Sometimes Week 1 is just a really small sample size of 60 minutes, and it doesn't give us The Absolute Truth on what will happen a week later.
The week of celebration over Marcus Mariota and the Tennessee Titans is as good an example as any.
The Titans quarterback didn't play that bad in his second career game, but it wasn't exactly perfect like Week 1 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, when he and the Titans were one of the NFL's big stories. Who didn't pick the Titans to beat the Cleveland Browns in Week 2 (well, except those who don't overreact to Week 1)? Especially when the Browns named Johnny Manziel their Week 2 starter.
Yeah, about that ...
Sometimes the storylines are too easy. Manziel, the "other" Heisman Trophy winner in the game who was left for dead after two NFL starts last season, played pretty well in his third career start and the Browns won 28-14. Shockingly, a Titans team that finished 2-14 last season didn't win back-to-back road games to start this season.
Manziel completed eight of 15 passes for 172 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Manziel started with a 60-yard touchdown to Travis Benjamin on his second play. In the fourth quarter, after the Titans cut the lead to 21-14, Manziel made a really nice play, rolling left, setting, and delivering to an open Benjamin crossing the field for a 50-yard touchdown. Benjamin scored three touchdowns, including one on a punt return. Manziel didn't play great — you could argue Mariota was better, but his team wasn't — though he made a couple big plays. And his team got the win.
Mariota, who diced up the Buccaneers last week, got off to a slow start. The Browns seemed to confuse him with some things, and hit him hard when they had a chance. Tennessee was shut out until 1:36 remained in the third quarter. Mariota was sacked seven times. He fumbled three times and lost two of them. Mariota completed 21-of-37 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns, though he got many of those yards after the Browns had a big lead. The Browns had a 21-point halftime lead, which was the first time that has happened for that franchise since 1994, CBS said.
Week 2 is just 60 minutes of football too, so the Browns' win doesn't mean Manziel will even start again when Josh McCown is healthy (Browns coach Mike Pettine said "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," about what he'll do when McCown is cleared from a concussion). And Mariota didn't play that bad, obviously especially for a second start. But for one day at least, the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner had some bragging rights over the 2014 Heisman winner.
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