SEATTLE -- Duke Johnson Jr. wanted the first 6 minutes of Sunday's game against the Seahawks to repeat itself over and over again.
Instead, the Browns quarterback and Cleveland's offense experienced a repeat of what's hindered it throughout the 2015 season.
The Browns scored their only touchdown Sunday in methodical and impressive fashion, driving 80 yards on 15 plays to open their showdown against the Seahawks with a bang. From that point forward, the Browns were good enough to pick up a number of first downs and cross into Seattle territory multiple times, but had to settle for field goals or less while Seattle extended its lead with touchdowns.
"You can't start out any better than seven points on the opening drive," Manziel said. "We needed to sustain some of those later drives where we ended up kicking for three. Against a team like that, you can't settle for field goals very much and be successful. We can't say we didn't get down there and give ourselves a chance. We just have to execute when we get into the red zone.
"I think we had plenty of opportunities to make the game closer than it was."
In the wake of Cleveland's 30-13 loss, Manziel was reluctant to reminisce about what was arguably his most impressive possession as an NFL quarterback.
Manziel and the Browns offense was dealt a heavy dose of adversity on the game's second play, when right guard John Greco went down with a knee injury that kept him sidelined for the entire game. On the very next play, a third-and-5, Manziel connected with Taylor Gabriel on a 14-yard pass to prevent any sort of snowball effect.
Manziel went 6-for-8 for 60 yards on the opening possession, which he capped by scrambling on third-and-goal and throwing across his body to Gary Barnidge for a 7-yard touchdown.
"It was good to see," Browns coach Mike Pettine said. "I thought that we had a good plan. We went out an executed and made some plays. We had a good feel for that. They're usually pretty consistent in their looks and it's a matter of executing and I thought we did a good job of it."
In his post-game press conference, Manziel lamented the plays he and the Browns weren't able to execute to that same standard.
Trailing 14-7, the Browns picked up great field position from a long Raheem Mostert kickoff return and quickly moved into field goal range when Manziel completed a 22-yard pass to Duke Johnson Jr. An offsides penalty on third-and-5 put Cleveland at the 20-yard line. The Browns gained just 4 more yards, though, as Manziel threw incomplete passes on second and third down.
Manziel placed the blame on himself for what he called a six-point swing at the end of the first half.
His third-down throw to Gabriel with 29 seconds left in the half sailed a bit, derailing a drive he believed could have ended with a field goal and giving the ball back to Seattle. The Seahawks followed with a quick drive that ended with a Steven Hauschka field goal to take a 20-10 advantage at the half.
After the defense's only stop of the game to open the second half, Cleveland rattled off an 11-play drive that included two third-and-long conversions to move into Seattle territory. The possession ended with a punt after Manziel collided with the umpire on a scramble out of the pocket on third-and-6 from Seattle's 42-yard line.
"I could feel it kind of closing in, trying to get rid of it, and not take the sack," Manziel said. "I had a free rusher so I was trying to get out, the umpire was there as I was throwing the ball away, and there wasn't much of a chance to get out of that one."
Asked to picked out a specific play from his 19-of-32, 161-yard performance, Manziel quickly recalled his final throw of the day, an interception. That mindset was a theme after a performance that had its encouraging moments but ultimately came up short of the goal.
"I think there were some things I missed," Manziel said. "I will go back and look it tomorrow and the next day, put it to bed, then get ready for next week."
