Not a pretty start for the AFC North teams, unless you follow the Bengals

Article by Gordon Dedman

You can’t keep a good man out of the news and it was Johnny Manziel who made the headline for me. To come off the bench and throw his first NFL touchdown is good enough to rate as the number one story in the division.

Cleveland Browns at New York Jets

On Cleveland’s first possession, Josh McCown led the Browns on a 91-yard drive that finished as he flew through the air in an attempt to put the ball into the end zone. Instead of crossing the goal line with the ball, a forced fumble turned the ball over and McCown missed the rest of the game as a precautionary measure for concussion.

With the game scoreless, the Jets failed on a 4^th and one at the beginning of the second quarter giving Johnny Manziel good field position as he came in for Cleveland’s next series. Four plays later he threw his first NFL touchdown pass, a 54-yard perfectly placed completion to Travis Benjamin.

A story book ending wasn’t in the script as the Jets came from behind to comfortably win 31-10 as the Browns turned the ball over five times. Manziel was Cleveland’s leading rusher with 35 yards while McCown, who only saw one series, was second with 23. A sad reflection on the Browns ground game.

Some things never change and the defeat for Cleveland was their eleventh straight opening day loss.

Baltimore Ravens at Denver Broncos

The Ravens came very close to pulling off a victory, but Joe Flacco’s second interception in the closing minute saw the Broncos claim the 19-13 win.

The Ravens Jimmy Smith’s interception return for a touchdown gave Baltimore a 10-9 lead in the third quarter, but Flacco repaid the opportunity with his first interception that Aqib Talib returned 51 yards for a score.

Baltimore’s defense gave Peyton Manning a torrid time sacking him four times. The Ravens defense was solid, but they lost outside linebacker Terrell Suggs for the year with a torn Achilles. Suggs was the heart of an effective unit, so his loss could disturb their unity.

Cincinnati Bengals at Oakland Raiders

Returning from an injury that saw him miss most of last season, Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert caught a career high 9 passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns as Andy Dalton had a trouble free training session in the Oakland sunshine.

Cincinnati took the lead on their first possession and cruised comfortably to a 33-0 lead before giving up 13 points in the last quarter.

The Bengals had lost their previous ten games in Oakland, so as the only team in the division to have a positive win column, the season ahead holds potential for them.  

FINAL WORD

“We need to coach better,” coach Mike Pettine on the Browns loss.