Yesterday, Cleveland Browns Head Coach Rob Chudzinski informed the Cleveland media that he wasn’t sure who would be starting at quarterback against the Bengals on Sunday. Really?? C’mon Coach, you know who is going start – Brian Hoyer. While Brandon Weeden may be physically eligible to play, everything points to Hoyer calling the signals.
We all know that the current regime of Joe Banner and Mike Lombardi have little use for Weeden. He was not drafted by them and they have seen enough to determine that he is not the guy to lead the Brownies to the Promised Land. If they indeed felt he was their franchise QB, why make the blockbuster trade last week with the Indianapolis Colts? It is clear that Banner & Lombardi have their eyes on a quarterback who will be coming out in the 2014 Draft.
Hoyer’s performance on Sunday has the fan base believing that maybe this season is not a total wash out. In addition, he is a hometown boy and Browns fans still have in their minds how Boardman, Ohio native, Bernie Kosar led them to 3 AFC Championship games. With the game in Cleveland, the fan base will go absolutely berserk if he is not starting Sunday. If Weeden starts against the Bengals, the first mistake by the nearly 30-year old QB will result in plenty of boos and chanting for Hoyer.
The reality in all of this is that it doesn’t matter who is the quarterback on Sunday. The opponent is not the inept Minnesota Vikings. Cincinnati will be looking to to stay even with the Baltimore Ravens, who will be visiting the Bills in Buffalo in a game that the Ravens will be favored to win. The Bengals are coming off a come from behind win over the Green Bay Packers and will be geared up to build off of that win.
While Hoyer did throw three touchdown passes, he also had three interceptions. Those kinds of mistakes will prove costly against a Bengal team that features Andy Dalton and A.J. Green. Also, the Browns used two trick plays: a fake punt which extended a drive and a fake field goal that resulted in a touchdown. Chudzinski and Company will not be able to fool Cincinnati.
The Browns victory over the Vikings provided Browns fans with some hope that the season won’t be a total loss. For Banner and Company, this is just what the doctor ordered as it silenced critics that the team was throwing away the season when they traded Trent Richardson. The fact is that they were fortunate that the Vikings are a bad football team. Hoyer’s performance will have fans flocking to the Stadium hoping to see a local boy make good. But in the end, while the NFL is a passing league, you still need to be able to run the ball and the Browns are relying on Willis MaGahee to carry the load. Good luck with that.
Chudzinski should just come clean and announce that Hoyer is your quarterback and hope for lightning to strike a second time. Somehow I just don’t see it.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave your comments below. Yaou can follow me on twitter – @tonytalkssports. You can also follow the site while you are at it – @lastwordonsport.
Interested in writing for LastWordOnSports? If so, check out our “Join Our Team” page to find out how.
Football fans…check out our two partnered NFL podcasts – Thursday Night Tailgate Radio and Overtime Ireland. Both shows bring you interesting commentary, critical analysis and fantastic guests including former and current NFL players, coaches and personalities.
