Johnny Manziel and Brian Hoyer Underwhelm in Second Preseason Game

Week Two of Johnny Watch:

In the second preseason game for the Cleveland Browns, head coach Mike Pettine would’ve liked to see either of his starting quarterback candidates elevate their play. Unfortunately, both Brian Hoyer and Johnny Manziel failed to impress. Combined, the two signal callers threw for under 100 yards and had a completion percentage of less than 50%.

The incumbent starter Brian Hoyer, ended his night completing only two of his six pass attempts. His receivers had a few bad drops, including an Andrew Hawkins drop that would’ve resulted in a touchdown. Hoyer was pulled in favor of Manziel during the latter half of the first quarter.

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Much like Hoyer, Johnny Manziel failed to show Mike Pettine any reason why he should be named starting quarterback.

Despite getting significantly more playing time, Manziel was below average at best. Going against Washington’s first team defense, Manziel struggled to establish any real rhythm. He looked out of sync all night, and some of his throws were just down right pitiful. The few passes he completed weren’t very noteworthy either.

Johnny Football looked timid in the pocket and delivered some porous passes to his receivers. His passes lacked the zip that he displayed in his preseason debut. Manziel was sacked on more than one occasion, and the opposing defense seemed ready for Manziel. Johnny had only one rushing attempt, in which he lost yards. Manziel was under duress for a good portion of the game, which no doubt led to his uneasiness in the pocket.

It was interesting to see Manziel operate primarily in the pocket, as the Browns only implemented one designed running play. Manziel also was in the shotgun for most of his snaps, unlike last week when he spent most of his snaps in the pistol formation.

Manziel finished 7/16, 65 yards and one touchdown. Manziel’s lone touchdown came in the fourth quarter.

The pedestrian performances by Hoyer and Manziel were unimpressive to say the least, and Mike Pettine can’t feel overly comfortable naming either quarterback the starter. Not only was Manziel’s passing far from perfect, but he’s once again garnering negative attention for his antics.

During the game Manziel was caught on live television flipping the Redskins bench the bird. After being flushed out of the pocket, Manziel threw an incomplete pass and showed his frustrations by giving the ‘Skins the middle finger. Maybe he was just showing he thinks the Redskins are number one.

So have fun with that, internet.