The Cleveland Browns are hoping Johnny Manziel can come back looking a bit better in his second start of his NFL career. Despite all of the hype surrounding his debut last week against the Cincinnati Bengals, Manziel failed to impress in a big way as the Browns were shutout. Now, the team is looking to bounce back against the Carolina Panthers who are expecting to have Cam Newton back under center after the quarterback was in a car accident.
The Browns are no longer in contention for the playoffs, which means it becomes the Manziel Show as the team looks to see what kind of quarterback they have in the rookie. Veteran Brian Hoyer got the Browns to a 7-5 record, but late struggles caused the change under center and now it looks like Hoyer has no plans on returning when his contract expires this offseason. However, he could see some playing time if Manziel continues the bad numbers. In his debut, the rookie went 10 of 18 for 80 yards and two interceptions. He had just 13 rushing yards in a 30-0 loss.
The Browns did not exactly play well as a team last week. Manziel was sacked three times while the offense got off just 38 plays while being outgained 347-107 from the line of scrimmage. The run game struggled. Josh Gordon and Jordan Cameron were simply not getting open enough. If Manziel is going to be successful, the rest of the team must play well as well.
The Panthers are hoping they get back their franchise star after Newton was in a car accident that caused him to suffer two fractures in his lower back. Derek Anderson has been starting at quarterback and got Carolina the win over Tampa Bay. He got a lot of help from the ground game. Jonathan Stewart has had 228 yards in the past two games as he steps in for DeAngelo Williams. Newton will ned their help against the Browns.
