Evan Altemus
Baltimore Ravens -10.5
Cleveland is a complete mess right now. There is so much turmoil within the organization that the NFL is sending officials to investigate the team this up-coming week. Several players, including Jamal Lewis, are complaining about practices being too tough and exhausting. They might be right as a few players have been getting hurt in practice. The Browns are coming off of a bye week and at home in a big primetime game, so the spot absolutely screams Cleveland. However, I feel that the extra week off just gave them more time to think about their problems, not fix them. This spread is very high, but the Browns home field advantage is virtually non-existent. Baltimore absolutely dominated Cleveland earlier this season, severely out gaining them in a 34-3 blowout win. Joe Flacco threw for 342 yards and the Ravens rushed for 142 yards in a dominating performance. Baltimore will have plenty of motivation for this game as well, losing four out of their last five games. They simply cannot afford to overlook this game. Cleveland has been blown out by both Minnesota and Green Bay at home, and Baltimore is relatively similar in talent to those two teams. Look for Baltimore to blowout Cleveland by double digits and get a point spread cover.
3 UNIT SELECTION RAVENS.
Marc Lawrence
Cleveland Browns +11
When the Brown host the Ravens Monday Night in an AFC North Division battle they will do so knowing they are 6-0 ATS as home dogs after scoring six or less points in their last game. They are also 6-1 ATS as dogs versus a .500 or less opponent that is off a SU loss as a favorite. Meanwhile, Baltimore is just 1-6 ATS as a road favorite of six or more points and 1-6 ATS in November off a division game versus an opponent off back-to-back losses. All good trends in Cleveland's favor, for sure. But the clincher is the fact that NFL division home dogs of six or more points with a win percentage of less than .400 on the season, playing with revenge and a week of rest, are 14-0 ATS since 1980. With Cleveland a startling 5-0 SU and ATS off a Bye Week versus an opponent off a SU and ATS loss in their expansion franchise history, we'll back Brady Quinn and the Brown here tonight. We recommend a 3-unit play on Cleveland.
Rob Homyak
Baltimore Ravens -10.5
The Ravens have won 3 in a row SU and ATS in this series. The Ravens are on ATS runs of 20-8 overall, 12-5 against AFC teams, 9-4 on the road, 5-1 after a straight-up loss and 10-3 as a favorite, 8-0 ATS vs. a team with a losing record. Cleveland ATS streaks, 3-10-1 overall, 1-6-1 at home, 1-4-1 in November and 2-9-1 after a straight-up loss. Monday Night Football
The Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh is 3-0 against the Browns as head coach. Mangini is 0-2 against the Ravens as a head coach, including a loss during his tenure with the Jets (2006-08), and is 0-1 against Harbaugh head-to-head. Take Baltimore.
Tony George
Baltimore Ravens -11
You think Ray Lewis and company, who are ticked off, are going to let an offense who has managed hardly any points all season, with Brady Quinn beat them on national TV after the slide they have been on. ? REALLY? This is JUST what the docotor ordered for Baltimore. A winnable road game with the better coach, better QB, better RB, better everything!!! I realize Sunday was the day of the dog...this is one Monday Night Home Dog I will avoid like the swine flu...Cleveland is deplorable even with a week off, and I hate taking teams off a bye week to add fuel to the fire. The chemistry of Clevelands offense will take awhile and against this defense, good luck scoring more than 7 tonight. Ravens 8-0 ATS against a team with a losing record their last 8.
Play 1 Unit on Baltimore.
Karl Garrett
20 DIMER - BALTIMORE RAVENS
10 DIMER - PORTLAND BLAZERS
20 DIMER - BALTIMORE RAVENS
At 1-7 straight up, and 3-5 against the spead, this Cleveland team is just what the 1-4 over their last 5 games Ravens needs on their schedule right now!
Baltimore's slide has come against some of the better teams in the league this year, as they were swept by the Bengals, lost to Minnesota, and New England as well.
I gotta tell you, Cleveland ain't in that category, and Baltimore will roll tonight just the way they rolled over Cleveland 34-3 back at the end of September in their first meeting of the year.
The Ravens have won and covered their last 3 versus the Browns, and Baltimore is also on a 10-3 spread run when laying the wood.
With the Browns having been held to 6 points or less in 5 of their 8 games, it is hard to see where the offense is coming from for Cleveland in this game.
Take Baltimore minus the heavy road chalk!
10 DIMER - PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
Both teams look to be headed for the playoffs, as both are out of the gate quite strong this season, Portland at 8-3, while Atlanta is 8-2.
The difference tonight is the emerging series trend when these 2 teams have at it, as the road team is on a 10-2 spread run when these teams meet, and the underdog is on an 8-2 run the last 10 times these teams have met.
That trend continued to start this month when Atlanta went into Portland, and won 97-91 as the 7-point dog!
Look for the Blazers to return the favor tonight when the season series concludes.
Take Portland plus the points.
Nick "BookieKiller" Parsons
Cleveland Browns +11
For a number of different reasons I feel the value in this matchup is on the large home dog as I look for Cleveland to do just enough to sneak away with an ATS victory:
The Ravens have struggled mightily since beating the Browns earlier in the year, and I'm expecting another small "let-down" this evening. After opening with three wins, Baltimore (4-4) hardly appears set to make a run at a second straight AFC championship game appearance. The Ravens lost three straight before defeating previously unbeaten Denver 30-7 on Nov. 1, only to lose 17-7 to Cincinnati last Sunday.
One of the biggest reasons for the Ravens recent decline has been the sub-par performance of its defense; Baltimore gave up a total of 369 yards versus the Bengals and has allowed more than 400 three times, something it hadn’t done since 2006.
Joe Flacco has also struggled of late; Flacco threw two INTs last Sunday after going two straight games without one and had a season-low 56.3 completion % (18 of 32).
Remember, Baltimore is just 1-4 SU its last five overall and 1-4 SU its last five on the road.
On the other side of the field: Coming out of their bye-week, Eric Mangini said he would like to stick with Brady Quinn for the rest of the season, and has been impressed with his work ethic since being demoted.
Quinn takes over an offense that ranks 30th in the league, but the young QB remains positive and seems focused coming out of the bye: “I’m excited to play,” Quinn said. “I’m excited to be a part of Monday night. Every team in the NFL is tough, them especially. We’ve got our hands full right now.”
Cleveland has history on its side though; the Browns always play the Ravens tough as they are 4-1 ATS their last five vs. Baltimore in front of the home town crowd.
Bottom line: The Browns have to be patient and rely on their special teams; but with the recent lapse in play on both sides of the ball the last few weeks by the Ravens, and coming off their bye-week, Cleveland will look to keep this one close down the stretch; look for the BROWNS to improve to 4-2 ATS against conference opponents while Baltimore falls to 1-3 ATS vs. division opponents! 9* BROWNS.
Ron Raymond
5* Dallas / Milwaukee Over 193
Lenny Del Genio
Atlanta Hawks -3.5
Normally we would look to fade the Hawks here as they come off a huge win Friday night over the Celtics (ended 8-game losing streak in Boston) and then a 23-point romp of the Hornets the following night, but this is a terrible spot for Portland, who comes in even hotter. In fact these might be the two hottest pointspread teams in the league right now with the Blazers winning and covering six straight and Atlanta a ridiculous 9-1 ATS this year. But this is Portland's fifth road game in seven nights and finale of a five game road swing. It will be the first time all-trip they are an underdog. The Hawks have been an excellent home team the last two-plus seasons and haven't lost at Phillips Arena this year. We take advantage of the short line. Atlanta is our NBA Oddsmaker Mismatch.
MONEY LOCK OF THE DAY
3 Units Ravens -10
FADE OR FOLLOW
Cleveland
FADE OR FOLLOW
Cleveland
Is this a trick question?
Mean Green Profit Machine
BOBCATS/MAGIC OVER 182
MAVS/BUCKS UNDER 193.5
MILWAUKEE -0.5 1ST HALF
RAVENS/BROWNS 1ST HALF OVER 19.5
FADE OR FOLLOW
Cleveland
Is this a trick question?
They had a winner on Saturday so might be time to fade. ???
If you are gonna name yourself Fade or Follow I am gonna go out on a limb and say you are probably gonna come out ahead fading these guys more then following them.
I'm just sayin...
WAYNE ROOT
2009 Football Upset Club
3* Ravens (-11) over Browns