Don’t judge Manziel by one game

It was one game. One miserably played game by virtually every player on the Browns roster on Dec. 14, especially Johnny Manziel, but that’s all it was — one game after one week of Manziel practicing with the starters.

Excluding Tim Tebow, taken 25th by the Broncos in 2010, you would be hardpressed to find a quarterback who recently entered the NFL with more haters than Manziel has. Manziel was the 22nd pick in 2014.

Manziel’s stat line from last week was horrible — 10 of 18 for 80 yards with two interceptions in a 30-0 loss and three sacks with a 27.1 passer rating.

I decided to check how a few other quarterbacks did on their first start. The first dart I threw landed on Troy Aikman’s name tag.

Aikman is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but you would never know it by his first game. Aikman, taken with the first pick by the Cowboys in 1989, was 17 of 35 for 180 yards, no touchdown passes and three interceptions in a 28-0 loss to the Saints. Aikman was 0-11 as a rookie. The second dart landed on Peyton Manning’s name. He was 3-13 as a rookie with the Indianapolis Colts and lost his first start, 24-15, to the Miami Dolphins. He was 21 of 37 for 302 yards, but he threw three interceptions to go with one touchdown pass. One more example: Terry Bradshaw, the only quarterback to win four Super Bowls, was 4 of 16 for 70 yards with no touchdown passes and one interception as a rookie in the Steelers’ 1970 season-opening 17-9 loss to the Houston Oilers. The NFL in 1970 wasn’t the passing league that it is today, but 4 of 16 hardly foreshadowed four Super Bowl titles.

Like Aikman, Bradshaw was taken first overall in his draft year. Manning was picked first overall by the Colts in 1998.

All three players went to training camp as the starter, so they were much more prepared for their first start than Manziel was. Manning won his second start. Bradshaw was 0-3 before winning his first game.

Manziel will have to wait until next year if he starts 0-3 — if the Browns give him that chance in 2015.

Manziel in August said he was not ready to start against the Steelers in the season opener, so no one should fault head coach Mike Pettine for going with Brian Hoyer. Certainly no one was chanting “Manziel! Manziel!” when the Browns were 6-3.

No one knows what Manziel will do in the last two games. He might be a flop against the Panthers and Ravens, but more likely he will show a degree of improvement simply because he had another week of practice with the starters. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan should know better what plays to call with Manziel in the game.

“It’s all about getting as many reps as possible and getting in there with the No. 1’s and getting even more and more comfortable with them,” Manziel said. “This is a process both for Kyle and me. This is our first time being together, even though we’ve been together all year, first time being the guy under center. We’re both figuring stuff out as we go and our strengths and our weakness. We’re learning.”

Manziel caused his own problems with national media members such as Merrill Hoge by his antics off the field and boasting he wouldn’t change. Can you imagine Manning or

Tom Brady riding an inflatable swan in a swimming pool and guzzling champagne as rookies even before TMZ came along?

Manziel seems to have matured rapidly since the start of training camp. Maybe he could put in more prep time than he does. No one but Manziel knows how long he studies, not even Bernie Kosar.

As much as Hoge and others seem to want Manziel to fail, he can’t be judged by one game. What if the Wright brothers, after one crash said, “Forget it, this thing will never get off the ground!”

The Browns are in a pickle at quarterback because Hoyer is a free agent after this season and three games won’t be enough to measure Manziel unless the last two games are as disastrous as the first. But that’s a topic for another column.

Raiders showing pulse

The hapless Oakland Raiders were 0-4 before Tony Sparano was promoted to interim head coach to replace Dennis Allen. He is 2-8 since taking over. Not a glittering record, but they have shown effort since the change. They lost to the Chargers, 31-28, and, 13-6, and narrowly lost to the Seahawks, 30-24.

“We love him,” rookie quarterback Derek Carr told reporters in Oakland. “He’s our leader. Absolutely. We love him. Obviously, those decisions are going to happen, and we have no control in that. Those decisions will be made, and whoever is here is who we’ll play for.

“The fact that I don’t know what’s going to happen, that’s hard,” Carr said. “But right now, I’m focused on playing my heart out for him because I love him. I love him to death, I love playing for him. He pushes the heck out of me, and I love it. That’s how I like to be coached.”

The Raiders also were embarrassed by the Rams, 52-0, under Sparano’s watch.

Twitteritus

I am the last person on the planet to lecture anyone on how to use Twitter, but you have to wonder where Jets owner Woody Johnson’s head was earlier this week.

One of the millions of Jets fans in New York disgruntled with general manager John

Idzik sent the following tweet to Johnson: “@woodyjohnson4 you really need to #FireIdzik at this point. This roster is garbagio.”

Instead of continuing to scroll with his Twitter feed, Johnson, a billionaire, favorited the tweet , saying his own general manager should be fired for the Jets’ 3-11 record.

Johnson later sent out a tweet saying the one he favorited was inadvertent and that he has to be more careful. Fans think the same thing about Idzik.