The Cleveland Browns got off to a good start in their attempt to put last season’s disaster behind them. The 2017 draft class had a huge impact in the preseason opener and after the Browns had lost 21 straight games, including exhibition contests, they’re on a hot streak. Dating back to the last two games of the 2016 regular season, the Browns are 2-1 in their last three. Don’t say the preseason is meaningless to the Browns. They lost all four last season and came close to going oh-fer during the regular year. They’ll take any win at this point.
This duel in Week 2 of the preseason will go down Monday, August 21, 2017, at 8 p.m. ET at FirstEnergy Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN.
Opening NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
New York Giants +1
Cleveland Browns -1
Over/Under 39.5
Odds Analysis
This isn’t the same Browns team that we saw last season and they’re actually playing as a favorite when the line opened at -1. Neither team has shown much offensively, even dating back to last season, so don’t expect these two to light up the scoreboard. The total appears high and now’s the time to jump on it before it falls.
Quarterback Rotation
The Giants will carry two quarterbacks on their opening day roster with rookie Davis Webb likely headed to the practice squad. But after Josh Johnson and Geno Smith did little in terms of moving the chains and scoring points in the preseason opener, Ben McAdoo might go another direction with his backup.
Eli Manning won’t get much work this exhibition season and likely takes a seat again on Monday, leaving the three to battle it out for the No. 2 job. Davis completed 8 of 16 passes for 67 yards in his debut while Johnson struggled. Smith had the best night statistically throwing for 114 yards on 10 of 16 passing and is in line to start. The coaching staff is high on Webb and he’ll continue to play as he learns the NFL game.
The Browns are running out of time to fix their quarterback situation and there’s a good chance we see the trio of Brock Osweiler, Cody Kessler and DeShone Kizer play against the Giants. Osweiler started the preseason opener and hasn’t done anything in practice to get him removed from the No. 1 spot on the depth chart.
None of the three played particularly well against New Orleans but Kizer, who played the second half, heated up near the end tossing the game-winning touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. He threw for 184 yards on 11 of 18 passing. Kizer could move up in the rotation and get some snaps in the first half to give Hue Jackson a better look at his rookie.
Coaching History
Winning games takes on a whole different meaning when you’re the Cleveland Browns. The team went winless last preseason and proceeded to lose its first 14 regular season games. The Brownies got a win last week, just the second victory in Jackson’s tenure, but the young roster needs to learn how to close out games and they did that last week.
McAdoo’s approach is different. He has pieces in place to contend for a division and Super Bowl title. He’s not going to risk injury to Manning and needs to find a backup quarterback. He’s lost three of five exhibition games and the under is 4-0-1 while cashing in each of the last four.
Free ATS Pick
The Browns appear to be set at defensive end after No. 1 overall pick Myles Garrett had an impressive debut last week against the Saints. Jabril Peppers also looked good and the Browns may have actually done something right for the first time in awhile.
They still need to find a quarterback and the battle between the three will continue. Kizer closed the gap on Osweiler and Kessler with his performance last week and could get moved up in the rotation. The offense needs some help and Jackson will tinker with lineups until he finds one that works.
The Giants saw plenty of the same from last season in their opener. The defense was solid but the offense struggled and failed to score a touchdown. I doubt we see Manning in this one, but McAdoo could give him a series to see what he can do. We probably see plenty of the other three QBs, which will make for a boring, low scoring game.
NFL Odds: Browns 18, Giants 15
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