The Cleveland Browns understood the circus that came with drafting Johnny Manziel in the first round of this year’s draft. Manziel was a phenomenon at Texas A&M, winning the Heisman Trophy as a freshman and attracting the national spotlight for his off-the-field antics. Despite the attention he received, Manziel entered week 13 as the lowly backup for a Cleveland organization that cycled through quarterbacks on a yearly basis.
After a disastrous multi-week stretch from starter Brian Hoyer and an impressive relief performance in week 13, Manziel may be looking forward to his first career start. The Browns are having an ‘up’ year and at 7-6 they are a fringe playoff team. Their 25-24 home loss Sunday to Indianapolis was disheartening. Colts quarterback Andrew Luck engineered a late game drive to go-ahead. For a Browns team in need of life, perhaps Manziel, not Hoyer, would’ve proven to be the difference.
Expect a change at the quarterback position this week for Cleveland.
In a matchup of teams battling for their respective division titles, the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 24-14 in an impressive road victory. Seattle used a stifling defense to suffocate Chip Kelly’s explosive Philadelphia offensive scheme. It is the Seahawks’ third consecutive win and puts them a game behind Arizona in the NFC West.
The New England Patriots entered week fourteen coming off a tough loss in Green Bay and facing a capable San Diego Chargers team. Different from his typical December environment, Tom Brady led his troops into Southern California and headed home with a 23-14 win. Brady improved his record in games following a loss (37-8) and New England controls its own destiny atop the AFC at 10-3.
All scores from Sunday’s contests:
Pittsburgh def. CINCINNATI: 42-21
St. Louis def. WASHINGTON: 24-0
New York Giants def. TENNESSEE: 36-7
Carolina def. NEW ORLEANS: 41-10
MINNESOTA def. New York Jets: 30-24
Baltimore def. MIAMI: 28-13
Indianapolis def. CLEVELAND: 25-24
DETROIT def. Tampa Bay: 34-17
Houston def. JACKSONVILLE: 27-13
DENVER def. Buffalo: 24-17
ARIZONA def. Kansas City: 17-14
Seattle def. PHILADELPHIA: 24-14
OAKLAND def. San Francisco: 24-13
New England def. SAN DIEGO: 23-14
By Kyle Edwards
Watch the Atlanta Falcons take on the Green Bay Packers tonight at 8:30 on ESPN’s Monday Night Football.
