This is a tough morning to be a member of the Johnny Manziel is going to be a successful NFL starting quarterback fan club. The haters and hot takers have lined up to serve some well deserved smackdown after Johnny Football and the rest of the Browns took a big old dump in the Dawg Pound yesterday afternoon against the Cincinnati Bengals. The rookie quarterback provided little for fans to cheer about as he looked overmatched and overhyped. His ability to improvise was severally limited by the Bengals defense and when he did hang in the pocket his reads were late and his throws inaccurate. The Browns defense deserves it’s fair share of the blame for final the result too but all in all after Sunday doubters have every right to question if Johnny Manziel is going to make it in the NFL. However, supporters should feel emboldened now too because for the first time since a then red shirt freshman led Texas A&M over #1 Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Johnny Football is an underdog.

And underdogs are fun to root for. So while there will still be plenty of grumps out there who want Manziel to fall flat on his face because they don’t like his style or confidence, fans will coalesce around the notion that nobody believes in him and therefore when he does succeed those that remained loyal will be able to take a great deal of pride in standing by their man.

Either that or the Cleveland Browns trade for Jay Cutler this offseason.