RADIO
Not many people are giving the Cleveland Browns much of a chance tonight against the Cincinnati Bengals. Not only do the Browns have a 2-6 record compared to the undefeated 7-0 Bengals, they will also be without their starting quarterback Josh McCown. That means Johnny Manziel will get the start under center.
You would be hard pressed to find a lot of people who have faith in Manziel’s ability on the NFL level, but head coach Mike Pettine doesn’t seem too worried.
"If you'd asked me this a year ago, I would've been like, 'It's a great mystery; I have no idea where this guy is gonna be.' And if I were to handicap it, I'd maybe be at 50-50 with this guy, and that'd be generous," Pettine said, according to NFL.com. "This year, I'm a lot more confident that if you surround him with the right people, he can be successful."
You have to take Pettine’s comments with a grain of salt. If the team had any faith that Manziel could be their quarterback of the future, they would have started him over McCown to begin with. But truth be told, Manziel makes too many mistakes on and off the field for the team, and the coaching staff to trust.
In addition, Manziel’s doesn’t have the respect from his teammates that’s needed to be an effective NFL quarterback.
Whatever you do, don’t start Manziel tonight.
In other quarterback news, the Detroit Lions may look to move in a different direction this offseason. NFL Ian Rapoport reports that Matthew Stafford’s future with the team beyond this season is “very much in doubt.”
The 27-year-old former first overall draft pick is a lot like Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. His natural ability and talent isn’t in question, but he is far too inconsistent to help a team make a playoff run. One could say he ends up hurting his team more than he helps it.
Stafford has a strong arm, but at times lacks accuracy and struggles with decision-making.
Through eight games this season he has completed 193 of his 299 passing attempts for a completion percentage of 64.5. He has thrown 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
The problem the Lions will have to deal with this offseason is whether or not they can get anyone better at quarterback than Stafford. For all his shortcomings, he’s still better than a lot of starters in the league.
