Manziel turns in solid half; Bengals lead 14-10

AP

Johnny Football had a pretty nice half throwing the football in an entertaining Thursday Night Football game.

The Bengals lead the Browns at halftime, 14-10, but the Browns have some momentum after Johnny Manziel led a touchdown drive to end the first half.

That 92-yard scoring drive was capped by a 12-yard touchdown pass from Manziel to Duke Johnson.

Manziel went 11-of-18 for 128 yards. His first-half quarterback rating was 101.2.

Both Bengals touchdowns have come on Andy Dalton passes to Tyler Eifert, who now has eight touchdown receptions on the season. Dalton is 9-of-13 for 77 yards.

The Browns had another impressive 71-yard drive earlier in the half but stalled in the red zone and settled for a field goal.

Browns left guard Joel Bitonio walked to the locker room, escorted by trainers, with 19 seconds left in the first half. The Browns announced Bitonio has an ankle injury but is probable to return.

33 responses to “Manziel turns in solid half; Bengals lead 14-10

  1. I wonder if Jerry Jones wished he’d drafter Manziek now?

    As a Cowboys fan, I sure wish he had. Kid’s drama, but he’s much better than Weeden or Cassel.

  2. Why would they let this guy play yet? Put the old guy on the bench and see what Johnny can do…even if you don’t want him, see what his trade value is..

  3. Is Manziel this good or is the Bengals D playing that bad? Granted, I noticed lots of blatant penalties on the Browns not getting called. 2 red zone pass interference and several obvious holds on Manziel scrambles To name a few. Apparently, the ref felt obligated to make an offsides call when the Browns defensive tackle lined up in the backfield. The arbitrary nature of NFL penalties is ridiculous, and unparalleled in sports.

  4. Yeah, but they need to put McCown back in there so they can finish 7-9. It’s not worth going perhaps 6-10 just to see what Manziel can do.

  5. He looks pretty good. They need to let him play and develop and stop this back and forth crap. If they want maturity from him give him some responsibility to absorb and he will learn a lot from that.

  6. .
    Being that the NFL is a copycat league, I suppose every team will now be stocking their scouting department with hobos.
    .

  7. Did anyone hear Pettine’s comments at half??? He complained that Manzel wasn’t staying in the pocket. What an idiot. I though the Texans had a stupid coach, but sorry Cleveland, your coach takes the cake.

  8. There are two reasons why the Browns started Josh McCown and not Johnny Manziel all season. Even though in the long term that probably wasn’t the smartest play.

    (1) Pettine keeps his job if they manage to go say 7-9 with McCown. Even if it’s smarter in the long term to go 2-14 with Manziel what good does that do Pettine and Farmer if they get fired.

    (2) You don’t necessarily want to start off the season telling your veteran players that you’ve already given up on the season. That’s demoralizing. McCown really did give them a slight outside edge of maybe, with a little luck, being just good enough to somehow slip into the playoffs. (Look at the Jets QB situation for a similar situation in terms of preseason expectations)

    Really your problem is Haslem. You guys can’t keep firing your coach and gm every two years. That’s why no one good wants to be the coach or gm in Cleveland.

  9. Manziel should be starting every game from now thru the end of this season. The Browns have nothing to lose and they can see if he’s for real or just a backup.

  10. I’ve watched all their games, including this one, and I can guarantee it is beyond Pettine and his band of high school coaches to make necessary adjustments at half time. On the other hand, the opponent, any opponent, will do so and run all over the Browns D.

    Did Pettine ever play football?

  11. Slow your roll. He had one nice drive. He’s freelancing out there. Let’s check in with Bob Griffen and see how long that lasts.

    He will be out with injury within 12 quarters of taking a beating.

  12. The Browns would be doing much better if it weren’t for Starks’ boneheaded penalties and the and lousy punting.

  13. Manziel still has plenty of demons eating at him, including that girlfriend he went partying with last week. Ease him into this deal and he could be very good for a long time. Hurry him too much and he’s back in rehab.
    Don’t be so impatient, even Aaron Rodgers wasn’t built in a day.

  14. Is it just me, or is this the most civilized NFL game ever? Opponents helping each other up, apologizing, shaking hands, tapping helmets? It’s quite refreshing to see.

  15. Good news for the coach. Manzel has stayed in the pocket the entire second half. That has worked out well. What an idiot coach.

  16. kobemanning says:
    Nov 5, 2015 9:57 PM

    Manziel should’ve been the starter from week 1 on. Score should be 10-10 but the Browns always have to remind us why they are the Browns.
    ~~~~~~~~
    I don’t know why people downvoted this comment. 4th and 3 and the Browns were offsides. Earlier in the drive #94 on the Browns made a great tackle then was penalized for taunting lol. Browns are a mess.

    Zero bias. Eagles fan

  17. jim699 says:
    Nov 5, 2015 10:16 PM

    …Really your problem is Haslem. You guys can’t keep firing your coach and gm every two years. That’s why no one good wants to be the coach or gm in Cleveland.

    ——————————————-

    I agree that Haslam is the problem, but I also don’t think Pettine is doing a bad job. He, of course, needs to win in order to keep his job and he doesn’t exactly have any surefire choices at QB. I think they should let Manziel finish out the season, but we’ll see.

    I find it hard to fault a coach who 1) has had Manziel forced on him by the owner (leading up to the draft word was the Carr was who the front office wanted, but Haslam butted in) and 2) knows that his owner is an idiot who will probably fire him at the end of the season.

    As a Browns fan, it’s tiring. An organization needs continuity, consistency and stability in order to improve – you know, Haslam should maybe look at the other teams in the division.

    But too many owners think they know better and treat their team like a toy or a game. Regardless of what anyone thinks about Pettine and Farmer (personally I think Pettine is a smart, thoughtful guy who needs to be allowed to learn how to be a HC) you can’t keep rebooting back to square one every two years. It’s pointless and you end up wasting your draftpicks and everyone’s time.

  18. fordman84 says:
    Nov 5, 2015 10:45 PM
    Well Pettine, he stayed in the pocket. First two sacks of the night.

    CLE coach is an idiot.

    ————————————————–

    Clearly he didn’t have time to get outside of the pocket on those two plays – they were on top of him too fast. And sure, Pettine is an idiot but you’re a football genius. Good luck with that.

  19. Did Pettine ever play football?
    _______________________

    He played fantasy football once. Does that count?

  20. 4-15 for 40 yards in second half. After the Bengals defense adjusted to the backyard football that Manziel plays.

    He was terrible. Just because he put up numbers comparable to Aaron Rodgers did last week doesn’t mean he played well.

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