Column: Johnny Manziel reverses his field, and fortunes, leads Browns to victory

Step aside, Johnny U.

Sunday belonged to Johnny U-turn.

Embattled Cleveland quarterback Johnny Manziel, whose career has known far more downs than ups, collected his first NFL victory Sunday in grand style. He threw touchdown passes of 60 and 50 yards to lead the Browns to a 28-14 win over the Tennessee Titans — upstaging fellow Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota to boot.

On a day when Dallas lost quarterback Tony Romo, Philadelphia and the New York Giants dropped to 0-2, and Oakland stunned Baltimore, it was Manziel who provided some of the best All-DVR highlights.

On the other end of Manziel’s long scoring throws was Travis Benjamin, who also scored on a 78-yard punt return. A spectacular day by any measure. But it was the delayed arrival of Manziel, if only for a Sunday, that many people will remember.

That was a 180-degree turn from a week earlier, when Manziel followed a long touchdown pass with three second-half turnovers in losing to the New York Jets by three touchdowns.

There would be no such collapse Sunday. On his 50-yard touchdown, he wheeled away from pressure and unleashed a deep pass that hit Benjamin in stride.

“That was vintage Manziel,” said Browns Coach Mike Pettine, whose team posted just the third victory in a home opener since 1999. “We want him to play within structure and make a read, but when the play breaks down that’s what he brings — the ability to escape. . . . I thought he had a chance to just run there, but one of the signs of maturity was he kept his eyes downfield.”

That the Browns looked dramatically different from Week 1 to Week 2 is not surprising. That’s typically when teams change the most. And it happened all over the league.

Philadelphia, which came to life in the second half of its opener against Atlanta (but ultimately lost), looked terrible in its home opener against Dallas. The Eagles generated one first down in the first half, and running back DeMarco Murray, who won the rushing title with the Cowboys last season, had seven carries in the first half for minus-10 yards.

The Cowboys came away with a 20-10 victory and a 2-0 record in the NFC East, but also with plenty of reason for concern. They lost Romo to a fractured left clavicle, which could sideline him for half a season or more. Brandon Weeden took over for him, and although he widened the lead, he doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence. A first-round pick of Cleveland in 2012, Weeden came into this season with 26 touchdown passes, 28 interceptions, and a career passer rating of 72.5.

Oakland’s Derek Carr had his best game in a 37-33 thriller over Baltimore, throwing for a career-high 351 yards and three touchdowns, including the 12-yard game-winner to Seth Roberts with 26 seconds to play.

Things didn’t go as well for the team across the bay. All that momentum San Francisco gathered in its convincing victory over Minnesota in a Monday night opener disappeared in Pittsburgh, where the 49ers were routed by the Steelers, 43-18.

Ben Roethlisberger threw for 369 yards and three touchdowns, and DeAngelo Williams tied a club record with three rushing touchdowns. All that, and the Steelers were playing without All-Pro running back Le’Veon Bell and 6-foot-5 receiver Martavis Bryant, both suspended.

“When we get all our pieces back to this puzzle, it’s going to be a beautiful puzzle, man,” Williams told reporters.

As for the Vikings, they looked nothing like the team that could only muster a field goal in a 20-3 loss to the 49ers six days earlier.

Sunday, Adrian Peterson rolled up 192 yards rushing and receiving, and paid a minimal price for his three fumbles (one was wiped out by a penalty, he recovered another) as the Vikings handed Detroit a 26-16 defeat.

It was the first home game since 2013 for Peterson, who was sidelined for most of last season after an indictment on a child injury charge. He ran for 134 yards in 29 carries.

“He’s got to hold onto the ball better,” Coach Mike Zimmer said, “but he ran with a vengeance.”

St. Louis was coming off an upset of Seattle in the opener, but couldn’t keep the good times rolling. The Rams lost at Washington, 24-10, and failed to get sufficient pressure on Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins. Washington rookie Matt Jones rushed for a pair of touchdowns, and gained 123 yards behind a Redskins line that looked dominant against a Rams front stacked with first-round picks.

Since 2005, St. Louis is 2-15 in regular-season games immediately following games against Seattle.

So in that sense, there wasn’t much of a change after all.

Fills the Bills

New England’s Tom Brady was scorching Sunday, throwing for 466 yards and three touchdowns in a 40-32 victory at Buffalo. That’s more passing yards than the Bills had ever surrendered.

“I’ve been on the wrong end of it a few times when the kid gets hot, and Brady was hot,” Coach Rex Ryan said, before crediting Patriots Coach Bill Belichick. “It’s on my shoulders. Belichick outcoached me. No question about it.”

Oh so close

San Diego’s Philip Rivers, who completed his final 20 passes in a Week 1 victory over Detroit, connected on his first two passes at Cincinnati on Sunday. Twenty-two consecutive completions is just shy of the NFL record of 24 set by Philadelphia’s Donovan McNabb.

Rivers did wind up in the Chargers’ record book, however. With a 10-yard scoring pass to Stevie Johnson in the third quarter, Rivers notched the 255th touchdown of his career, breaking the mark he shared with Dan Fouts.

Trophy tandem

With Manziel and Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston picking up wins, Sunday marked the first time in NFL history that two Heisman-winning quarterbacks collected their first career victories on the same day.

Game of inches

Details, details. In the third quarter against Detroit, Minnesota’s Peterson fumbled at the goal line and the Lions recovered in the end zone. The play was called back, however, because Detroit’s Jason Jones was lined up in the neutral zone.

On the next play, Vikings fullback Zach Line made the most of his first career carry, with a one-yard touchdown plunge.

Triple threat

In Arizona’s victory at Chicago, Cardinals rookie David Johnson scored on a 108-yard kickoff return and a 13-yard run. Johnson scored on a 55-yard touchdown reception in the opener. He’s the first player in NFL history to score on a run, catch and kickoff return in his first two games to begin a career.

Newton’s law

Carolina’s Cam Newton did a full flip into the end zone on a quarterback draw against Houston, punctuating a 24-17 victory and adding to his robust career highlight reel.

Newton, who also threw for two touchdowns, has 25 games in which he has both rushed and thrown for touchdowns. That’s the second most in league history to San Francisco’s Steve Young (31). Newton needed 64 games to reach the 25 mark. Young needed 146.

Two-timing

Just before the start of the season, Pittsburgh made a trade with Jacksonville for kicker Josh Scobee. In the opener at New England, Scobee missed two field-goal attempts.

On their first two touchdowns Sunday against San Francisco, the Steelers opted not to kick and instead executed successful two-point conversions, taking a 16-0 lead.

“We put so much time and effort into those plays and if you’re going to be successful doing them, why not do it?” Roethlisberger said.

After their third touchdown, the Steelers gave Scobee a chance . . . and he missed the extra point. Finally, after Pittsburgh’s fourth touchdown, Scobee squeezed one of the longer extra-point kicks barely through the uprights. Not exactly a confidence builder.

Humble, with hands

After his team’s 24-20 victory over the New York Giants, Atlanta receiver Julio Jones was asked to “go through that amazing catch in the second half.”

“Which one?” Jones asked. “Seriously. I feel like all of them are amazing when I catch the ball.”

sam.farmer@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATimesfarmer