Manziel starts well, but Browns fade in loss to Seahawks

“It was a special day, if it is the last one”, said Rivers, who threw three touchdown passes to Woodhead and watched as the mighty mite ran for another score.

“There are high, lofty expectations in our room”, cornerback Richard Sherman said. “He can do everything”. That’s why he’s getting open, because he’s able to run those routes. But I have all the confidence in all the receivers.

Baldwin has been just as productive, having caught 10 touchdown passes over the past four games. He and Wilson are on the same page, particularly when Wilson is scrambling. He took off his shoes, signed them and gave them away.

The entire offense is clicking as the Seahawks have won four straight and six of seven.

Which has translated into efficiency in the win column – five straight now.

Michael had 84 yards, 38 yards more than any other Seahawk, on 16 carries.

Baldwin also became the third wide receiver since 1960 with four straight games with multiple TD catches, joining Calvin Johnson in 2011 and Cris Carter in 1995, and matched Daryl Turner’s single-season franchise record of 13 TD catches.

Browns right tackle Mitchell Schwartz can’t catch a break. “We had an opportunity to break up passes and we didn’t break them up”.

Prior to the matchup against Cleveland, Seattle signed Bryce Brown and Christine Michael to the active roster. You’re talking about people who have seen the bottom and people who have seen the top. He believes that fuels both of them. “That’s what you get with experience”.

But Michael has the chance to keep playing beyond Week 17. “And Avril, he’s got pretty much everything, too”.

-RUSHING OFFENSE: B. Even without Marshawn Lynch and Thomas Rawls, the Seahawks rushed for 182 yards against Cleveland – 127 of those yards coming from players that were not on the roster last Sunday.

“We knew when we were 2-5 that we had a good team and we could turn this around”, receiver DeAndre Hopkins said. “But it just shows the type of player he can be when given the opportunity”.

The Browns haven’t played a road game in 35 days, since a 30-9 loss at Pittsburgh on November 15. They’ll need to see how he bounces back throughout the week…. “When they come, you make the majority”. Hello Russell Wilson, surgeon.

O’Brien said he didn’t expect Yates to play next week and didn’t provide a specific update on the injury, though the CBS broadcast said initial reports indicated it was an ACL injury.

“You kind of have to be here to experience it, but it’s a great following”, Carroll said. They’re all standing up and screaming. “We tried to get him down a couple of times”, Cleveland defensive lineman Xavier Cooper said.

The noise has tangible effects. These two running backs combined to average 5.1 yards-per-carry. Not as quantifiable are the timeouts called after communication troubles, the slow get-offs of the offensive tackles because of the silent snap counts, the inability to audible and the overall unease caused by the deafening screams. “You have to be concise, get it in and be clear and have it communicated”. “It sounds like he’s making good progress”. Yeah, that’s best-ball stuff.

Asked if this late-season surge seems different because of the improvement on offense, Carroll said, “I don’t think there is any doubt”. This place has a ton of hype.

Consecutive games in which Seattle has held a lead, an National Football League record.

In that scenario, it would not matter if Seattle beat the Cardinals, only what would happen in the Green Bay-Minnesota game (specifically, a Minnesota win would mean the Vikings would win the North and the Packers would then be the No. 5 seed and the Seahawks the No. 6 even if they beat the Cardinals, while a Green Bay win over the Vikings would give the Packers the title and give Seattle the No. 5 seed over the Vikings regardless of the result against the Cardinals).

Back to life, back to reality.

Cleveland fell to 3-11.