Ravens at Browns: Odds, trends and more
On Monday Night Football, we witness the Cleveland Browns play the Baltimore Ravens.
Unfortunately, the above text is true. ESPN is showing the Ravens and Browns on Monday night, proving that the National Football League does indeed force even the worst teams to play the entire schedule. Cleveland is favored by three points at home, with the OVER/UNDER placed at 41, according to OddsShark.
Cleveland was expected to be bad and it has not disappointed. The year has seen the Browns continually search for a franchise quarterback but not be able to find one. Josh McCown began the season as the starter with 12014 first-round pick Johnny Manziel serving as the backup.
Then, Manziel took the starting spot only a few weeks ago, but that run has come to a screeching halt. Manziel was videoed while partying over the BYE week, and has been demoted to the third-string. Manziel has been a complete and utter disaster throughout his professional career, dealing with a trip to rehab (good for him acknowledging a problem, however) and then other faux pas.
Baltimore has simply been ravaged by injuries. The Ravens have dealt with a ton of key players going down for the season, including running back Justin Forsett (broken arm), quarterback Joe Flacco (torn ACL) and receiver Steve Smith (torn Achilles), not to mention outside linebacker Terrell Suggs (torn Achilles).
As for the trends, we have the Baltimore sitting at 1-7-2 against the spread over its last 10 games, while Cleveland is 0-4-1 ATS in its previous five contests. The Browns have also lost five straight games outright, while the Ravens are 3-8 in their last 11.
Stay away from this thing.