Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel grew up some on Sunday in Kansas City.

It happened during the 17-13 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, and after it as well.

Those are good signs for both him and the Browns.

Young quarterbacks need to go through what he experienced in the game, things such as playing against a good defense in a hostile road environment, and having to rally your team from behind in a two-minute drill situation. Those are difficult challenges, and the best ones master it. The tougher the moment, the more they embrace it.

Manziel did some very good things in that regard – with his legs. He also struggled – with his arm. He was much, much more of a threat with his running than with his passing. He has to maintain that rushing effectiveness while at the same time increasing his productively – greatly – in throwing the ball.

The NFL is, after all, a passing league, and for Manziel to make the cut, he has to be able to beat teams with his arm.

He’s passed well at times this year, such as in the first game with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Perhaps the rematch against them in Sunday’s season finale at FirstEnergy Stadium will spur some of that again.

But it was after the loss to the Chiefs that Manziel stood out the most. It came with the way he took the blame for the defeat. He’s starting to really get it, to understand what we keep harping on here, and that is the fact it’s the quarterback’s job to win the game. It’s not to throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns. Rather, it’s to make sure your team has more points than your opponent when the final gun sounds. That’s all that matters. Everything else is just fluff, and stuff.

So afterward, Manziel wasn’t impressed with his running, or that the 3-12 Browns came close to springing a big upset over the streaking Chiefs (10-5). It was that he didn’t play well enough down the stretch for Cleveland to win.

The physical parts of the game are all things at which Manziel can improve. But the leadership that a quarterback must exhibit – that the team is his and he is responsible for its ultimate success on the scoreboard – is an acquired taste. That Manziel has that trait is the best thing to come out of another in a numbing series of losses.