The NFL (pre)season is finally here! The preseason kicks off Sunday with the Hall of Fame game between the Giants and the Bills (preview here), and that game and this one, between the re-tooled Browns and hopeful Lions will provide hardcore football fans a chance to scout their teams ahead of the long 256-game regular season.
Sixteen preseason games are on the agenda next weekend with the matchup between the Detroit Lions and the Cleveland Browns taking center stage on Saturday evening, as Johnny Manziel makes his much-anticipated debut. Read on for a preview of this exciting NFL showdown.
[sc:Football ]Cleveland Browns vs. Detroit Lions Betting Preview
Where: Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan
When: Saturday, August 9, 7:30 PM ET
Line: Cleveland Browns (-110) at Detroit Lions (-110); total: 37.5 – See all NFL lines
Why This Game Matters
[sc:NFL240banner ]With just a month remaining before the start of the actual NFL season, the quarterback situation in the Cleveland Browns camp is still volatile with the starting position still up for grabs. This opening preseason game will provide Browns head coach Mike Pettine and NFL fans alike the perfect opportunity to see what prized rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel can do under the stadium lights, as the young man experiences live NFL action for the very first time.
Betting on the Cleveland Browns
The Johnny Football era is about to begin in Detroit with more questions than answers surrounding the former Texas A&M star. One of which is whether he is ready to start for the Browns against the Steelers on Week 1 of the new NFL season.
Manziel is locked in a battle with Brian Hoyer for the starting quarterback position and for newly-hired offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan it is a tough balancing act of whether to go all in quickly with Manziel at the start of the season or to go with the more experienced Hoyer.
Hoyer stepped up big time for the Browns last season when he replaced an ineffective Brandon Weeden as the starting QB. The Browns went on a three-game winning streak with Hoyer calling the shots as they rebounded from a poor 0-2 SU start to go 3-2 SU. Unfortunately for Hoyer, his solid season came to an abrupt end as he suffered an ACL injury in a Thursday Night Football game against the Buffalo Bills in just his third game for the Browns.
The Browns went 1-10 SU the rest of the way and finished with a disappointing 4-12 SU slate. Just when it seemed Hoyer, the hometown hero, had the starting position locked up for the coming season after recovering from his ACL injury, the Browns decided on draft night to select Johnny Manziel.
Hoyer’s main advantage over Manziel at this stage of their careers though is he is more experienced when it comes to play-calling and reading the defense as Manziel is still learning the ropes and adjusting to the Browns’ system, which is dramatically different from the read-option system he utilized in college. Hoyer has looked more comfortable in Kyle Shanahan’s offensive system so far, and has been the more consistent passer and playmaker compared to Manziel in training camp.
When Shanahan was asked about the quarterback situation and if his voice will be the loudest when it comes to deciding who will be the Browns’ starter, the offensive coordinator remarked “I hope the quarterbacks’ voices are the loudest.”
A clearer picture will emerge come Saturday night on who has the edge between the two.
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Betting on the Detroit Lions
For the Detroit Lions, it’s all about taking the next step. Last year, they had a chance to make the playoffs for the first time since 2011 when they entered Week 14 with a 7-5 SU record. Their hopes were quickly quashed, though, when they lost four-straight games and finished the season with a 7-9 SU slate and crashed out of the playoff picture.
The Lions decided to part ways with head coach Jim Schwartz and replaced him with Jim Caldwell. Caldwell arrives with an impressive resume, having been a former offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens in 2013 as well as guiding the career of Peyton Manning when he served as the Colts’ head coach back in 2009-2011.
His main priority this offseason was to improve the wayward mechanics of quarterback Matthew Stafford. Although Stafford was third in the passing yards list last year behind Manning and Drew Brees with a total of 4,650 yards, his numbers were lower compared to those he posted back in 2011 and 2012 (5,038 and 4,967 respectively).
In fact, he was just ranked 18th in the total quarterback rating department last season, posting a score of just 52.5. Stafford’s development will be crucial for the Lions who will once again rely on their passing attack, which was third-best in the entire NFL last year with a 280.1 passing yard per game average.
Wide receiver Calvin Johnson was one of the key reasons why the Lions were tops in that department as he caught 1,492 yards in 14 games for Detroit last season for an average of 17.8 per game, his highest mark since entering the league back in 2007. Frighteningly for opposing teams, Megatron will get more help this year on the offensive end as the Lions snapped up wide receiver Golden Tate from Seattle this offseason.
Tate caught 64 passes for 898 yards last season for the Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks and he will bring his championship experience to a Lions side which has just made the playoffs once in the past 14 seasons. He will be joined by highly-rated rookie tight end Eric Ebron who was picked tenth overall by the Lions in this year’s draft. As a junior in North Carolina, he caught 62 passes for 973 yards and three TDs and fans will be eager to see if he can translate his game into the pro leagues.
Writer’s Prediction
The Lions’ offensive game will be too much for the Browns as they will engineer an easy win.
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