The Cleveland Browns have made a switch at the quarterback position. The team benched Brian Hoyer in favor of rookie Johnny Manziel in the fourth quarter against the Buffalo Bills after Hoyer struggled throughout the game. On his first real drive in the NFL, Manziel promptly led the Browns down the field for their first touchdown of the game, scrambling up a seam in the red zone and diving across the plane for the score.
Johnny Manziel replaces Brian Hoyer as Browns QB
The first-round draft pick gets his first significant action of the season.
Jamie Sabau
Hoyer threw for just 192 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions as the Bills took a 20-3 lead. 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 in the division and Hoyer had struggled for three straight weeks.
Some thought Hoyer wouldn’t last this long as the starter, 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.
Johnny Football
Loud fans and the media rallied behind Manziel, but Hoyer was playing very well at different times this season and has the Browns in playoff contention for what would be their first postseason appearance since 2002. Hoyer has shined in crunch time, helping lead Cleveland to comeback wins against the Saints, Titans, Bucs and Falcons this season. Still, he's struggled with turnovers lately, throwing six picks in the previous four games before he added two more against the Bills.
Manziel put up solid numbers in the preseason, and he also ran the ball a lot and usually with success, but he barely got any playing time until now. Whether he will be the Browns’ quarterback from here on out remains to be seen.
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