Game 10: Browns at Pittsburgh

First, a shout-out to our friends, 

Fan Club Francais des Steelers de Pittsburgh. 

Courage.

It's Browns Week. Always reason to get up for this one.

Cleveland Browns quarterback 
Johnny Manziel

With the 2-7 Browns coming to Heinz Field, we'll see if Mike Tomlin continues his penchant for losing to bad teams quarterbacked by crummy QBs led by lousy coaches.

Make no mistake about it: The Browns are a bad team, just as they were last season, when Mike Pettine's squad embarrassed Tomlin's team in Cleveland, 31-10.

Johnny Manziel

Cleveland's Defense is Awful
This year, Cleveland ranks dead last (32nd) in rushing defense, surrendering a whopping 147.6 yards rushing per game, including 11 runs of 20 yards per more and four runs of at least 40 yards. Cleveland has yielded nine touchdowns on the ground.  By comparison, the middling Steelers' run defense, ranked 12th in the NFL, has surrendered 101.7 yards per game on the ground and three touchdowns.

Bigger picture, Cleveland's defense has surrendered 401.6 total yards per game (29th in the NFL) and 27.4 points per game (26th). They've allowed at least 30 points to five of their nine opponents.

Nine games into the season, Cleveland has allowed 18 passing TDs but  tallied just 15 sacks, seven of which were put down in just one game, vs. the woeful Titans.

With just five interceptions (and just two INTs over the past seven weeks), the Browns' secondary today will be without their star cornerback (Joe Haden) and most experienced, hardest-hitting safety (Donte Whitner). Their secondary has allowed nine pass plays of more than 40 yards. The Browns have been outscored by 53 points their last three games.

It's a bad defense. 

Johnny Manziel, on the right, partying
with Floyd Mayweather, Justin Bieber.

It's almost as bad on offense. Their running game has been limp, ranking 31st in the NFL at just 82.3 yards per game and 3.5 yards per carry, with only two rushing touchdowns but four fumbles. Twice as many fumbles as rushing touchdowns.

Granted, Cleveland's 15th-rated passing offense out-ranks Pittsburgh's 19th ranked passing offense, but ... much of Cleveland's success was due to the surprisingly effective Josh McCown, who likely won't play today.

Instead, the Steelers will face the reckless, feckless and immature party boy, Johnny Manziel, who, on the field, is skittish, manic, diminutive and inaccurate. Johnny Manziel? Puh-lease.

If Mike Tomlin's Steelers lose today, at home, to this edition of the Cleveland Browns ... no, that just cannot happen. Can it?

Brian Hoyer has marginalized Johnny Football

Brian Hoyer (No. 3), on the Steelers'
practice field with Charlie Batch (No. 16), in 2012

Sunday will be Brian Hoyer's last day as a 28-year-old.

Born Oct. 13, 1985, the former Steeler will take the field as the undisputed on-field leader of the Cleveland Browns. And, if a team with a 2-2 record can be perceived as an upstart, it is this year's Browns, and that is largely due to Hoyer.

The world no longer waits with bated breath for Johnny Manziel. Unless he does something stupid that lands him on TMZ between now and Sunday afternoon, America's breathless fascination with Johnny Football has ebbed.

The cool, level-headed play of Hoyer, the sober one of the two quarterbacks, has quelled virtually all talk of Manziel taking over as Browns' starting quarterback anytime soon.

Brian Hoyer

Hoyer's been more than solid. He ranks ninth among NFL quarterback in Quarterback Rating, at 97.3, which is not far off Ben Roethlisberger's sixth-rated 100.1.

Hoyer has completed 82 of 132 passes (62.1%). Roethlisberger has completed 122 of 177 passes (68.9%).

Keeping in mind that the Browns have played just four games vs. five games played by the Steelers ... Why in the name of Todd Haley have the Browns averaged more points than the Steelers?

Yes, the Browns have scored 25.8 points per game vs. Pittsburgh's 22.8 points per game.

The one thing that concerns us about this game is that Cleveland has a superior offensive line. Their O-line gets a good push for the running game and typically sets a clean pocket for Hoyer, who is decisive and releases the ball quickly. He doesn't take many sacks (just five in four games, vs. Roethlisberger's 15 in five games), and he makes good decisions. He's thrown just one interception in four games and hasn't fumbled.

On defense, though, Cleveland's surrendered more points than Pittsburgh: 26.3 vs. the Steelers' 21.6 points per game allowed.

Looking at stats and numbers all day can make your head spin. They can also lead to misleading conclusions.

Long-suffering Cleveland fans have every right to be excited about the direction of their team. Joey Porter's Pit Bulls suspect they are going to be disappointed on Sunday when the overly amped Browns make too many mistakes and find a way to lose to the Steelers on a windy day in Cleveland.

It says here the Steelers will win in Cleveland. On Monday, Brian Hoyer's 29th birthday will not be entirely candles and cake.

Looking forward to the season opener

Add caption

We're so happy the Cleveland Browns have Johnny! Johnny!! Johnny!!! Manziel. On Monday night vs. the Washington Redskins, Manziel was the player we'd thought he was: scrawny, manic, skittish and inaccurate.  Better yet, he flashed the finger on national television. Classy.

Manziel looked unready for NFL competition. He appeared as if, instead of working out and readying himself mentally during the months following the NFL draft ... well, he looked as if maybe he'd been partying hard right up to the beginning of training camp. But that couldn't be right, could it?

Johnny Manziel's swan dive

Monday night, Manziel flashed the finger immaturity evident in earlier displays this summer, from the "money phone," to the champagne swan, to the highly publicized trip to Vegas and the rolled-up $20 bill in a bathroom, to his partying-with-the-Bieb escapades and antics on TMZ, Twitter and Instagram. So far as we're concerned, it's all good. We're Steelers fans.

After Monday night's display, when Manziel was consistently off-target and throwing behind receivers on mostly short routes, it seems doubtful Manziel will play much, if at all, in the season opener in Pittsburgh. Against the Redskins, Manziel went 7-16 passing for just 65 yards. The middle-finger flash was icing on the excrement. His performance reflected poorly on the Browns, and himself.

“It did not sit well,” Browns coach Mike Pettine said of Manziel’s gesture. “I was informed of it after the game and it’s disappointing. Because what we talk about is being poised and being focused — that you have to be able to maintain your poise.”

Steeler Nation cannot help but watch with fascination what is happening in Cleveland. The Browns have had an off-season marked by turmoil, chaos, turbulence and discord, not to mention false steps, mis-steps, blatant incompetence, tomfoolery, chicanery, skulduggery and hijinks of the most eyebrow-raising, head-shaking sort, from the firing of head coach Rob Chudzinski, CEO Jim Banner and general manager Mike Lombardi, to the clownish buffonery and legal troubles of owner Jimmy Haslam, to the flirtation with Jim Harbaugh, to the delayed hiring of a rookie head coach (Mike Pettine) and then a first-time general manager (Ray Farmer); the off-season antics of players like Josh Gordon (DUI, etc.), Davone Bess, etc., ad infinitum, ad nauseum.  

The big story, of course, has been all the drama wrapped around Johnny Sporkball. Rookie coach Mike Pettine has not handled the quarterback situation well, and it doesn't look like it's going to get better anytime soon in Cleveland.

Let's look at the Cleveland Browns

Studying preparatory game film, no doubt:
Tyreese, Justin Bieber, Floyd Mayweather and
Johnny Manziel at about 1:30 a.m. Monday night

That brown splotch on the map of Northern Ohio is home to the woeful Cleheaveland Browns. Let's take a closer look: Yep, same as it ever was.

The 2014 Cleveland Browns have a new head coach, new coordinators and a new quarterback.

The 2013 Cleveland Browns had a new head coach, new coordinators and a new quarterback.

Yep, same as it ever was.

This new quarterback is different, some would say. Well ... Johnny Manziel was taken with the 22nd overall pick in the 2014 draft. Brandon Weeden was taken with the 22nd overall pick in the 2012 draft. Brady Quinn was taken with the 22nd overall pick in the 2007 NFL draft. They keep making the same mistake.

But Johnny Manziel is different, some would say. Yeah, with about three weeks to go before start of his first training camp, he's partying with Justin Bieber and Floyd Mayweather, among others.

Man, Justin Bieber? Come on, Johnny Sporkball, can't you do better than that?  There's a saying: "Make friends with people who can make you a better person." And another: "You are known by the company you keep."

Johnny Manziel

But then, Johnny boy never had to worry much about consequences. He comes from a rich family. He's had luck, beautiful girlfriends, every opportunity, and no matter what he does, somebody is there to defend him.

Joey Porter's Pit Bulls don't care about any of that.

Because Manziel is the quarterback of the Cleveland Browns, our arch-rival for the past 55 years or so, and the face of the franchise -- we care about how Manziel will perform between the white lines on the field -- just like he says is what's most important to him.

If Johnny Manziel wants to be the reincarnation of Bobby Layne, let him -- if he can pull it off.  Let him knock himself out.

Our question is about how he will perform in NFL stadiums and, particularly, against the Pittsburgh Steelers -- starting Week One of the 2014 NFL season

If he can beat out Brian Hoyer (?!), Tyler Thigpen and Connor Shaw for the starting job, the opportunity for stardom is there for Manziel, if he can reach out and grab it.  But, to us outsiders, it doesn't appear his focus is on doing that. And yet training camp is just around the corner.

Ready or not ...
The NFL game can be unforgiving. It will come at Manziel fast. He hasn't played one snap in the NFL, but first he has to navigate about two months of: The playbook, the terminology, head coach Mike Pettine, the digital-film review sessions, quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains, the Cleveland media, the coaching sessions, the fans, mainstream media, the dorms in Berea, social media, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, the already-questioning teammates, his agent, advertisers clamoring for him to do car commercials, workouts, scrimmages, Twitter,  the internal competition, Brian Hoyer, hangers-on, girlfriends, pre-season games (Lions, Redskins, Rams, Bears), distractions galore, Instagram, the NFL Network, ESPN, Deadspin, Entertainment Tonight, Justin Bieber, TMZ, the fans, groupies, etcetera, etc.

And then the Steelers. Week One, Sept. 7. In Pittsburgh. And the next week, the Saints, in his first home game. Then the Ravens. And the Titans. And the Steelers again. He may not see any action in any of those games.  He may not be ready.

Whether Manziel plays or not, he will get a first-hand look at three quarterbacks, in those first three games, who have won Super Bowls: Ben Roethlisberger; Drew Brees; Joe Flacco. Professional quarterbacks.

Ready or not, it will all come at Manziel fast. If he thinks all the partying he's doing this summer will help him prepare, then so be it. If he's going to play, though, he'd better be ready, and he'd better start getting ready, now. He's young, but late-night partying has a way of sapping physical energy and mental focus, quickly. But Manziel doesn't seem too serious or particularly studious about much of anything. Or mature.  Russell Wilson, he's not.

Johnny Manziel, preparing for training camp.

If what Manziel has done the past few weeks is his way of getting prepared, well, maybe it will work for him. But playing quarterback in the NFL has humbled better, more accomplished players.

And that's what we wonder about Johnny Manziel. Is he really an NFL-quality quarterback?

Again, he hasn't played a down. But for Joey Porter's Pit Bulls, Manziel doesn't pass the eye test. He never did. He looks awkward. He's smallish. His arm strength looks so-so. The linebackers he out-ran in college won't be on the field in the NFL.  He won't have Michael Evans at wide receiver. He won't even have Josh Gordon, not for a while, at least.

What's more, he's never faced adversity. If, in one of his early games, he goes for 4 for 21 with three picks and two fumbles ... well, let the howling and second-guessing begin.

If the Browns were going to draft a quarterback at that spot in the first round, we'd think they would have taken a very close look at Derek Carr out of Fresno State, who went a few picks later in the draft to Oakland. But owner Jimmy Haslam wanted Manziel. Be careful what you wish for.

Maybe Manziel will carry his fairy dust from College Station to Cleveland and find that it dazzles Dick LeBeau and the Steelers' defense in Week One of the 2014 season. We wouldn't bet on it.

Our money says the boy with the "money phone" has a long way to go before he proves himself a man in the NFL.

The Cleveland Browns Suck

The Browns suck and are a rolling clown car of a franchise.

Here's how the 2014 season will shake out: Early excitement, as Browns' fans love Johnny Manziel, and he enjoys sporadic flashes of success while generally having trouble adjusting to the speed and complexity of the NFL game. Cleveland struggles on offense. Manziel lasts five games before head coach Mike Pettine turns to Brian Hoyer. Hoyer sucks, too, and the Browns do little on offense.

Owner Jimmy Haslam gets called before a grand jury. Manziel goes to Vegas and signs with MTV as the star of his own reality show. On defense, the Browns' corners turn out to be not all they're cracked up to be. Manziel is reinstated as the starting quarterback. Cleveland finishes 4-12.

During the off-season, Haslam announces that Pettine has been fired, along with general manager Ray Farmer, and that Manziel has been traded to the Toronto Bills, who immediately name him the starting quarterback for the 2015 season opener vs. the London Jaguars.

Cleveland fans cry.

Ol' No. 99

Now that it's June 3rd, and all that Lamarr Woodley cap money is freed up, it's no surprise there is rekindled talk that the Steelers are interested in resigning Brett Keisel.

It seems like a no-brainer, except for a few things: First and foremost, Keisel may not want to return at a team-friendly salary; also, Keisel is 36, and the Steelers are going younger on the defensive line.

Still, to our untrained eyes, Keisel seemed to play reasonably well last year. It would be good to have him back.

Keisel would provide a steadying presence on the defensive line the way Ike Taylor will in the secondary. Like Ike, he would get some playing time, but probably not most of the snaps. Second-round draft choice Stephon Tuitt projects as the starter, although the depth chart today shows Brian Arnfelt as the starter at Keisel's old position, right defensive end.

For what it's worth, the Steelers signed an undrafted free agent described as "a young Brett Keisel." That would be Josh Mauro, (6'6", 271), DE, Stanford, whom some people projected as a fifth-round draft choice. Another undrafted free agent, Ethen Hemer, (6'6", 285, Wisconsin), will compete for a roster spot, as will 2013 seventh-round draft choice Nick Williams (6'6", 309, Samford).

This gets a little deep, but there was one other player in this year's draft, in addition to Josh Mauro, whose style of play brings Keisel to mind for some observers. That player is Taylor Hart (6'6", 281, Oregon), who was drafted in the fifth round by the Philadelphia Eagles.  In fact, the NFL Network's Brian Baldinger described Hart this way: "To me, if I had to make a comparison now, he looks like a young Brett Keisel without the beard. He's got a promising future as a five-technique in any 3-4 defense. He broke his foot at the end of the (2013) season but he was a four-year starter. He's 6-foot-6, 280, can run and he's got violent hands."

In a roundabout way, Hart has a peripheral connection to the Steelers.  That's because, in the 2013 draft, the Steelers dealt this year's third-round choice to Cleveland for the right to draft safety Shamarko Thomas in the fourth round last year. The Browns used that third-round choice as part of a package to move up in the first round this year to draft quarterback Johnny Manziel, via a trade with Philadelphia. The Eagles, in turn, dealt that pick they got from Cleveland to the Houston Texans in a trade that landed Houston what would have been the Steelers' third-round pick this year, which the Texans used to select Louis Nix, (NT, Notre Dame). And, finally, with the fourth- and fifth-round picks the Eagles received from Houston, they selected Jaylen Watkins (CB, Florida, Rd. 4, No. 101 overall) and, yes, Taylor Hart (DE, Oregon, Rd. 5, No. 141 overall).

Got it?  In a post last month, we asked, "Would you rather have Louis Nix or Shamarko Thomas?"...since Louis Nix was taken with the pick that the Steelers traded for the right to draft Shamarko Thomas.

But today, since we're talking about Brett Keisel, we could just as easily ask, "Would you rather have Shamarko Thomas or ... Taylor Hart ("a young Brett Keisel without the beard)? ... and a fourth-round cornerback from Florida named Jaylen Watkins.  It's just hypothetical, because there is no possibility the draft would have worked out that way (for the Steelers to have those picks). If the Steelers were still on the board and Nix was available, they may have taken him. Or maybe not. Maybe they weren't sold on him at all.

For now, they have who they have, and they don't have Brett Keisel.

But that could change any day now. And over time we'll just have to see if Josh Mauro or Taylor Hart develop into the next Brett Keisel. If Mauro does, we'll say "great!" If Hart does, in an Eagles uniform, we'll say, "He should've been a Steeler!"

The Combine

It's a bit early to get too excited about what's been happening so far at the NFL Combine. The sort of superficial impressions athletes running around in the "Underwear Olympics" can be misleading.  Too many great athletes are so-so football players.

"Looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane" is an aphorism famously used to describe such players.

Initial impressions:

• We wonder about the Steelers' process at the Combine. Last year, they did not interview linebacker Jarvis Jones at the Combine. Kevin Colbert said it was because the Steelers thought Jones wouldn't drop to them at No. 17. Wouldn't you want to interview all potential first-rounders? Just in case? Maybe there's not enough time, but then again, we are talking about your first-rounder -- the potential linchpin of your team for years to come, and a multi-million dollar investment.

• Johnny Manziel looks small, but that was apparent before the Combine. Gut instinct says he will have a tough time staying healthy on a consistent basis. On the other hand, Fran Tarkenton had an extremely lengthy career, albeit in the pre-steroid, pre-HGH era. Still, we're skeptical about Manziel.

• Jimmy Haslam, owner of the Cleveland Browns, uses a flip phone. A shot of him in the skybox over the weekend clearly showed him flipping open a feature phone and, apparently, either not getting a signal or dismissing a message or call, as he flipped it closed again in what seemed to be annoyance. How did the Rooneys ever allow him to buy into their operation? No wonder they put up no resistance to him buying the Browns. Joey Porter's Pit Bulls almost feel sorry for Cleveland fans, some of whom are good people. Haslam creates the impression of a not-too-bright, fast-talking scammer-buffoon who somehow finagled his way into a possibly bogus fortune. Maybe he's not the best owner in the NFL. It won't be long before he threatens to move the team. London's calling.

• We won't be surprised if "Johnny Football" Manziel ends up in Cleveland. That would be interesting.

• By all accounts, Michael Sam got an A-plus for how he conducted himself in the news conference. It's just the first step on a long, tough road ahead for him.

• Wide receiver Michael Evans caught everything and impressed everybody. He's big and fast. Lots of other impressive wide receivers showed their stuff, too. It's a deep draft for wide receivers.