The AFC North Battle for Ohio will open Week 2 of the NFL season on Thursday Night Football with the Bengals set to visit the Browns. Cleveland opened as a seven-point favorite, which got gobbled up pretty quickly by bettors and has now settled with Cleveland as six-point favorites. The Browns are also a -260 favorite on the moneyline and the over/under is set at 43.5 points.
The BetQL NFL Best Bet Model lists a four-star moneyline bet, a three-star total bet ,and a one-star spread bet on this game. Keep reading to find out what one of them is.
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All data presented is as of Thursday afternoon. You can track all NFL line movement on BetQL’s Line Movement Dashboard.
WEEK 2 PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
Browns Outlook
The Browns picked up exactly where they left off last year with an embarrassing 38-6 road loss in Baltimore on Sunday. Despite optimism with new head coach Kevin Stefanski taking over, it was more of the same disappointment.
The Browns are attracting 55 percent of bets vs. the spread and 70 percent of bets on the moneyline despite how bad they looked, per the BetQL NFL Public Betting Dashboard. Baker Mayfield was horrific, as he barely completed over 50 percent of his passes and threw for just 189 yards on 39 passing attempts. Seven of his incompletions went to Odell Beckham Jr. on his 10 targets, as those two still have not gotten on the same page.
Another thing going against the Browns right now is the injury report. It’s a lengthy one, which is not what you want on a Thursday night game. Cornerbacks Greedy Williams and Kevin Johnson both missed the game on Sunday and neither have practiced Monday or Tuesday. Their absences contributed to Lamar Jackson going 20-for-25 for 275 yards and three touchdowns against their secondary.
There are also a cluster of injuries at offensive tackle with Jack Conklin sitting out of practice the first two days and Jedrick Wills Jr. and Chris Hubbard both being limited participants. Wide receiver Jarvis Landry was also added as a DNP on Tuesday with a hip issue. Overall, there are a lot of question marks with this Browns team right now.
MORE BENGALS-BROWNS: Start-sit | DK Showdown | FD single-game | Landry injury updates
Bengals Outlook
What could have been a day to remember for the Bengals turned into another disappointing outcome with a 16-13 loss to the Chargers when Randy Bullock missed a 31-yard field goal that would have moved the game into overtime.
In his first NFL start, No. 1 overall draft pick Joe Burrow led his team on an incredible drive that would have ended in a likely game-winning touchdown pass to A.J. Green if not for a controversial offensive pass interference call. It stalled the long drive that led to the Bullock miss.
The Bengals led most of the way against the Chargers as underdogs until some turnovers tilted the result the other way. The defense did well to hold the Chargers to 5.1 yards per play.
Burrow was certainly up-and-down overall, but that drive was a nice glimpse into the future. He will have a tough task to get ready on a short week in just his second career start. He found some good chemistry with Green, but the ground game with Joe Mixon had a tough time against a strong Chargers front seven.
The Browns also have some strong pass rushers in Myles Garrett and Olivier Vernon, so an offensive line for Cincinnati that is not projected to be a strong unit will have to be up for the challenge again.
WEEK 2 STANDARD RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
Prediction
BetQL’s NFL model labels the Browns’ -260 moneyline as a four-star bet in this matchup and we are giving Cleveland a 75.61-percent chance to win this game outright. Check out BetQL’s NFL Best Bets Dashboard to find out who the algorithm likes for the spread and check out their over/under picks. The total is a strong three-star play. You can find all updated lines, odds, spreads, and NFL picks at BetQL!