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McCown Starts

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  • I don't know if Johnny is going to end up being the guy, but let's be honest, does anyone on this board think we have a shot at the Super Bowl this year? So let's say McCown is the better option this season, and we win an extra game or two with him at the helm. We end up 7-9 or 8-8. What is the point of the extra two wins with McCown? There would be some legitimacy to that argument if we were a bubble playoff team, but we just aren't that team. Starting Manziel at least lets us find out if he is the guy or we need to look elsewhere. I just don't buy that waiting a year to start Manziel so he can develop and learn is somehow going to dramatically change the results. Somehow starting him this year turns him into a bust and if we would have only waited until next year he would have been a HOFer. We shouldn't be delusional about McCown either. He was 2-14 last year for the fucking trainwreck Bucs.

  • i really don't get the reaction here. manziel still practices correct? so how is not playing him on sunday stunting his growth? being on the sidelines, watching and learning and at the drop of a dime maybe having to replace his injured comrade is hardly holding him back.

    it's the best of both worlds right now. he's got his teacher back. what you guys don't look at the bench between series and see mccown huddled with manziel and flip? i guess he's not learning anything there, just likes to huddle with men.

    geez, give pettine a break. got the old man back and the kid continues to win over fans, even if he's not on the field.

    i mean i feel 100% more confidence in manziel today than i did all of last year.

    and didn't we do the 'let's see what johnny has got' last year? i mean i think they pretty much know what they have in manziel. if not, then they need to fire themselves.

  • If McCown was to lose his starting job due to injury and going all out on a play to score a touchdown at the 2 yard line I hate to think about the message that would send to other players on the team. In the back of their minds they would have to think if they laid it all out on the field and got injured it could cost them their starting job.

    @oldbrownsfan said:

    If McCown was to lose his starting job due to injury and going all out on a play to score a touchdown at the 2 yard line I hate to think about the message that would send to other players on the team. In the back of their minds they would have to think if they laid it all out on the field and got injured it could cost them their starting job.

    I'm tired of reading this. Alex Smith in SF?

  • I don't know if Johnny is going to end up being the guy, but let's be honest, does anyone on this board think we have a shot at the Super Bowl this year? So let's say McCown is the better option this season, and we win an extra game or two with him at the helm. We end up 7-9 or 8-8. What is the point of the extra two wins with McCown? There would be some legitimacy to that argument if we were a bubble playoff team, but we just aren't that team. Starting Manziel at least lets us find out if he is the guy or we need to look elsewhere. I just don't buy that waiting a year to start Manziel so he can develop and learn is somehow going to dramatically change the results. Somehow starting him this year turns him into a bust and if we would have only waited until next year he would have been a HOFer. We shouldn't be delusional about McCown either. He was 2-14 last year for the fucking trainwreck Bucs.

    @bonedawg said:

    I just don't buy that waiting a year to start Manziel so he can develop and learn is somehow going to dramatically change the results.

    Why is everyone so sure it will be a year???......hasnt he already played in 2 out of 2 games?.....and, suddenly Josh is gonna be fine for the next 14 weeks?.....HA!....

    I dont think the Browns are saying lets sit him for "the year".....right now, they are saying Josh will start this week.....big diff....

    Now....if Josh drops back 40 times and in those 40 snaps he fumbles 5 times, throws an INT and takes 5 sacks, what will people say?.......cause those are Johnnys numbers so far......(meaning more than 1/4 of his plays have been complete busts).....

  • Only eight completions in a game does not smack of being "ready." Especially in a dumbed-down offensive game plan.

    Johnny didn't really move the team much, save one drive that ended in Crowell's rushing TD. Manziel's inability to move the chains was masked by the two bombs to Benjamin, and Travis' punt return for a TD.

    Manziel fumbled three times on Sunday. Every time he got hit when he was in the pocket the ball ended up on the ground. Better ball control is mandatory.

    Johnny's progress from last year to this season is significant. Unfortunately he still has a ways to go before getting the keys to the car. If Pettine says that McCown gives the Browns the best chance to win, I'm behind him. Trust in Pettine.

    @suomi said:

    Manziel's inability to move the chains was masked by the two bombs to Benjamin, and Travis' punt return for a TD.

    His inability to move the chains was masked by the inability of the coaches to be less than superconservative (read that entirely predictable) in the 3rd and 4th quarters and set him up for 3rd and long which is a sackers wet dream. The second bomb was set up by moving the chains from the 20 to the 50. The second TD was set up by moving them deep into the red zone. The first bomb was a planned play off a correct reading of the D by both QB and receiver. None of it was luck. Get your facts straight.

  • @oldbrownsfan said:

    If McCown was to lose his starting job due to injury and going all out on a play to score a touchdown at the 2 yard line I hate to think about the message that would send to other players on the team. In the back of their minds they would have to think if they laid it all out on the field and got injured it could cost them their starting job.

    I'm tired of reading this. Alex Smith in SF?

    @wargograw said:

    I'm tired of reading this. Alex Smith in SF?

    Just because you dig up an example, doesnt mean its the right way to go......there are perhaps a million examples of the opposite too....correct?....

    I would also point out that Kap was playing "great" when Smith lost his job and then played terrible and now good again?....its pretty debatable if he's even better than Smith .....and, lets be real, Johnny aint playing great or better than anybody.......just good enough to show he doesnt suck as bad as he looked the first few games........

  • Ok but I'm sorry, you can lose your job after an injury. It's not some rule in the rulebook of cohesive locker rooms that you have to start after an injury.

  • Ok but I'm sorry, you can lose your job after an injury. It's not some rule in the rulebook of cohesive locker rooms that you have to start after an injury.

    @wargograw said:

    Ok but I'm sorry, you can lose your job after an injury. It's not some rule in the rulebook of cohesive locker rooms that you have to start after an injury.

    Of course its not a rule.....but it does set a precedent....

    But if your gonna bench someone and replace them with someone else....I think the underlying thoughts should be...

    1)Did the injured guy not play well?.....(cause Josh did)

    2) Did the replacement guy play better?....(cause Johnny didnt)

  • At 12:20pm EST, the NFL Network is going to carry Pet's press conference live......

    @d-bone said:

    At 12:20pm EST, the NFL Network is going to carry Pet's press conference live......

    I'm not really into the whole body language thing, but I do believe the poker tell that "a bluffer often touches their face". Saw two face touches in the 17-minute presser... one in the opening remarks, one roughly midway...

    @d-bone said:

    I make my living as a coach and I like to say........ Parents see the tip of the iceberg, coaches see the whole iceberg - D Bone 😎

    ... and sometimes see an iceberg that does not even exist?

    @thenew23 said:

    The only problem I see, is eventually McCown will revert back to old-McCown and start turning the ball over. Hopefully not, but I just see it happening down the road...

    Setting aside that there are two, old McCowns...

    I think it's far preferable to have Josh regress than a prodigy of his that is judged not yet ready.

    @logicisforsquares said:

    For one, you would have a QB actually picked without interference from the owner. Someone they feel can actually do the job. Second, the rook would have at least a year behind McCown to learn. Hopefully a kid that doesn't spend that year being a drunk and not reading a play book.

    There's a business theory that endorses the concept of "Fast Failures".

    It brings with it many positives, some of which... like cost savings... do not apply here.

    It also brings numerous negatives... like missing opportunities that would have developed given more time.

  • This is a smart move. McCown is clearly the better qb right now. He would have beaten the Titans, and might have beaten the Jets, if not for that flukey goal-line hit.

    Obviously I wish Johnny was playing, but not much has changed. It's week 3, McCown is still better, Johnny still needs to get better. Also, if the defense keeps it up, this could be a playoff team. You have to give

    yourself the best chance to win NOW.

    If nothing else, the team now knows that the backup can come in and win games if needed.

    @aggie-brown-fan said:

    This is a smart move. McCown is clearly the better qb right now. He would have beaten the Titans, and might have beaten the Jets, if not for that flukey goal-line hit.

    Obviously I wish Johnny was playing, but not much has changed. It's week 3, McCown is still better, Johnny still needs to get better. Also, if the defense keeps it up, this could be a playoff team. You have to give yourself the best chance to win NOW.

    If nothing else, the team now knows that the backup can come in and win games if needed.

    Agree, but I had fun switching sides of the JM argument for a while... 🙂

    I think it was either Dilfer or Jaws that has talked about while good backups could win a game here and there, the longer the string of games they played, the poorer their results got... likely due to defensive game plans.

    Just maybe we have two good backups that by design or happenstance end up rotating every couple games.

    @the-gipper said:

    Jesus, Mary and Joseph do you really want to rekindle that mess?

    As understand it, there was a huge board rift on here because of that.

    Jesus by far had the best arm of that bunch...

    @bbedward said:

    It was a great drive up to the last play, and McCown looked good and had receivers drop a couple passes. Personally, I don't expect McCown will look that good very often based on his last 10+ years in the league though.

    The Raiders should be a cake walk for him though - terrible defense, no pass rush.

    One... don't sleep on the Raiders...

    Two... you may well be right, Josh may revert to his career-long, established mean. But irrational as it may be, until he does, I'm still in the can-be-the-Chicago-Josh camp. Circumstances certainly lean that way to my eye...

    Faded said:

    I can't get too upset about the decision. The idea that McCown did nothing to deserve to lose the job resonates with me, and he's a likeable guy that you want to root for. He better play pretty well, though, because the fan base is going to demand Manziel at the first sign of trouble. If McCown wants to keep the job, he's going to have to perform at a higher level than he essentially ever has. I don't know that this team has the weapons to make that likely.

    As much as I like your posts there always seems to be one, new, little bit I react to. Already got the "fan base... demands" exposure yesterday, so pretty immune to that today...

    Today it was "likable guy"... Somehow an extraneous influence is ascribed to rationalize QBs ending up in front of JM... last year it was "local boy".

    @miktoxic said:

    i mean i feel 100% more confidence in manziel today than i did all of last year.

    Any positive level divided by zero is ">>" 100%.

    Steve, there will be a quiz...

  • i thought i'd get someone with that.

  • @aggie-brown-fan said:

    This is a smart move. McCown is clearly the better qb right now. He would have beaten the Titans, and might have beaten the Jets, if not for that flukey goal-line hit.

    Obviously I wish Johnny was playing, but not much has changed. It's week 3, McCown is still better, Johnny still needs to get better. Also, if the defense keeps it up, this could be a playoff team. You have to give yourself the best chance to win NOW.

    If nothing else, the team now knows that the backup can come in and win games if needed.

    Agree, but I had fun switching sides of the JM argument for a while... 🙂

    I think it was either Dilfer or Jaws that has talked about while good backups could win a game here and there, the longer the string of games they played, the poorer their results got... likely due to defensive game plans.

    Just maybe we have two good backups that by design or happenstance end up rotating every couple games.

    @the-gipper said:

    Jesus, Mary and Joseph do you really want to rekindle that mess?

    As understand it, there was a huge board rift on here because of that.

    Jesus by far had the best arm of that bunch...

    @bbedward said:

    It was a great drive up to the last play, and McCown looked good and had receivers drop a couple passes. Personally, I don't expect McCown will look that good very often based on his last 10+ years in the league though.

    The Raiders should be a cake walk for him though - terrible defense, no pass rush.

    One... don't sleep on the Raiders...

    Two... you may well be right, Josh may revert to his career-long, established mean. But irrational as it may be, until he does, I'm still in the can-be-the-Chicago-Josh camp. Circumstances certainly lean that way to my eye...

    Faded said:

    I can't get too upset about the decision. The idea that McCown did nothing to deserve to lose the job resonates with me, and he's a likeable guy that you want to root for. He better play pretty well, though, because the fan base is going to demand Manziel at the first sign of trouble. If McCown wants to keep the job, he's going to have to perform at a higher level than he essentially ever has. I don't know that this team has the weapons to make that likely.

    As much as I like your posts there always seems to be one, new, little bit I react to. Already got the "fan base... demands" exposure yesterday, so pretty immune to that today...

    Today it was "likable guy"... Somehow an extraneous influence is ascribed to rationalize QBs ending up in front of JM... last year it was "local boy".

    @miktoxic said:

    i mean i feel 100% more confidence in manziel today than i did all of last year.

    Any positive level divided by zero is ">>" 100%.

    Steve, there will be a quiz...

    @tour2ma said:

    Any positive level divided by zero is ">>" 100%.

    Steve, there will be a quiz...

    Ha!....very well said.....

    Though, while Ive had zero confidence that Johnny will ever produce at a high level.....my hope meter has been much MUCH higher with Johnny than most of the others who came before him......(still there too)

    I think its that whole "ceiling" thing.....

  • @wargograw said:

    Ok but I'm sorry, you can lose your job after an injury. It's not some rule in the rulebook of cohesive locker rooms that you have to start after an injury.

    Of course its not a rule.....but it does set a precedent....

    But if your gonna bench someone and replace them with someone else....I think the underlying thoughts should be...

    1)Did the injured guy not play well?.....(cause Josh did)

    2) Did the replacement guy play better?....(cause Johnny didnt)

    @mudfly said:

    Of course its not a rule.....but it does set a precedent....

    But if your gonna bench someone and replace them with someone else....I think the underlying thoughts should be...

    1)Did the injured guy not play well?.....(cause Josh did)

    2) Did the replacement guy play better?....(cause Johnny didnt)

    Yep. I agree with all that, just not with a blanket theory of "you shouldn't lose your job to injury."

  • This is not a "bad call", "good call", or "Brave Call". This is CORRECT CALL.

    In 1999 the brand new Browns spent the whole off season before and during training camp preparing as if Ty Detmer was going to be the Starter all year long. They based their whole offense off of it months prior to the start of the season. First Game comes around they benched Ty Detmer and they haven't gotten it right since.

    The only good I seen last week from John was his ability to be a decent BACKUP. Not downgrading him but really that's what is seen was a guy that looked like a backup and did his job. But that is huge for him going forward. The Browns should be going forward with their plan and making plans to draft another qb. Its up too JF to make them change their minds and it doesn't take game time in winnable football games to do it.

  • This is not a "bad call", "good call", or "Brave Call". This is CORRECT CALL.

    In 1999 the brand new Browns spent the whole off season before and during training camp preparing as if Ty Detmer was going to be the Starter all year long. They based their whole offense off of it months prior to the start of the season. First Game comes around they benched Ty Detmer and they haven't gotten it right since.

    The only good I seen last week from John was his ability to be a decent BACKUP. Not downgrading him but really that's what is seen was a guy that looked like a backup and did his job. But that is huge for him going forward. The Browns should be going forward with their plan and making plans to draft another qb. Its up too JF to make them change their minds and it doesn't take game time in winnable football games to do it.

    @cdl15 said:

    The only good I seen last week from John...

    I admit it...

    For a second I paused at "John" with an audible "Who?" in my head before context kicked in as I read on...

  • lol he needs to do something different drop the money sign, cut it out with the johnny football shit and take a big boy name like John.

    I would try to do the same thing for Trent Richardson. Id sign him back for minimum and tell him "we gonna try something different Trent. Cut the fucking Dreads off!!"

  • McCown deserves the start. The offense, in limited time, looked good with him behind the helm. Manziel can still benefit from sitting, it's not a zero sum game.

  • @aggie-brown-fan said:

    This is a smart move. McCown is clearly the better qb right now. He would have beaten the Titans, and might have beaten the Jets, if not for that flukey goal-line hit.

    Obviously I wish Johnny was playing, but not much has changed. It's week 3, McCown is still better, Johnny still needs to get better. Also, if the defense keeps it up, this could be a playoff team. You have to give yourself the best chance to win NOW.

    If nothing else, the team now knows that the backup can come in and win games if needed.

    Agree, but I had fun switching sides of the JM argument for a while... 🙂

    I think it was either Dilfer or Jaws that has talked about while good backups could win a game here and there, the longer the string of games they played, the poorer their results got... likely due to defensive game plans.

    Just maybe we have two good backups that by design or happenstance end up rotating every couple games.

    @the-gipper said:

    Jesus, Mary and Joseph do you really want to rekindle that mess?

    As understand it, there was a huge board rift on here because of that.

    Jesus by far had the best arm of that bunch...

    @bbedward said:

    It was a great drive up to the last play, and McCown looked good and had receivers drop a couple passes. Personally, I don't expect McCown will look that good very often based on his last 10+ years in the league though.

    The Raiders should be a cake walk for him though - terrible defense, no pass rush.

    One... don't sleep on the Raiders...

    Two... you may well be right, Josh may revert to his career-long, established mean. But irrational as it may be, until he does, I'm still in the can-be-the-Chicago-Josh camp. Circumstances certainly lean that way to my eye...

    Faded said:

    I can't get too upset about the decision. The idea that McCown did nothing to deserve to lose the job resonates with me, and he's a likeable guy that you want to root for. He better play pretty well, though, because the fan base is going to demand Manziel at the first sign of trouble. If McCown wants to keep the job, he's going to have to perform at a higher level than he essentially ever has. I don't know that this team has the weapons to make that likely.

    As much as I like your posts there always seems to be one, new, little bit I react to. Already got the "fan base... demands" exposure yesterday, so pretty immune to that today...

    Today it was "likable guy"... Somehow an extraneous influence is ascribed to rationalize QBs ending up in front of JM... last year it was "local boy".

    @miktoxic said:

    i mean i feel 100% more confidence in manziel today than i did all of last year.

    Any positive level divided by zero is ">>" 100%.

    Steve, there will be a quiz...

    @tour2ma said:

    One... don't sleep on the Raiders...

    Two... you may well be right, Josh may revert to his career-long, established mean. But irrational as it may be, until he does, I'm still in the can-be-the-Chicago-Josh camp. Circumstances certainly lean that way to my eye...

    Yea sleeping on any NFL team is not a god idea, hopefully the staff/players aren't doing it 😛 Just pointing out their defense has been pretty terrible through the first 2 games.

    I hope Josh does really well, I'm just not very optimistic about it. Maybe after a full game he can raise my optimism level a bit.

  • @suomi said:

    Manziel's inability to move the chains was masked by the two bombs to Benjamin, and Travis' punt return for a TD.

    His inability to move the chains was masked by the inability of the coaches to be less than superconservative (read that entirely predictable) in the 3rd and 4th quarters and set him up for 3rd and long which is a sackers wet dream. The second bomb was set up by moving the chains from the 20 to the 50. The second TD was set up by moving them deep into the red zone. The first bomb was a planned play off a correct reading of the D by both QB and receiver. None of it was luck. Get your facts straight.

    @texasag1969 said:

    His inability to move the chains was masked by the inability of the coaches to be less than superconservative (read that entirely predictable) in the 3rd and 4th quarters and set him up for 3rd and long which is a sackers wet dream. The second bomb was set up by moving the chains from the 20 to the 50. The second TD was set up by moving them deep into the red zone. The first bomb was a planned play off a correct reading of the D by both QB and receiver. None of it was luck. Get your facts straight.

    My fact ARE straight. Take off your Aggie-colored glasses and see the situation for what it is.
  • McCown blows.