Browns pick Brian Hoyer to start, and that's the right move

Johnny Fever is contagious, and Cleveland Browns coach Mike Pettine momentarily came down with it too.

Pettine considered starting Johnny Manziel on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, and presumably for the rest of the season. Longtime Browns beat writers listened to Pettine after last Sunday’s game at Buffalo, in which Manziel came in and led a late touchdown drive, and thought Pettine was leaning toward giving Manziel the start.

And let's face it: It would have been a lot more fun to talk about and watch the Browns the rest of the season with the rookie leading a playoff push.

But cooler heads prevailed. Pettine, the team has announced, will go with Brian Hoyer at quarterback this weekend, just as he has for the first 12 games. Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer was the first to report the news.

How boring. But, it’s the right move.

It’s not likely that Manziel would be able to run a full offense for the Browns down the stretch. He is the rare first-round quarterback who needs a year to sit and learn. The Browns don’t want to set him back now because just look at Washington’s conundrum with Robert Griffin III.

Add in the pressure of a rare Browns playoff race on Manziel’s shoulders, and it just wasn’t the right time.

Hoyer hasn’t been very good lately either, not even with the return of Josh Gordon two weeks ago, but he gives the Browns the best chance to right the ship and win now. The chances of the Hoyer from September re-emerging after a high-profile benching last week are better than Manziel taking over the NFL in the last month of his rookie season. Manziel can improvise and make great plays but it’s unlikely he’s ready to do so on a consistent basis. The fact that the Bills let him drive downfield in a 20-3 game, when they probably hadn’t prepared a lick for him (Manziel had played just five snaps all season before he got in) wasn’t a sign that he was ready to carry the Browns to the playoffs. It was just a fun highlight, although it wasn’t hard to get swept up in the excitement.

Pettine made the prudent choice. It’s not fun but it was right. However, if Hoyer throws a couple of first-half interceptions on Sunday …