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Normally, if you told me week 1 was vs. Cleveland at home vs. a rookie QB, I'd say chalk up the W, no worries. That is _NOT_ how I feel at this point. I know what some of you are going to say. So, here is my retort.
1.) "We don't even know if Johnny will be the starter." I'd say it is appearing likely he will be. He played better than Hoyer in his FIRST NFL action; he is only going to get better. The kid is a quick learner (33 on Wonderlic). His football IQ is said to be off the chart. The fan push for this kid is colossal. All things being equal, JM starts week 1.
2.) "JM hasn't proven a thing. He is overrated and will get gobbled up in the NFL." I don't believe that is the case whatsoever. If you want to say he hasn't proven a thing, OK. He may not have _proven_ anything yet, but all signs point to him being successful in the NFL. Let's say I am _predicting_ his success.
3.) "Let's see how a rookie fares playing against a Dick LaBuea D." This kid has walked into ALB. and taken down the best team in the country. And even though Saban beat him the following year, he still said, "I still have no idea how to defend this guy." If JM can walk into ALB, and beat that team, he won't be phased by walking into Heinz and facing our D; as a matter of fact, this kid thrives on being the underdog. He is going to revel in it. Also, Labuea's Ds don't fool anyone any longer. When announcers drone on about how difficult QBs find facing our D, that is past tense. There would be nothing more common than JM "shocking the world" and beating the big, bad Steelers. The kid lives for that kind of event. And if he finds a way to beat Pgh, his first game ever, the fans in Cleveland will drop whatever form of religion they are practicing (Christian, etc.) and start worshiping Manziel, and he knows it.
4.) Their D is no joke. It was already top 10 with a cluster F of an organization. They will probably be a top 5 D this year. Plus, even if this regime ends up being FAIL, the players won't think so this early in the season and are going to fight to win; we won't be able to count on them giving up week 1. They are going to give us everything they got. I don't think we are going to be able to rush on them, even though I like our rushing game for the season; week 1 is unlikely to be a good rushing game for us.
All that being said, I am crossing fingers for a win. But I certainly am not assuming we get a W. It is probably going to be a dog fight.
1.) "We don't even know if Johnny will be the starter." I'd say it is appearing likely he will be. He played better than Hoyer in his FIRST NFL action; he is only going to get better. The kid is a quick learner (33 on Wonderlic). His football IQ is said to be off the chart. The fan push for this kid is colossal. All things being equal, JM starts week 1.
2.) "JM hasn't proven a thing. He is overrated and will get gobbled up in the NFL." I don't believe that is the case whatsoever. If you want to say he hasn't proven a thing, OK. He may not have _proven_ anything yet, but all signs point to him being successful in the NFL. Let's say I am _predicting_ his success.
3.) "Let's see how a rookie fares playing against a Dick LaBuea D." This kid has walked into ALB. and taken down the best team in the country. And even though Saban beat him the following year, he still said, "I still have no idea how to defend this guy." If JM can walk into ALB, and beat that team, he won't be phased by walking into Heinz and facing our D; as a matter of fact, this kid thrives on being the underdog. He is going to revel in it. Also, Labuea's Ds don't fool anyone any longer. When announcers drone on about how difficult QBs find facing our D, that is past tense. There would be nothing more common than JM "shocking the world" and beating the big, bad Steelers. The kid lives for that kind of event. And if he finds a way to beat Pgh, his first game ever, the fans in Cleveland will drop whatever form of religion they are practicing (Christian, etc.) and start worshiping Manziel, and he knows it.
4.) Their D is no joke. It was already top 10 with a cluster F of an organization. They will probably be a top 5 D this year. Plus, even if this regime ends up being FAIL, the players won't think so this early in the season and are going to fight to win; we won't be able to count on them giving up week 1. They are going to give us everything they got. I don't think we are going to be able to rush on them, even though I like our rushing game for the season; week 1 is unlikely to be a good rushing game for us.
All that being said, I am crossing fingers for a win. But I certainly am not assuming we get a W. It is probably going to be a dog fight.
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