I've avoided media coverage of the debacle in Buffalo and it's aftermath, so this one is all based on my own memory of the game. I was in a Lancaster sports bar Sans other Browns fans, unable to even dig Up a Bills fan.
Coach Coyote benches Hoyer and starts Manziel this week. Brian has failed. It doesn't mean he's a failure-just that he blew it this time.
On one play in particular, he threw a crossing zig when Gordon ran a vertical zag. It was on Hoyer. It would have been a touchdown. It was intercepted because the defender jumped the route.
Gordon saw the defender make his move, and adjusted to keep going toward the Bills end zone. Like he was supposed to.
This was not a complex read, as evidenced by the fact that I saw it instantly. Brian had time. He might or might not have locked on, but defenders watching film anticipate situational routes, and take risks based on that.
I believe Brian had his mind made up to throw that pass to that spot, period. That is not good.
Johnny Benched finally got his chance, ran the hurry-up, and kicked ass.
You could see a stronger arm, among other things. He had the strip-sack, yes. With his arm in motion. But it was his first ever start in a rediculous situation, and that wasn't the time to just meekly accept a sack.
But he was accurate, even when recievers dropped them. His td run was another thing Hoyer can't do.
Manziel is SMART, and he's had 12 games to watch and learn.
Some of the national guys are saying that you can't trust a rookie quarterback in a play-off race. Generally that's true. But our homie Brian has been pretty bad overall the last several weeks, and that is what. It. Is. It's irrefutable.
Forget this soap opera crap about Jimmy Haslam forcing the issue. People are manufacturing this bullcrap out of whole cloth. This will be Mike Pettine's call, period.
And here, as we have seen, the best players play. Including quarterbacks.
In Washington, Mike Gruden benched RGIII in favor of Colt McCoy. He earned the respect of the rest of his team with this move, along with his public criticism of RG a week earlier.
Other ex-coaches panned him for this. They're full of crap, as almost every ex-player wants you to know.
Josh Gordon wanted that touchdown. He knows he'll get blamed for the "miscommunication", and he is sick of it. The rest of the team spots mistakes like this in the film room, and wait to see how the coach handles it.
With Brian, they've been seeing this stuff for awhile.
It breaks my heart. I had more confidence in Brian than almost everybody else. Nor am I closing my book on him. The good Brian was really good, and his historic comebacks are almost predictable.
If Johhny isn't ready and flames out, simply bring a properly chastened Hoyer back.
Let the best player play. If a Coach does that, he'll never lose his team. And right now, that's Johnny.
I have to add this: The helmet-first hit that broke Barnidge's ribs was the most blatent spearing hit I've ever seen. That scumbag's intent was to injure. It was deliberate. It was despicable and should have been flagged.
But as we've seen with Jordan Cameron, anything goes with the Browns' tight ends. Hang on them, hit them in the head, spear them. It won't be called til there's an uproar about previous non-calls.
And Buster Skrine: The refs use him for a dartboard. He was clingy early in his career, and got a reputation. The referees never forget, and think they're not doing their job unless they penalize him a few times per game. It's a crock.
I'll root for new center Ryan Seymore. That's all I can say, since I can't find out anything about him. Well, he did start a lot of games at Vanderbilt, can play any line position, and is smart.
He's officially a rookie, but in reality is in his second season. He practiced in a zone-blocking scheme, so he's not totally raw.
Last note: I'm disappointed with Terry Pluto this week. Usually he's very objective, but this week showed an unfortunate tendancy to blame the reciever every time the quarterback throws where he isn't.
It was worse this time, because he said that Josh Gordon needs to pay more attention. Terry: Gordon was right. Hoyer was wrong. Look at it again.
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