I was all set to take the Bengals -11, but after talking to Dalton Del Don on the podcast, I changed my mind and took the Browns. My reasoning was I had been burned by the 49ers and Dolphins the last two Thursdays, and maybe my Bengals hunch was just based on my past trauma from backing (and watching) those two hopeless underdogs in standalone games. Besides, it's usually correct to take the dog when the spread is double-digits, and I wasn't going to panic and take favorites to avoid being on the wrong side of yet another blowout... Of course, as soon as I had locked in the Browns pick on Wednesday, I felt sure it was wrong.

The actual game itself was closer than the score, and certainly closer than the previous two Thursday night blowouts. But the Browns generated almost no offense in the second half, and even a blocked punt wasn't enough to trigger a backdoor cover.

• Johnny Manziel passed the eye test for me, scrambling well, escaping pressure and throwing on the run. His numbers weren't good (5.1 YPA), but he was hurt by two terrible Taylor Gabriel drops (one of them was on a 20-plus yard pass), and Gary Barnidge fell down on one downfield target. Manziel didn't turn the ball over despite taking three sacks and at least one big hit. That said, there's virtually no chance troglodyte Mike Pettine plays him over Josh McCown even though the Browns are going nowhere and need to evaluate Manziel for next year.

• A.J Green is almost always more productive on the road, and tonight's game was no exception.

• Tyler Eifert now has nine TDs in eight games.

• With Brian Hartline out and Taylor Gabriel dropping passes Dwayne Bowe actually led the team's wideouts in receiving with three catches for 31 yards. It's hard to understand why they signed him if they were hardly going to play him.

• Both Travis Benjamin and Gary Barnidge are better off with McCown under center, it seems.