‘Midget’ Johnny Manziel Can Respond to Marvin Lewis by Playing Big Against Cincinnati
By Zac Wassink
Marvin Lewis calling Johnny Manziel a “midget” could come back to haunt the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel getting a start in 2014 was always going to make national news headlines. Manziel was one of the most-exciting overall players in college football history, a man who earned his “Johnny Football” nickname with memorable highlight-reel plays and money-sign gestures that made him a dream for the likes of ESPN. With Brian Hoyer and the Cleveland offense struggling during the crucial stretch of the 2014 National Football League season, Browns head coach Mike Pettine pulled the trigger on a move some had been calling for since late November: He will be starting Manziel this weekend when the Browns host the Cincinnati Bengals.
No reasonable person out there could have guessed, however, that the story would begin off as it did. Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis was taking part in a radio interview on Monday evening when he was asked about the Cleveland quarterback situation which was, at the time, in limbo. In the midst of his response, Lewis referred to Manziel, who is a shade under 6-foot tall, as being a “midget.” Political correctness and discussions about coaches saying words that probably shouldn’t be uttered during a radio interview aside, a head coach providing bulletin board material for an opponent just to do it is, at the very least, an interesting way to approach preparing for a rookie quarterback getting the first start of his pro career.
Perhaps Lewis forgot that the Browns routed the Bengals in Cincinnati to the tune of 24-3 during a Thursday Night Football contest that was thoroughly one-sided. Any hopes of that night being merely a blip on the radar for the Bengals, a team that won three straight games following that disappointing performance, were squashed last Sunday when fellow AFC North rivals the Pittsburgh Steelers make the trek to Ohio and beat the Bengals 42-21. Pittsburgh exploded for 25 unanswered points in the fourth quarter of that contest, and standout running back Le’Veon Bell hit the Bengals for 185 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries.
Maybe Lewis is turning a blind eye toward the fact that Cincinnati is giving up an average of over 130 rushing yards a game, that the Browns picked up 170 yards on the ground the last time that these two sides faced off, and that Manziel has a history of scampering out of the pocket and making plays with his legs. The defense of the Bengals has not proven itself to have the goods to focus on keeping Manziel in the pocket while at the same time stopping Cleveland’s pair of rookie running backs — Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West. Manziel may only have to avoid turning the football over for the offense of the Browns to do enough to earn the positive result.
Instead of focusing on “midget” Manziel, Lewis should instead be seeking to find a fix for who has, throughout his career, been a consistently inconsistent quarterback in Andy Dalton. Dalton tossed three interceptions in the loss to Cleveland last month, and he was picked off on three occasions when facing the defense of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on November 30. That Dalton is 6-foot-2 hasn’t prevented him from crumbling apart numerous times when under the spotlight of a big game.
There are going to be hiccups for Manziel along the way on Sunday. No rookie gets everything right on day one, and Cleveland’s center of its offensive line has been a revolving door of candidates since All-Pro Alex Mack was lost for the season due to a broken leg. That Pettine and the rest of his coaching staff are giving the keys of the offense to Manziel with three games left on the schedule and the Browns still in the playoff hunt tells more about how much Hoyer has regressed over the past month than it says anything about where Manziel is at this very early stage of his NFL career.
Starting Manziel at this point of the season makes sense for the Browns, especially with Hoyer failing to lead the Cleveland offense on touchdown drives. The plan heading into this weekend should be for Manziel to lean heavily on the team’s rushing attack over the next couple of weeks when the Browns take on the Bengals and then the Panthers in Carolina. Carolina had lost six straight until the Panthers defeated the New Orleans Saints last Sunday, and the status of quarterback Cam Newton for the rest of the campaign following his being involved in a car accident on December 9 is unknown. Closing out the season at the Baltimore Ravens would be difficult for either Manziel or Hoyer, but the rookie is going to have to play against the Ravens eventually.
Add in that it is the worst kept secret in Cleveland that some within the roster of the Browns have quietly wanted Manziel to see in-game action for at least a few weeks, and Pettine turning to Johnny Football now was the logical decision to make. Superstar wide receiver Josh Gordon, who campaigned for the Browns to draft Manziel during public appearances last January, failed to click with Hoyer over the past eight quarters of Cleveland’s season. Manziel entering the starting lineup could be what Gordon needs to find his true form this holiday season.
It’s now on Manziel to live as do winning quarterbacks during NFL midweeks. He needs to be first inside the facility, and the last player to leave. Just as important as is Manziel being prepared to face off with the Bengals is the polarizing rookie showing any critics that he may have within the Browns that he is serious about producing and being a leader in the pros and about being Johnny Football on Sundays, only. That means watching the Cleveland Cavaliers from the couch instead of from the front row this week, John.
Manziel and the Browns will have had over five full days before Cleveland kicks off with Cincinnati to ponder what Lewis had to say about the quarterback. Imagine a scenario where Manziel scores a touchdown to seal away a win on Sunday, and he responds by turning toward the Cincinnati sideline and rubbing his fingers together for his trademark celebration in front of a home FirstEnergy Stadium crowd celebrating what could be the start of something special. That is the only way that the player should address the matter.
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