New England Patriots vs. Cleveland Browns Preview
Where: FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland
When: Sunday, October 9, 2016, 1:00 PM ET
Line: New England Patriots (-10.5) vs. Cleveland Browns (+10.5); total: 47.0 – view all NFL lines
TV Broadcast: CBS
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Betting on the New England Patriots (-10.5)
Tom Brady certainly could use a warm-up game as he returns from a four-game suspension next week. And a match against a dumpster-on-fire Browns serves as a nice springboard for Brady’s 2016 season.
The Patriots lost their first game of the season on Sunday, succumbing to Buffalo at home, 16-0, but there’s only so much to learn from it knowing that Brady wasn’t under center.
In his first game back, Brady will be staring at Cleveland’s defense that is impressing no one this season. The Browns are 27th in scoring defense (18.5 points allowed per game) and 22nd in total defense (378.0 yards).
With Brady in action, the Pats are hoping that Rob Gronkowski will finally have that breakout game they are still waiting to get from the tight end this year. Gronkowski caught just one pass for 11 receiving yards against Buffalo. Cleveland’s punching bag defense offers a huge upside from Gronkowski. The Browns also gave up two touchdowns to Redskins tight end on Sunday, thus injecting more confidence to Gronkowski.
On defense, the Patriots should have an easier job of containing Cleveland’s attack than that in the Bills game in which they surrendered 378 total yards.
New England is 3-1 ATS in its last four games overall.
Betting on the Cleveland Browns (+10.5)
Another week, another loss for Cleveland. The Browns lost to Washington on Sunday, 31-20, in a game that saw the team poison itself with three turnovers.
Cody Kessler passed for 223 yards with a touchdown and interception on 28 of 40 passes. That’s a not so shabby performance from Kessler, who is forced to utilize a thin receiving corps that features Gary Barnidge, Terrelle Pryor and a bunch of nobodies. That said, Barnidge and Pryor are two players that could give any secondary a run for its own money. Barnidge tallied 57 yards on seven catches against Washington, while Pryor has 190 receiving yards over his last two games.
More potent, however, is Cleveland’s running game that is currently ranked first in the NFL with 149.2 rushing yards per game. The Browns will have to continue feeding the “Crow” with Isaiah Crowell showing he’s got the chops to pose serious problems for opposing teams. Crowell is second in the league with 96.5 rushing yards per game.
Cleveland is 2-0 ATS in the last two meetings with the Patriots.
Writer’s Prediction
New England (-10.5) shreds Cleveland, 35-17.
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