Pointwise Phones
1* Cleveland
Don Wallace Sports
Cleveland +11
SIXTH SENSE
Opinion
Baltimore -10.5 CLEVELAND 40
Cleveland was blown out at Chicago the week before their bye, 30-7. Baltimore was dominated at Cincinnati last week for the second time this year bye the Bengal’s. They were out gained 5.1yppl to 4.1yppl, including being out passed 6.6yps to 4.4yps. Baltimore averages 4.5ypr against 4.2ypr and 6.4yps against 6.2yps for a total of 5.7yppl against 5.3yppl. They allow just 3.5ypr against 3.9ypr but 6.6yps against 6.1yps for a total of 5.2yppl against 5.2yppl. Cleveland averages just 3.9yps against 5.9yps and 3.8yppl against 5.1yppl. They allow 4.9ypr against 4.2ypr, 7.0yps against 6.5yps and 5.9yppl against 5.5yppl. Cleveland qualifies in my turnover table, which is 405-258-22. Numbers favor Baltimore by 15.5 points and predict about 40 points. Cleveland has now scored more than 10 points in just three of their last 14 games. Two of those games this year saw them top that amount because of kick returns for touchdowns. They have failed to come closer than 13 points in 10 of those same 14 contests. And, they’ve allowed at least 27 points in six of their eight games this year, including a 34-3 loss to these Ravens earlier this year. That history makes it very tough to play Cleveland, even if they are off their bye week. BALTIMORE 31 CLEVELAND 10
Royal Sports
9* Baltimore/Cleveland Over
The Boss
100% Silent Assassin - Baltimore
igz1 sports
3* New Jersey +125
3* Pittsburgh -145
3* Phoenix -120
Joe Sisca
50 Unit NFL MNF Total of the Year
Play Under 40
Both of these teams CANT score. I understand that Joe Flacco is playing great and Ray Rice is running the ball all over the place, but take it from me, in a game against Cleveland there will be no Joe Flacco. Expect Ray Rice to run the ball alot and to get help from his casting crew, but this will also take valuable time off the clock. Expect a 24 - 7 outcome.
Brandon Lang
15 DIME, 2-TEAM TEASER - BALTIMORE & OVER - 2-TEAM 6-POINT TEASER RAVENS (-5) and OVER (32 1/2)
Only one way to go in this game tonight and it's Baltimore.
Most of the time you start getting into weeks 9 and 10 in the NFL and you see teams improving.
Look at the 1 win Rams taking the Saints to the wire yesterday. How about Tampa Bay doing the same to Miami.
However, you look at the Browns and you don't see improving. You see implosion everywhere. From the front office down to the coaching staff, this team is so finished this year all that is left is what the final record will be.
The last 2 weeks before their bye week they have gotten destroyed by Green Bay 31-3 and the next week at Chicago 30-6.
Do you really think a week off will make any difference at all facing a Ravens team that just dominated them 34-3 in the first meeting? I don't.
Do I think Cleveland can make it competitive? Sure. Just like they did against the Giants on Monday night last year.
Cleveland was coming out of their bye week and caught the undefeated Giants in a perfect let down spot and beat them 35-14 as 8 point underdogs.
However, the Browns are not playing an NFC opponent in this spot but an angry and proud Ravens team that will not take this game lightly in front of a national tv audience.
Ray Lewis has flat out too much pride along with Ed Reed to allow a SU loss to a inferior opponent like the Browns on Monday night.
However, laying double digits with anybody on Monday night is always a risky proposition but so is backing the Browns and sitting back and watch them get blown out and then asking yourself why you took a shot with such a bad team.
In their 8 games this year the Browns have been competitive in only 2. At home in week 4 versus the Bengals losing 23-20 in perhaps their best played game of the year and the following week at Buffalo getting their first win 6-3.
I'm sorry folks but the clear cut right side of this game is the Ravens and to protect myself from any Monday night madness, or backdoor scenario's, I am going to play a 2-team 6-point teaser.
I did this with Central Michigan over Toledo last Wednesday, and never had to sweat it at all and although I feel the same way with the Ravens tonight, I am going to do what I feel is the smart move when dealing with a double digit road favorite.
Let's take the Ravens from -11 down to -5 and bring the over/under down to 32 1/2 and roll with the over.
Wouldn't suprise me if this game fell in the neighborhood of 27-10, or 27-13, or even 27-20 with a Browns backdoor or kick return or punt return for a touchdown by Joshua Cribbs.
Ravens and over 6-point teaser style.
5 DIME - ATLANTA HAWKS - Love Atlanta in this spot.
Bottom line is you don't start rolling into Boston as a double digit road dog and beat the Celtics by double digits unless you are playing your best basketball of the year.
Fact of the matter is the Hawks are rolling and rolling large, and I really don't think this Blazers team is going to stop them.
Atlanta is on a tear since their double digit loss at Charlotte, a game I had the Bobcats as a 5 dime winner.
In fact, with exception of that no show by Atlanta, they have covered every single game this year. Think about that folks.
Atlanta has won their 4 home games this year by 11 over the Pacers, 11 over the Wizards, 25 over Denver and 23 over the Hornets.
They took care of the Blazers in Portland and I feel they will take care of them here as well.
Yes, the Blazers have played well on this road trip, but against who? Charlotte, New Orleans who lost Chris Paul in the first half, Minnesota and Memphis.
I don't see any teams in there the caliber of the Hawks now do you ?
Exactly. Atlanta is the play tonight.
FREE SELECTION - MILWAUKEE BUCKS
Anthony Redd
20 Dimes Blazers
Rated Picks
2 Units - Browns
2 Units - Blazers
2 Units - Bucks
The Duke's Sports
Baltimore (-10') for 1.5 Units
The Ravens have a tendency to beat up on losing teams going 8-0 ATS vs teams below .500. And although the value is quickly fading here, we still believe the Ravens will cover. Baltimore, which is on a 1-4 SU slide and coming off a tough loss at Cincinnati, sports a 7-1 ATS mark off a SU favorite loss vs a less than .500 division opponent. Baltimore's problems can be solved with a week of practice but Cleveland's problems are much deeper rooted. Cleveland's defense allows 194 ypg / 5.4 ypc; consequently, we'll look for Flacco to work magic with play action tonight. And the Browns do not have the weapons on the offensive end that they had in 2007 when Derek Anderson was getting protection and finding Pro Bowl receivers Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow II. This season, the route runners aren't getting open and the protection is not getting it done; consequently, Anderson is having a horrific year. Brady Quinn will surely not fair much better. And with the players not happy with the extended work over their bye, a low morale carryover should result here.
Andy Iskoe
Ravens at Browns
Pick: Under 40
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect surrounding this game is whether the fans will stage an early boycott and not enter the stadium until after kickoff. Cleveland had an inept offense last season yet two of their best receivers from that team are gone. Yet the Browns should put forth an inspired effort following their Bye and such an effort usually evidences itself on the defensive side of the football. If Cleveland is to put forth that inspired effort it is most likely to be on defense as there is little on offense to suggest the Browns are capable of either big plays or sustained scoring drives. But an aggressive effort on defense can be effective against a Baltimore offense that has been, at best, inconsistent in recent weeks. If Baltimore covers the spread, it's probably in a one sided game on the order of 27-10. If Cleveland covers the game it is likely in the form of a 16-13 or 20-17 type game.
Stephen Nover
15 Dime RAVENS
You would think the networks would have learned their lesson after last year. But here the Browns are back on national television - and they're as bad as ever having lost 13 of their last 14.
Eric Mangini is actually making Browns fans fondly recall the Romeo Crennel era. Cleveland is in disarray and the statistics reflect that. The Browns entered this week ranked last in total defense and 30th in scoring, averaging 9.8 points per game.
The Ravens have cooled off after a hot start. Their defense is no longer dominant and quarterback Joe Flacco is learning on the job. But the Ravens are light years ahead of Cleveland.
Derek Anderson had the lowest quarterback rating in the league at 36.2. Mangini is pulling him for Brady Quinn, who he originally started and then was yanked for Anderson. That happened in Week 3 against Baltimore. The Ravens rolled past the Browns, 34-3. Flacco passed for 342 yards in that matchup. The Ravens had four interceptions.
Quinn has no playmaking ability. All he does is check down. The Ravens won't have a problem handling such a popgun attack.
Offensively, Flacco and Ray Rice can hurt a terrible Cleveland defense that has been made weaker by the loss of its two top tacklers, linebackers D'Qwell Jackson and Eric Barton. Their replacements are a couple of rookies.
There's no chance of Baltimore taking Cleveland lightly either, not looking up at Cincinnati in the division and being on the Monday night stage. The Ravens have covered the past eight times they've faced a team with a losing record.
Dave Malinsky
NCAAB Top of the Ticket
Pennsylvania Quakers (+23.5) over VILLANOVA WILDCATS
Here’s the thing about Big Five basketball--the wider the gap is between the teams, the better we have seen some of the underdogs perform through the years. It makes all the sense in the world. A bad Philly team can make a name for themselves by throwing everything they have at the heavily favored opponent, while any time a team is laying more than 20 points in one of these games it means that they are at playing at an altitude that brings much more intriguing targets ahead. And that is exactly what we have here. First, Penn is not a bad team. The Quakers suffered through an injury-riddled 2008-09 in which five key cogs were unavailable most of the way, but now it becomes a veteran group with returning starters Tyler Bernadini, Zack Rosen and Jack Eggleston, and with SRs Andres Schreiber and Darren Smith are healthy and in the starting lineup again. In reality, consider it to be returning starters at all positions, and Mike Howlett showed in 16 bench minutes at Penn State on Friday night that he is at full health ready to be a major contributor as well. This should be the most improved teams in the Ivy League this winter, and note that the 70-55 non-cover at Penn State on Friday night was not nearly as bad as the score shows the final margin was the biggest of the game, and Penn was hampered by early foul trouble for Bernadini (only eight minutes in the first half), and an awful 5-23 from 3-point range. But that all works in our favor in terms of setting this line value up, while also giving them a road game under their belts vs. a quality opponent. This is not really a road game, of course, with a short late afternoon bus ride to the Pavillion, and plenty of Penn fans in attendance. But they are not running into a buzz saw of a crowd here anyway, nor an intense Villanova team. Off of LYs run to the Final Four there is absolutely no sense of urgency for Jay Wright and his team. They know that they are capable of making a similar run this season, and as such games like this are merely a way to tune up before the long and grinding Big East road ahead, and then March dance steps. But creating a unique distraction tonight is the fact that the players will take the court with their bags already packed for their upcoming trip to San Juan, where they open the Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Thursday afternoon vs. George Mason. This can be a special team later, but not yet, with the loss of Dante Cunningham and Dwayne Anderson taking away some significant glue players from last spring’s chemistry-laden surge, and SR starter Reggie Redding is also suspended. There are enough pieces on hand here for a comfortable win, but neither the cohesion nor the sense of purpose to get near this high spread.
Tony Weston
20 Dime Ravens
5 Dime Ravens-Browns Under
RAVENS
After failing to cover against the Browns in five straight meetings, the Baltimore Ravens have owned Cleveland in each of their last three matchups.
The Ravens swept the season series last year and destroyed the Browns when they met back September, cruising to an easy 34-3 victory as a 13 1/2 point favorite.
The Ravens will make it 4 straight covers and 4 consecutive wins SU against Cleveland.
n this current 3-game win streak against Cleveland the Ravens have beaten the Browns by an average of by about 20 points per game (33-13.3).
Also consider that coming into this game the Browns are just 3-5 ATS this year and have failed to cover in each of their last 2 games as they’ve lost by an average of 26 points per game (30.5-4.5).
Also, at home this year Cleveland is losing by 15 points per game (29.3-14.3).
Things won’t get any better tonight as the Ravens will cruise to an easy victory.
Ravens-Browns UNDER
When these two played in September the Total for that game was set at 38 1/2 points and they stayed Under that number, scoring 37 points.
Tonight, with the Total set at about 39 points, these two are staying Under the Total again.
Consider that coming into this game the Browns have stayed Under the total in 5 of their last 7 games, while the Ravens have seen the Under go 4-2 their last 6 games, including each of the last two.
Scoring will be at a premium again tonight as they stay Under the Total.