NFL Free Pick: CIN/CLE
There’s not much on the line when the Cleveland Browns host the Cincinnati Bengals this Sunday, but that doesn’t mean both Ohio teams wouldn’t love to take it to each other.
Our team of writers and handicappers break down the matchup and hand out a Free NFL Pick for Week 16.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made the Browns -3 point spread favorite. The over/under for this game has been set at 32.5 total points.
Key Trend: The Bengals are just 1-4 against the spread in their last five games on the road and 0-5 straight up in their last five games on the road. The total has also gone under in five of Cincinnati’s last seven games when playing Cleveland.
Key Stat: Neither of these teams have been good offensively this year as the Bengals are averaging just 12.4 points per game in 2008 and the Browns just 16.6. Neither team has run the ball very effectively either, as the Bengals are averaging just 80 yards a game and the Bengals just 97.2
Game Outlook: There’s no nice way to say this – both of these teams are brutal. The Browns gave a half-hearted effort against the Eagles in Philadelphia last Monday night, while the Bengals actually played inspired in beating the Redskins. Still, Cincy essentially got off on knocking the Redskins out of the postseason and won’t have the same motivation again this week. The Bengals have been brutal on the road this year and while we don’t throw a ton of support behind Ken Dorsey and the Browns, we think they’ll muster enough offense to beat their Ohio rivals. Not that this is saying much, but the Browns are the better overall team and should produce a decent defensive effort to win just their fifth game of the year (which is quite a drop off from winning 10 games last year). The best play might be the under in this matchup as neither team is expected to score much. For the rest of our Free NFL Pick, see below.
Our Free NFL Pick for the Week 16 matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns game is
CLEVELAND BROWNS -3
TheSpread.com Projected Final Score
Cleveland Browns 14
Cincinnati Bengals 10
We also predict that this game will GO OVER THE TOTAL (32.5 Sports Interaction.com) SET BY ODDSMAKERS
Posted: 12/21/08 7:30AM ET