The Browns have a monumental task ahead, as they try and slow the Blaine Gabbert Express.
Stopping him altogether is out of the question, but can they contain him?
Eh, probably, yes.
But that still likely won’t be enough.
Johnny Manziel is the story, but Johnny still has a long way to go before he can run an NFL offense. Gabbert is actually miles ahead of Johnny on the “competently lead an offense” scale.
Johnny’s the story, but Gabbert’s got the game right now
The Browns are bad. The Niners are bad too, no question about that, but the Browns are baaaad.
Do you know you might see Terrelle Pryor back on the field this weekend…as a receiver. No, I’m not kidding. Who knows, this could be the start of another legendary tandem a la Montana-Rice, Manning-Harrison or even Dalton-Green. Doubtful though.
There is actually some positive energy right now in the 49ers camp. Gabbert’s teammates appear to be supporting him and playing hard down the stretch. Case in point was pulling off a dramatic road win last week vs. the Bears.
The Browns are making the smart move to toss Johnny in as the starter for the rest of the season. Sure he outright lied to Coach Pettine’s face (about the party video that TMZ got their hands on) and Pettine wanted to bury him until the new year, then punt him, but ownership sent down their edict – Johnny plays. Get onboard coach and this might just save your job (probably not though).
They do need to see what they have before the draft. The question over these next four games isn’t about a win-loss record. It’s figuring out if they need to go QB with their first round pick next summer.
Their receiving corps is completely shredded (hence the possible appearance of Pryor), they’re devoid of playmakers across the board and they live in the middle of a bad soap opera every day.
They’re not good enough, not even to beat San Francisco.
And another item to note is that I can see Eric Mangini pretty excited about making this a rough day on Manziel and the Cleveland franchise. Look for “Mangenious” and the defense to have their second impressive road start in a row.
Niners vs. Browns Pick
Taking the Niners +2
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