Cleveland Browns: Johnny Football Disappoints in his Debut

All of the hype surrounding Johnny Manziel amassed to nothing.

After weeks of waiting for Cleveland Browns' head coach Mike Pettine to make the quarterback switch, Pettine finally started his rookie Manziel and it was a decision that he most likely regrets. Manziel, nicknamed Johnny Football, was very disappointing in his starting debut during Sunday's 30-0 blowout against the Cincinnati Bengals.

"Whether you're playing in a Pop Warner league or you're 6 years old playing in the driveway, you can't throw that ball," Manziel said in the press conference. "I'm not using the rookie excuse. Yeah, I'm a rookie but that's out the window. I needed to play better. I felt coming into today that I was absolutely prepared. Being out there, I never felt overwhelmed or that it was too much for me. You need to play better than the other team, and today I didn't do that."

Manziel was unable to revive the Browns and push them to make a run for the playoffs. Three of his first four drives of the game went nowhere and his fourth was an interception. Aside from scoring drives, for the most of the game, Manziel could not even lead the Browns across midfield. He was sacked three times and harassed throughout the game by a Bengals defense that clearly showed Manziel what it would be like to play with the pros.

"There was some incentive for us just to show him this isn't college, it's the NFL," Bengals nose tackle Domata Peko said. "You've got grown men chasing after you. He has a lot to learn, but he's young. That's what you expect from a young guy.

Manziel completed 10 passes for 80 yards with a dismal quarterback rating of just 27.3.

"The bad thing is the result. The worse thing would be not to learn from it," Pettine said. "We have to come out and push through it, and hopefully he'll be better next week."

Manziel will start the last two games of the regular season.