Someday Browns fans will look back at this and laugh, but they’re far from that point now.
So for the time being until this nightmarish season is over in a little less than two months, having to watch the team’s messed-up, mishandled quarterback situation is pure misery for them. It is painful. A root canal would feel better.
Since the Browns returned to the field in 1999, they haven’t exactly been the poster children for how to manage their quarterbacks. In short, it’s been a disaster. We’re 17 seasons down the road, and the Browns are no closer to finding their franchise quarterback than they were when took Tim Couch at No. 1 overall in their first NFL Draft.
But this season might be the all-timer when it comes to bungling the position.
Think about this:
Head coach Mike Pettine says that if Josh McCown is able to play, he’ll start on Sunday when the Browns face the Steelers in Pittsburgh. Why? Because the coach keeps insisting that McCown gives the Browns the best chance to win. This is the same Josh McCown who is 2-15 in his last 17 starts. But Pettine is so reluctant to play Johnny Manziel, he is willing to practically wheel McCown, who does nothing but lose games, out onto the field and put him behind center. It may come to that, too, for McCown is battered and bruised and in no shape to play.
Even though the Browns traded up four spots to draft Manziel at No. 22 overall in 2014, Pettine has no confidence in him. None whatsoever. What does that say about the Browns’ drafting?
General Manager Ray Farmer, who drafted Manziel, is chomping on the bit to see the guy play. That’s what those illegal texts down to the sideline last year were all about. The more Manziel sits, the thinner the ice gets underneath Farmer and his job security. In the last two drafts, he has botched a total of four first-round picks in historic fashion. Manziel, because he plays quarterback, is the headliner in all that.
With McCown so banged up, the Browns desperately need Manziel to step up. The situation is begging for him to do that. But halfway through Manziel’s second season, Pettine has apparently come to the conclusion that he can’t play. Talk about flaming out before you even get started. Yikes!
Folks, you can’t make this stuff up. This is dysfunction and buffoonery at its highest level. It is so bad that it makes the mistakes of other years seem almost like successes.
In actuality, then, this whole so-called raging question of who is going to start at quarterback in Pittsburgh is nothing more than a tempest in a teapot. Does it really matter? Neither McCown nor Manziel are the answer. They’re both terrible. It’s not about picking the best player. It’s about choosing the one who isn’t quite as bad. This is a beauty contest where all the contestants look like the Sea Hag.
And until the Browns find the answer at quarterback, they aren’t going to win.
It’s been the same dilemma for going on 20 seasons.
That’s not funny to Browns fans. There’s no humor in it whatsoever.
They’ll look back at all this and laugh only when that franchise quarterback is on the roster. And, judging by how things have gone in that regard in the expansion era, that may take a while.
