Cleveland Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer will have to wait some time before he cashes in on any National Football League contract.
Hoyer had the worst outing to date of his professional career, the Cleveland offense was dreadful, and what was a winless Jacksonville Jaguars team stunned the Browns and the football world to the tune of a 24-6 outcome. That score line does not do justice to how out of sorts Cleveland was a week after the Browns routed AFC North rivals the Pittsburgh Steelers at home. The truth of the matter is that the Jaguars would have easily posted another 10-14 points had first-year pro quarterback Blake Bortles not made some rookie mistakes.
Another big-name rookie quarterback didn’t see the field on Sunday, a baffling decision considering Hoyer left his top form somewhere in northeast Ohio.
Jaguars beat Browns 24-6: Crash back to earth
Those quick to defend Hoyer, a Cleveland hometown hero, would point out that the Cleveland offensive line was badly missing injured All-Pro center Alex Mack. That was certainly the case. The Browns consistently lost battles up front, and what had been a productive rushing attack throughout the season was held to just 69 yards on 30 attempts.
Nothing excuses Hoyer’s poor play on this day.
Hoyer’s lackluster stats -- 16 completions of 41 attempts for 215 yards and an interception -- don’t fully speak to how badly the current Cleveland starting quarterback performed. Hoyer missed open receivers, twice in situations that would have led to Cleveland touchdowns had the 29-year old playing for the biggest contract of his NFL career hit his targets. He was uncharacteristically rattled under pressure. On-the-field leadership skills flashed by Hoyer over the team’s past five contests were nonexistent.
In short, Hoyer played like a career backup quarterback, and there will now be concerns that his sparkling run has hit midnight.
Jaguars beat Browns 24-6: The game changed...
when Cleveland head coach Mike Pettine whiffed when he unnecessarily tried to hit a home run. The Cleveland offense struggled right out of the gates on Sunday, but the team’s defense played well enough for Cleveland to be up 6-0 at the two-minute warning of the first half. Rather than attempt a relatively short field goal that could have put the Browns up by over a touchdown heading into halftime, Pettine and company instead elected to go for the first down. Hoyer missed an open Jordan Cameron off of a run fake, and the offense did nothing positive of note the rest of the contest.
Jaguars beat Browns 24-6: The game was over...
when whoever on the Cleveland coaching staff makes such decisions refused to put rookie Johnny Manziel into the game halfway through the third quarter.
Hoyer didn’t have it today. You don’t have to be a head coach or an analyst reviewing the game on television to have seen the offense of the Browns needed an injection of life. Manziel, bitter that the Jaguars and other teams allowed him to fall to Cleveland and pick No. 22 of the 2014 NFL draft, may not have been able to lead the Browns to a comeback win that could have jump-started the Johnny Football era.
He also could not have possibly played worse than Hoyer.
Saving Manziel for the future makes sense, but a belief held by many around the NFL is that the 2014 Browns could be a playoff team. Every regular season game is massive in this league, and Pettine and his coordinators did not do all they could to beat Jacksonville in keeping Manziel a spectator.
Jaguars beat Browns 24-6: Looking ahead
Remember when the Browns going 6-2 was an inevitability? That now feels like a season ago.
The Oakland Raiders are rough on both sides of the football, but it could be argued that they have more talent than Jacksonville. The Raiders gave the San Diego Chargers a real scare last weekend, and Oakland will absolutely win if these Browns show up for next Sunday’s affair.
All of those good emotions felt and high hopes had by Browns fans after last weekend’s events are gone. Cleveland being 3-5 going into that Thursday Night Football road game against the Cincinnati Bengals is, after this game, as likely as the team having a 5-3 record halfway through the campaign.
How quickly things change in the NFL.
