Brian Hoyer Will Play As Long As Cleveland Browns Are Playoff Contenders

Brian Hoyer will reportedly remain the quarterback for the Cleveland Browns over Johnny Manziel as long as the team remains a contender in the NFL playoff race.

If you gave Mike Pettine the chance for a do-over, here’s betting he would not have benched the admittedly awful Brian Hoyer in the Cleveland Browns’ loss to the Buffalo Bills in week 13.

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People got a glimpse of the spark that Johnny Manziel has the potential to provide, but they did so in a context where it is increasingly clear that Pettine and the Browns still prefer Hoyer in meaningful games. They still think they have a chance at a playoff spot in the AFC, and they still think Hoyer gives them the best chance to earn that spot.

It doesn’t sound like there is much of anything Manziel could have done in his stint to change that. Any spark he provides this season, therefore, will be in meaningless games with the Browns out of the race. That’s according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, who reports that Brian Hoyer is the man in Cleveland as long as the team is in the race:

"According to sources with knowledge of the Browns thinking, the plan is to have Hoyer under center as long as the Browns are in the thick of the playoff race. That leash might just be long enough for today, though."

That leash might not be long enough for today because the Browns might get roughed up by the Indianapolis Colts and be effectively eliminated before their week 14 game reaches the fourth quarter.

There was always going to be a camp of people who believed Manziel gave the Browns a better chance to win than Hoyer. The difference now is that they have something tangible to point to, even if Johnny Football was decidedly average overall in his first NFL action. That’s more than enough fodder for the hype, however, and so Mike Pettine will deal with this question each and every week for the rest of the season.

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