BEREA, Ohio - Quarterback Brian Hoyer is positive he should be the starter for the rest of this season. He should be the one leading his team to the playoffs. Hes convinced.The Browns arent as certain.A day after he was benched by coach Mike Pettine in the fourth quarter of a loss at Buffalo, Hoyer said Monday that he hasnt lost any of his confidence despite three straight poor performances and believes he should keep his job over rookie Johnny Manziel.You dont get to 7-5 in the NFL just lucking into it, Hoyer said. Its been a lot of hard work, and I think Ive proven that Ive gotten us to this point. I feel like I can carry us through the next four games.Hoyer was replaced by Manziel in the fourth quarter of Sundays 26-10 loss to Buffalo after throwing two interceptions, continuing a pattern of bad games over the past month.In his past three games, Hoyer has thrown just one touchdown pass, six interceptions and the Browns have scored just 36 points.Pettine has not yet decided who will start this week against Indianapolis. Hell meet with his staff — and general manager Ray Farmer — on Tuesday and intends to inform Hoyer and Manziel of his decision Wednesday. Pettine said hes not leaning in either direction, and insists the choice comes down to one standard.Ive said it a million times, he said. Who gives us the best chance to win this weekend? Period.The Browns (7-5) remain in the thick of the AFC playoff race, but Pettine said Clevelands post-season hopes wont affect whether he sticks with Hoyer or switches to Manziel, who came in and sparked a stagnant offence on Sunday.For us involving the playoffs, we have to win and thats the bottom line, Pettine said. Its not like anything beyond that would influence the decision. Its Who gives us the best chance to win this weekend? Its that simple. It makes it easy when you look at it like that and shut out everything else.As Hoyer has done all season — after a win or loss — he was at his locker Monday to discuss the previous days game.For the first time since September, he walked away not knowing if hell be doing it again next week. Hoyer, though, isnt worried about anything other than getting ready for the Colts.Hes the starter, and thats the starters duty.Im studying my tape on Indy, and I would do the same if I wasnt, he said. Thats just the way Ive always prepared. For me, nothings changed. I go about my business the way I handle it every week, and thats his right. Hes the head coach. He gets to make those decisions.Pettine acknowledged the Browns discussed making a move at quarterback following a 23-7 loss to Houston on Nov. 16. Hoyer threw a franchise-record 30 incompletions that day while being harassed by J.J. Watt and the Texans defensive front.In his first season as an NFL head coach, Pettine hasnt been faced with a tougher decision than the one hes about to make. Hes conflicted.I dont know where I want to go, and its certainly important, he said. Well spend a lot of time on it. Ill lean on the people I trust to help make it.Up until his recent slide, Hoyer had earned the trust of Pettine and his teammates. He hasnt completely lost it, and Clevelands issues are not specific to the quarterback position. Hoyer has spent the season trying to hold off the immensely popular Manziel, whom the Browns drafted in the first round to be their future quarterback.Hoyer may have finally lost the fight.Browns right guard John Greco appreciates what Hoyer has been up against.Give the guy credit. Hes got a lot of things hes battling, Greco said. He feels like hes the guy and we do, too, and its his job. And hes been our leader all year, but decisions are out of our hands, and were going to roll with it no matter what they choose.For Hoyer, theres a bottom line, too. Hes helped get the Browns, who had lost at least 11 games in each of the past six seasons, back in the playoff hunt. No, he doesnt run like Manziel or have as strong an arm, but hes won and that should mean something.Were 7-5 here, he said. We won three games last year here when I started, so 10-5 as a starting quarterback, thats not bad.NOTES: Browns WR Miles Austin remains hospitalized in the Buffalo area with a kidney injury sustained Sunday. Pettine doesnt know when Austin, who had seven catches for 86 yards, got hurt. ... Pettine said the team is waiting for the rib injury to TE Gary Barnidge to quiet down before its known how long hell be out. Pettine was drilled in the side by the helmet of a Bills defender after making a catch in the first quarter.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Carson Wentz Eagles Jersey . -- LeGarrette Blount wasnt satisfied with three short touchdown runs, not against a team coming off the second greatest comeback in playoff history. Andre Dillard Jersey . -- Hee Young Park topped the leaderboard at 8 under Friday in the suspended second round of the Kingsmill Championship. http://www.theeaglesshoponline.com/Youth...-Eagles-Jersey/. Felton pleaded guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm. He admitted he knowingly had a large-capacity ammunition magazine and a semi-automatic pistol without a license. Herman Edwards Youth Jersey . Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley told local media in comments published Wednesday that John Tomic would not be allowed into Melbourne Park in any official capacity or as a spectator. Tommy McDonald Jersey . The 24-year-old Raley was 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA for Chicago in his first two career starts after being called up from Iowa on Aug. 7. He was optioned to Iowa on Monday after losing 3-0 to Cincinnati in Chicago on Sunday. PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Rory McIlroy is 18 holes away from his first PGA Tour victory in 18 months, a chance to show the world he is back on his game. Thats not the way McIlroy views the final round at the Honda Classic. McIlroy started strong, avoided a big number with a brilliant bogey in the middle and took on the wind and water on the 16th hole for one final birdie Saturday that gave him a 1-under 69 in the toughest conditions and a two-shot lead over Russell Henley at PGA National. The 24-year-old from Northern Ireland has come to expect this kind of performance. He finished one shot behind in Abu Dhabi. He played in the final group in Dubai, where nothing went well in the final round. And here is again, making key shots and big putt to keep his nose in front in the Honda Classic. "Ive been building and building toward getting my game to a level where I feel it should be," he said. "And Im pretty much at that point now." Saturday wasnt easy. McIlroy might have saved his day with a bogey on the par-3 seventh. He took a penalty drop from under a palmetto bush, and faced a shot off the pine straw across 20 yards of rough to an elevated green with the pin toward the back right. The shot came off perfectly, and he holed the 8-foot putt for bogey. "It was one of the best up-and-downs Ive ever had, I guess," McIlroy said. "And it was almost like a momentum builder. I just bogeyed the last, but walking off that seventh green with a bogey almost felt like I had saved par or I had almost gained a shot on the field. It kept any momentum that I had going to the next few holes." He closed out his round with a 5-iron into the wind to 10 feet of the flag on the 16th for a birdie, and then narrowly missed two birdie chances on the closing holes. McIlroy was at 12-under 198. Asked about the importance of winning on a major tour for the first time since the World Tour Championship in Dubai at the end of 2012, and the first time since the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick in 2012 on the PGA Tour, Boy Wonder grappled for the right answer. "It would be nice. It would be my seventh PGA Tour win," he said. "Thats what it is. No bigger, no smaller. And Ill go home and have a nice night and get up the next morning and go play the Seminole Pro-Member. So its all good." He also knows its not over. Henley wasnt doing anything special until he holed out from 150 yards for eagle on No. 14, and then rammed in a 50-foot birdie putt from just off the green at the 17th for birdie that gave him a 68 and put him in the last grroup for the first time since he won the Sony Open last year.dddddddddddd Thats the only time Henley has won -- in his debut as a PGA Tour member -- and he hasnt been in this situation since then. Henley has only two top 10s since that win down from Waikiki Beach at the start of 2012. Now he has to chase one of golfs biggest stars, on a course where only one players -- Ernie Els in 2008 -- has come from behind on the final day to win. "Im trying not to pay attention to what Rory is doing," Henley said. "Obviously, hes playing great and hes been in this situation a little bit more than me. But I still have a lot of confidence and Im just going to try to play my game and not worry about what hes doing too much." Russell Knox of Scotland had a 68 and was three shots behind, while Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela had a 66 and was another shot back. David Hearn (70) of Brantford, Ont., was tied for 35th at 3 under. Tiger Woods is still in the game, but just barely. Woods matched the low round of the day. He was among five players who shot 65, all before the leaders teed off and the wind kicked into gear, but it was enough to move the No. 1 player 49 spots up the leaderboard and into a tie for 17th. Even so, he was seven shots behind. Woods has never won a PGA Tour event when trailing by more than five shots entering the last round. "Today was a positive day," Woods said after his lowest score in 10 rounds this year. "Hit the ball well and made some putts and got myself back in the hunt." It doesnt figure to be easy for Woods or anyone to track down McIlroy, who has converted the 54-hole lead in his last four PGA Tour wins dating to the 2011 Masters, where he blew a four-shot lead. That streak includes the Honda Classic two years, which he won to rise to No. 1 in the world for the first time. "Definitely not a coincidence," McIlroy said. "I learned a lot that day. I learned not to protect a 54-hole lead. I should have just stuck to the game plan, stuck to my process, not look at the leaderboard, not look at what other people are doing. ... And thats the reason that every 54-hole lead that Ive had since, Ive been able to close the deal. Hopefully, I can keep that run going tomorrow." It would be a remarkable turnaround for McIlroy, who a year ago was so frustrated with his game and high expectations that he walked off the course after 26 holes, a mistake he vowed to never repeat. "Theres still 18 holes to go," he said. "But Im feeling comfortable with where I am." ' ' '