shape, he had him wide open only to overthrow him by 10 yards.  Which was the same problem with Taylor Gabriel being wide open but throwing it over 10 yards in front of him.

The problem with Hoyer doesn't appear to be confidence.  It appears that defenses have not only figured him out but have also dared him to beat them with his arm.  He has had too many to count instances of balls going off defenders hands when they aren't being intercepted.  He either overthrows or throws behind his receivers, causing them to try and adjust on the fly.  The 2 interceptions he had again today has become an all too common trend the past few weeks.  This isn't just a slump.  This is a quarterback who is, at best, a career back up.

I thought Johnny Manziel should have started this week.  I screamed that Manziel needed to go in to get a spark today.  Yet Mike Pettine, the first year head coach of the Browns, refused to even consider putting Manziel in to game, according to what he said after the game today.  I don't know if it's out of loyalty to Hoyer for getting them this far or the fact that he doesn't believe Manziel is ready to be the starter for the Browns.  But whatever he thought going in to the Colts game should be thrown out of the window moving forward.  Manziel needs to start the rest of the season.  The playoffs at this point are probably a distant memory so why not see what they have in the Texas A&M rookie?  I (along with most Browns fans) would rather go through some rookie pains than seeing a veteran quarterback struggle to get anything going over the next 3 weeks.  I will also say that if Hoyer is the quarterback for the rest of year, I myself will not be watching.

Next week, the Browns play Cincinnati in the final home game of 2014.  If Mike Pettine is smart, he'll have Johnny Manziel be the one behind center.   We'll see if he is.