While it’s far from being official, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting Wednesday night that Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel will sit out the Week 17 home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers with a concussion. Manziel, who threw for a career-high 372 yards in the Week 10 game against the Steelers in Pittsburgh, will be replaced in the starting lineup by backup Austin Davis.
Davis started one game this season for the Browns and relieved an injured Josh McCown in one other. For the season, he is 32-of-48 passing for 307 yards with one touchdown and one interception. In 2014 with the St. Louis Rams, Davis started 8 games and was 180-of-284 passing for 2,001 yards with 12 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.
Last week against the Baltimore Ravens, the Steelers defense allowed backup quarterback Ryan Mallet to throw for a career-high 274 yards in the team’s 20-17 road loss. Mallett had only been with the Ravens for less than two weeks heading into that contest and his offense was minus several key players at the skill positions due to injuries.
The Steelers must beat the Browns Sunday and hope that the Buffalo Bills can upset the New York Jets at the same time in order for them to make the playoffs with a 10-6 record and the sixth seed in the AFC. The Steelers are currently favored by double-digits over the Browns just as they were last week ahead of their game against the Ravens.
