We’re not quite sure who has the better of this matchup. The Cleveland Browns are the only winless team in the NFL and continue to deal with problems at the most important position on the football field. That should be good news for the Cincinnati Bengals. However, the Bengals haven’t been that much better, losing four of their past five games and they find themselves in unfamiliar territory at 2-4 and ahead of only the Browns in the AFC North standings entering their Week 7 matchup.
Watch this regular season Week 7 matchup live on Sunday, October 23, 2016, at 1 p.m. ET at Paul Brown Stadium.
NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Cleveland Browns +9.5
Cincinnati Bengals -9.5
Over/Under 45.5
Odds Analysis
Cincinnati has won the last three meetings rather convincingly, outscoring the Browns 98-13. But this isn’t the same Bengals team as they’ve lost two straight and four of five overall while going 1-4 ATS in that span. Some folks have fallen off the Bengals’ bandwagon with 66 percent of the early wagers on the visitors bringing the line down a half point to Cincy -9.5. The Browns haven’t won a game outright on the road as a dog of at least nine points since 2010, but they are 7-5 ATS in that time and cover winners in their last two.
Injury Report
Jordan Poyer – Cleveland’s starting safety took a vicious hit while covering a punt return and could be lost for the season after being diagnosed with a lacerated kidney. A rash of injuries in the secondary moved Poyer into a starting spot while he also handled snaps on special teams. With cornerback Joe Haden recovering from an injured hip, the Browns have allowed nearly 300 yards passing per game.
Russell Bodine – The Bengals’ center left with a lower leg injury in the third quarter and was carted off the field. Bodine had been playing some of his best football recently and was one of the Bengals’ top ranked linemen as the run game had started to improve over the first three games of the season. T.J. Johnson replaced him and is the only center on the roster, leaving the Bengals thin at a key position.
Player to Watch
Cleveland’s quarterback of the future may already be on the roster. Cody Kessler wasn’t a top pick of the Browns, but he was taken high enough that the organization saw something in him. And with a winless record through six weeks, the Browns need to decide if Kessler is the guy. The RG3 experiment is all but over and the Browns have nothing to gain by handing the starting job back to Josh McCown. That leaves Kessler with an 11-week audition to prove he is the quarterback to lead this team.
And that’s a big issue for a team that has struggled to find a starter. Kessler has proven he can take a hit and he’s shown remarkable poise while progressing nicely through his first four starts. He had his best game of the season throwing for 336 yards with a pair of touchdowns and no picks and nearly led the Browns to a comeback victory over Tennessee on Sunday. That performance came a week after he got knocked out of the New England game with a rib injury. Kessler led two scoring drives in the final minutes against the Titans as Cleveland got a backdoor cover and the rookie has earned the respect of his teammates and coaches. The Browns will struggle to win games, but Kessler gives them a better chance than any of the options currently available.
Free ATS Pick
You have to hand it to Hue Jackson for getting his Browns prepped and ready to play every week. It’s not an easy thing to do for a team that has yet to win a game, has dealt with numerous injuries, and just doesn’t have the talent throughout the roster to overcome the ailments. The Browns are stretched thin and have to play a near perfect game in order to win. That just hasn’t happened and it’s not likely to anytime soon.
The Bengals are desperate for a win and they better not overlook the winless Browns. Cincy has problems scoring the football, which is strange for a team that did it so easily the past few seasons. Jackson was partly responsible as the Bengals offensive coordinator the last two years and is very familiar with his opponent. Cleveland keeps battling, which is a testament to Jackson and his staff, but the team is just too thin to compete with Cincinnati. The spread is steep for a Bengals team that is struggling, so take the Browns and the points.
NFL Odds: Bengals 26, Browns 20
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