The first-round draft pick gets his first significant action of the season.
The Cleveland Browns have made a switch at the quarterback position. The team has benched Brian Hoyer in favor of rookie Johnny Manziel in the fourth quarter against the Buffalo Bills after Hoyer struggled throughout the game. He has thrown for just 192 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. The Browns, who are 7-4 and in a tight race in the AFC North, needed a jump-start on offense to keep pace with the other teams in the division.
Some thought Hoyer wouldn't last this long, considering the team used a first-round draft pick to grab the Heisman winner. When Hoyer and Manziel put up similar numbers throughout the preseason, many thought the Browns would just go with the more electric Manziel to see what he could do. But Hoyer didn't appear to do anything to "lose" the starting job, since the early lead was his as the veteran.
Loud fans and the media rallied behind Manziel, but Hoyer was playing very well at points. His outing against the Pittsburgh Steelers was decent, as he completed 18 of 30 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown while being sacked three times. Against the New Orleans Saints, his stat-line didn't look much better at 24 completions off of 40 attempts for 204 yards and a touchdown. Nonetheless, that game was one of his best, as he made several fantastic throws on the final scoring drive to give the Browns the lead and their first win of the season. But Manziel is the guy now, so what do we know about him?
Manziel completed seven of 11 passes for 63 yards in his first preseason game, seven of 16 passes for 65 yards and a touchdown in his second, 10 of 15 passes for 85 yards in his third and six of 17 passes for 83 yards and a touchdown in his fourth. Those are solid numbers, and it's also worth noting he ran the ball a lot, and usually with some success. There's a lot to work with there, but as to whether or not he'll be an immediate upgrade ... only time will tell.
Source SBNation.com - All Posts http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2014/11/30/6662929/johnny-manziel-replaces-brian-hoyer-browns-quarterback
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