We’ve got the Bengals vs. Browns on Halloween Night tonight to wrap up another great week in the NFL!
The Browns
Coming into the game, the Browns are losers of four straight. However, three of those four losses have been by three or fewer points. Clearly, one of the main problems for this team has been their ability to close games in the fourth quarter. Jacoby Brissett has to take some of the blame for that, but overall, he’s been a pretty serviceable backup while Deshaun Watson waits out his suspension. To win tonight, the Browns need to play to their strength, which is Nick Chubb. Chubb has been terrific all season and going into this week, he was the league leader in both rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. He’s ran for over 100 yards four times this year and Cleveland’s worst performance was also the game where he saw the least number of carries. This is not a coincidence.
The Bengals
Cincinnati, on the other hand, is rolling. Burrow and the Bengals have won four of their last five games and looked all the way back against Atlanta last Sunday. Unfortunately, they will be without their number one reciever, Ja’Maar Chase, for at least the next month. Burrow will need to find ways to spread the ball out to more than just Tee Higgins if this passing offence wants to continue its recent success. Defensively, the team has a top 10 unit against the passing game, which could certainly be a factor tonight against Jacoby Brissett. If the offence can get out to an early lead and force the Browns to get away from the rushing game of Nick Chubb, it’ll be very hard for Cleveland to come back with Joe Burrow’s offence on the other sideline.
Bengals vs. Browns – The Pick
As a rivalry game in Cleveland on primetime, don’t expect a blowout. However, we’ll still take the Bengals to cover the spread and for the game to go over 44.5 points.
