Johnny Manziel Era - However Long It Lasts - Kicks Off in Cleveland

Whatever happens to the Cleveland Browns for the rest of the season, they can be assured that starting Johnny Manziel Sunday against Cincinnati will give that 14th regular season game almost playoff-like allure for viewers across the country.

The opinion of Jon “Stugotz” Weiner, the genial foil to the host on ESPN Radio’s afternoon “Dan Le Batard Show,” likely isn’t an outlier. Tuesday afternoon, on air, Stugotz said he’d clear his schedule Sunday afternoon to watch the Browns-Bengals game, no other games, no “Red Zone,” nothing else.

He acknowledged that he couldn’t care less about the Browns otherwise but is just wildly curious to see how Johnny Football plays in his first regular season start.

So are Browns fans, whether they were backers of Brian Hoyer or supporters of Johnny Manziel. And truth to tell, many of the former have turned into the latter after Hoyer’s abysmal performance the last few games. The accumulation of three-and-outs Sunday against Indianapolis, in a pivotal game that the Browns could have won with even one more first down, sifted out the last few Hoyer loyalists.

Those left, while not necessarily ready to jump on the Manziel bandwagon, are at least ready to see what the Heisman Trophy winning Johnny Football can do.

If he struggles at running an NFL offense (which wouldn’t be surprising or unexpected), and the Browns continue to misplace a running game that once seemed a team strength, Cleveland probably won’t be any worse off than if they had played Hoyer.

Browns fans are hoping for a better result, as they always do. Plus, even if Manziel plays poorly, they can always hope their “D” wins the game.

Who says Cleveland can’t play meaningful games in December?