Sunday, November 22, 2015
Associated Press
CLEVELAND
Johnny Manziel got promoted during the bye week. Everyone else was put on notice.
With yet another season splitting at the seams, the Browns decided during their extended break that it’s time to get a long look at Manziel, who is finally showing signs of development in his second NFL season and will have six games to show whether he can grow from Johnny Football into Johnny Franchise.
But unless Manziel pulls off some magic and gets a few wins, other major changes probably lie ahead in Cleveland. That’s the way it goes every two or three years around here.
At 2-8, the Browns are going nowhere fast. They hit the bye riding a five-game losing streak, which dropped second-year coach Mike Pettine’s record to 2-13 in his last 15 games. Hard to believe, but he was 6-3 at this point a year ago.
The clock is ticking for him.
Following a 30-9 shellacking in Pittsburgh last week, which included the Browns committing 12 penalties for 188 yards, owner Jimmy Haslam said he would not shake things up while the team was off. However, Haslam, who pledged continuity by saying he wouldn’t “blow things up” when training camp opened in August, could be forced to overhaul his organization again.
Haslam would prefer to stay the course. Once a minority owner of the Steelers, the NFL’s idyllic model of championship continuity, he understands that another coaching change — Cleveland is on its seventh coach since 1999; Pittsburgh, has had three since 1969 — will put his franchise further back.
If that’s even possible.
The Browns are down, deeper down than anyone expected this season.
There’s no lack of questions:
Why has the Browns’ rushing defense — the league’s worst last season — not improved? They used a first-round draft pick (No. 12 overall) on massive nose tackle Danny Shelton, who hasn’t lived up to expectations as a playmaker and seems misplaced in coordinator Jim O’Neil’s scheme.
When will cornerback Justin Gilbert get on the field? Cleveland’s secondary has been decimated by injuries and yet Gilbert, the No. 8 overall pick in 2014, is playing only on special teams and seems so far removed from this coaching staff’s plans that he may as well not be on the roster.
What happens to rookie running back Duke Johnson in the second half? Johnson has had an impact with runs and receptions in the first half of games, but then disappears, used mostly by offensive coordinator John DeFilippo as a decoy in motion after halftime.