All the great ones have it–a bit of luck on their side. The football world has been waiting to see if Johnny Manziel could continue the magic at the NFL level, but the unorthodox Heisman Trophy winner has been stranded behind steady hometown QB Brian Hoyer all year in Cleveland. Finally on Sunday, Manziel got the call. With the Browns trailing 21-3 Manziel immediately moved the team down the field, sparking a drive that culminated in his own 10-yard touchdown run. It was Manziel’s first NFL touchdown.
But he needed to get pretty lucky to score it. Manziel threw some good passes and looked good on his feet. But he threw one ball to TE Jim Dray that would have been picked off about 90% of the time. Fortunately for Manziel, it was the other 10% of the time when he threw it–and Dray pulled it in. Manziel looked out of practice, at best, the rest of the way. He couldn’t bring the Browns back from the dead against the Bills, but that was a very tall order. Manziel’s improvisational performance was enough, however, to restart the quarterback controversy in Cleveland. Chances are, as we’ve seen, Manziel will get lucky again.
