Cleveland has had its own share of ups and downs. They lost starting running back Nick Chubb to a season-ending knee injury. They have had five different quarterbacks make a start but signed veteran Joe Flacco and turned their woes into a winning season.
Please join me as I break this one down and share my best bets for Monday’s CFP National Championship between Washington and Michigan on Monday, January 8.
Browns vs. Texans Best Bets
Cleveland Browns -2 (-110) at BetRivers
Cleveland has started five different quarterbacks, but veteran Joe Flacco has been the best thus far. The Browns are 4-0-0 ATS when Flacco steps on the field and 3-0-0 ATS when he is listed as the starter.
Flacco threw three scoring strikes in his last meeting with Houston, and he and wideout Amari Cooper teamed up for 265 yards and a pair of scoring strikes against the Texans.
Houston rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud is making his first playoff start. Rookie quarterbacks are just 3-6-1 ATS since 2002 when making their first playoff start as the underdog.
Stroud will have difficulties throwing the football against a Browns defense that allows a robust 164.7 passing yards per game but increases sharply to 207.9 as the away team.
Finally, the Browns are the better team on both sides of the ball. They might be 2-5-1 ATS as the away team, but this is a different Cleveland side, with Flacco slinging it downfield. Houston is 4-5-0 ATS as the home team but only 2-3-0 ATS over their last five at home. Take the Browns -2 (-110) at BetRivers Ohio.
Cleveland Browns ML (-125) PointsBet
PointsBet Ohio offers us a stable price for this wager, and it only makes sense if we believe Cleveland will cover the -2 and that they will win the game. Cleveland opened as -130 favorites across the Ohio betting landscape, but that number has dipped slightly to a number we can play.
Cleveland has hit the Moneyline in nine of their last 13 games (+8.85 Units / 37% ROI), and we should expect the Browns defense to step up big against a rookie quarterback making his first playoff start.
