The Johnny Football era started in absurdly ineffective fashion Sunday against the Browns' in-state rivals, the Cincinnati Bengals.
Manziel finished with a stat line of 10 completions on 18 attempts for 80 yards and two touchdowns and even worse, he didn't pass the eye test. He looked small, lacked a feel for the pocket and confirmed questions about his arm strength by failing to drive the ball on out routes.
It was a performance Manziel himself dubbed, "absolutely" humbling.
But was it his fault? What if the Browns, intent on implementing a certain game plan, completely ignored Young Mr. Football's (feel free to read this in Michael Caine's voice) best attributes and failed to provide Manziel the kind of support necessary for him to lead Cleveland to victory?
"It's hard for me to understand how out of 12 third- or fourth-down opportunities, I didn't see Manziel run a bootleg or a roll-out on na'an one," writes former NFL player Stephen White for SBNation.com. "That's 'athletic quarterback' 101, holmes. Especially when the Bengals were throwing everything and the frigging kitchen sink at this kid with blitzes from all over the field. Just using play action fakes was not and could not have been sufficient protection for a quarterback in Manziel's situation with the weight of a whole city's playoff hopes on his shoulders."
Manziel also got little to-no-help from both his offensive line and his skill position players - wide receiver Andrew Hawkins and tight end Jim Dray had drops and Manziel was sacked three times.
Young Mr. Football is, of course, not without blame for the performance. He missed reads, was too quick to react to pressure and attempt to take off, and again, displayed an arm that may be lacking in NFL strength.
He will however, remain the starter for the remainder of the season, giving he and the Browns ample opportunity to determine the best game plan to utilize his strengths and potentially keep Cleveland in the playoff hunt.
Manziel said afterward that the Cincinnati game was a learning experience and he now knows what it takes to succeed in the league.
"Play better. Plain and simple. This position here is about results and about getting the job done."
