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The Johnny Manziel era in Cleveland has not begun after all. Head coach Mike Pettine simply isn't ready to go with the rookie, and he decided Wednesday that Brian Hoyer will remain the starter.
After a disastrous stretch of games by Hoyer, the Browns have fallen from first place in the AFC North to the 11 seed and out of the playoff picture in the latest standings. Hoyer threw three picks and was benched in the fourth quarter of last week's 26-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Manziel replaced him and completed five of eight passes for 83 yards and ran for a 10-yard score in garbage time. Though he looked decent, it wasn't enough to unseat Hoyer as the Browns starter. Fox Sports' Jay Glazer originally broke the news:
#Scoopage: The Manziel Era is NOT beginning in Cleveland yet as Brian Hoyer has been informed he will start this weekend vs Indy
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) December 3, 2014
Over the past three weeks, Hoyer has completed just 61 of 120 passes with one score and six picks. Cleveland went 1-2 over that span after starting the year 7-5. For the year, Hoyer is completing 56.2 percent of his passes for 3,056 yards with 11 scores and 10 picks.
It looks like there is now a decent chance Hoyer is the starter when the Bengals and Browns face off in Cleveland in Week 15 in a do-or-die game for the Browns' hopes of winning the AFC North.