BEREA, Ohio --Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer, a day after being benched in favor of Johnny Manziel, still believes he's the best man to lead the Browns in this playoff hunt.

"(I do) because we're here. We're 7-5,'' he said. "This just doesn't happen by luck. It was hard-earned, and we've worked to get where we're at. We're still in it. With those other teams losing yesterday, we have four more games. Two of them are division games.

"You don't get to 7-5 in the NFL just lucking into it. It's been a lot of hard work, and I think I've proven that I've gotten us to this point. I feel like I can carry us through the next four games. There's no doubt in my mind that I'll be ready to go."

He said he fully expects to keep his his starting job despite Mike Pettine seriously considering a switch to No. 22 overall pick Manziel for Sunday's game against the 8-4 Colts. He said he'll likely name is man on Wednesday.

"Yeah, I don't have any doubt in myself,'' Hoyer said. "I never have throughout this entire process, going back to last year. I feel like we're 7-5. We still have a chance to attain all of our goals. It's still there in front of us. That decision's not up to me though, and I'll be ready. I'm going to go about it as business as usual and see where it goes."

He said Pettine, who will make the final decision with input from the staff, hasn't told him anything yet.

"We haven't discussed it,'' he said.

He added that it didn't bother him that Pettine left open the possibility of turning the team over to Manziel, who came off the bench with 12:01 in the fourth quarter and led an 80-yard drive, capped by his own 10-yard TD dive into the end zone.

"No, it's (Pettine's) job and he can choose to do what he wants to do,'' Hoyer said. "For me, I can only worry about what I can control. Until he decides what he wants to do, like I said, I'm going about it as I'm the starter. I'm studying my tape on Indy, and I would do the same if I wasn't. That's just the way I've always prepared. For me, nothing's changed. I go about my business the way I handle it every week, and that's his right. He's the head coach. He gets to make those decisions."

He agreed with the notion that he's established himself as a starting NFL quarterback and won't settle for less here or elsewhere. His contract is up after this season, and the Browns must decide whether or not to re-sign him.

"Yeah, no doubt,'' he said. "Like I said, we're 7-5 here. We won three games last year here when I started, so 10-5 as a starting quarterback, that's not bad. I think - Coach Pettine always says it - there's always a lot of overreaction regardless of if you win or lose and obviously a little more this time because of the circumstances, but this doesn't waver my confidence in myself one bit."

He stressed that he hasn't been affected by Manziel's presence or by his own contract situation.

"No, not at all,'' he said. "For me, it's always focusing on my job and who we're playing and those types of things. Like I've told you guys before, no offense to you, but I don't pay attention to the media. The outside forces that you may think are on me, I don't hear them because I don't go on the internet. I don't watch TV. That's just the way I've been ever since I got in this situation early in the spring, so no, I don't think that has anything to do with it."

In the past three games, Hoyer has thrown only one touchdown pass and six interceptions. His rating has tumbled to 79.9 for 27th in the NFL. His 56.2 completion percentage is 33rd among 34 ranked QBs, and he's last in the league in third-down passing with a 65.0 rating. What's more, the defense has bestowed a league-high 17 takeaways on him over the past six games, and he's converted only three into touchdowns.

In the last five games, he's thrown only three TDs and eight picks -- after eight TDs and only two picks in his first seven games. When he wasn't turning the ball over, the staff never considered replacing him. But they've discussed it after each of the past three outings, including the 23-7 loss to Houston and the 26-24 come-from-behind victory over Atlanta in which he threw three interceptions.

"We've got to get on the same page with certain things,'' said Hoyer. "For me, it's making smarter decisions. There are a few that are tipped balls.....I've proven that I can do that. I don't know how long the streak was, but how many passes without an interception? We've just got to get back to being ourselves and, for me, just worrying about what I can control. Don't try to do other people's jobs for them.''

Still, he believes he has the continued support of the coaches.

"Yeah, I think so,'' he said. "We all have to play better. When you're playing a defense that's top-ranked in the league or right up there with them you can't make mistakes, and we had too many mistakes all across the board. Hopefully, we get a chance to go out there and do that this week."

Hoyer, who's gone 1-9 in the red zone the past two games, was working with the third-string center in Ryan Seymour and had timing issues again with Josh Gordon, who's still learning the offense. Three of Hoyer's last four picks have come on passes intended or Gordon, including his first one in Buffalo.

"Yeah, it's something that we worked on,'' said Hoyer. "Even Josh came up to me and said, 'That's my fault,' and I'm sure he'd say the same thing to you guys. It's just one of those things where in the heat of the battle everything has got to be perfect.

"You can't have one misstep. When you're expecting one thing and you react and do it...it's just we've got to get on the same page. For a guy who hasn't been able to be a part of our meetings and stuff like that for 11 weeks, I think that's where it shows."

Hoyer has had other extenuating circumstances. He's been without Pro Bowl tight end Jordan Cameron the past five games and without Pro Bowl center Alex Mack for the past seven. He lost trusted tight end Gary Barnidge to a rib injury early on in Buffalo and is now also without receiver Miles Austin, who remains hospitalized in Buffalo with a potentially serious kidney injury.

But Pettine described the offense as ''stagnant'' with Hoyer running it in Buffalo and cited the energy and spark Manziel brought. Hoyer talked to offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan about the situation and didn't get the reassurance he was hoping for.

"It's up to Coach Pettine,'' he said. "I'm sure I'll know when I know."