Chiefs face Browns, Manziel

? He was supposed to be the savior of a downtrodden franchise, a mobile quarterback with plenty of arm strength to keep defenses honest, and enough moxie to lead his team to respectability.

Perfect description for Alex Smith. Pretty good for Johnny Manziel, too.

When Smith leads the Kansas City Chiefs into Sunday’s game against the Browns, he may as well be showing his Cleveland counterpart what’s still possible. The start to Manziel’s career has been every bit as turbulent as Smith’s beginning in San Francisco, yet the former No. 1 overall pick has matured to the point he’s a Pro Bowl alternate for a team barreling toward the playoffs.

“I obviously had a lot of expectations and a lot of hype coming in,” Manziel said. “He obviously did being a first-round pick, too, but he did get some patience with the organization that he was with, and I think it’s panned out for him because I think he’s a good quarterback.”

Those first few years were quite the struggle, though. Smith had difficulty living up to expectations, and it took a new 49ers regime before Smith finally started to flourish.

Even then, he was jettisoned in favor of Colin Kaepernick. Smith never lost faith in himself. And now in his third season in Kansas City, he is putting together arguably the finest season of his 10-year career, one that has the Chiefs (9-5) riding an eight-game winning streak.

Smith went more than 300 passes without a pick earlier this season, setting a Chiefs record. He is on pace to shatter his career high for yards passing, and his 16 touchdown passes and four interceptions represent the best touchdown-to-interception ratio of his career.

In short, he’s come a long way from completing 50 percent of his passes as a rookie.

“He knows he’s in charge out there,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “He’s got a little flexibility to get you in and out of plays, good or bad situations, and put you in good situations.”

That may be the mark of an established quarterback — the point Manziel is trying to reach.

The first-round pick of the Browns (3-11) last year, Manziel went 0-2 as a starter as a rookie. Things have been just as topsy-turvy in Year 2, which has included off-field issues, a benching after the bye, and a couple of decent performances.

“I’ll tell you the same thing I told you when he was in college: He’s an explosive player,” Reid said. “From a defensive standpoint, you’ve got to make sure you play the whole play and then a little.”

The finish to the season could be crucial for Manziel, because the Browns will have another high draft pick. That means they must decide soon whether to continue to build around him.

“They see him ultra-prepared. They see him seamlessly calling plays in the huddle and getting guys lined up, and knowing where to go with the ball and doing his job. There is no substitute for hard work to get to that point,” Browns coach Mike Pettine said. “He has put it in and has done it.”

CLEVELAND (3-11) at KANSAS CITY (9-5)

Noon today, CBS (WOW! channels 5, 13, 205, 213)

OPENING LINE — Chiefs by 11 1/2

RECORD VS. SPREAD — Browns 5-9, Chiefs 8-6

SERIES RECORD — Tied 11-11-2

LAST MEETING — Chiefs beat Browns 23-17, Oct. 27, 2013

LAST WEEK — Browns lost to Seahawks 30-13; Chiefs beat Ravens 34-14

AP PRO32 RANKING — Browns No. 30, Chiefs No. 7

BROWNS OFFENSE — OVERALL (25), RUSH (29T), PASS (14)

BROWNS DEFENSE — OVERALL (26), RUSH (31), PASS (22)

CHIEFS OFFENSE — OVERALL (24), RUSH (8), PASS (28)

CHIEFS DEFENSE — OVERALL (8), RUSH (7), PASS (17)

STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Cleveland has lost eight of nine. … Browns are playing final road game this season. … Cleveland needs 220 yards passing for 4,000 for season. QBs are completing 63.1 percent of passes, second best in franchise history. … Johnny Manziel expected to start at QB for Browns for third straight game. … Cleveland ran for season-best 230 yards two weeks ago vs. San Francisco. … Browns LB Karlos Dansby has returned two interceptions for TDs this season. … Browns P Andy Lee needs two punts inside 20 to tie Bryan Barker (326) for most in NFL history. … WR Dwayne Bowe spent eight seasons with Chiefs before signing with Cleveland this season. Bow has only five receptions and no TDs in 2015. … Gary Barnidge is tied with Ozzie Newsome for most TD receptions among Browns tight ends with nine.