in NFL Articles
Monday Night Football Betting - Cleveland Browns vs. Baltimore Ravens
by BetUS Staff
It’s been a disappointing season on the BetUS NFL betting board for both the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns heading into their meeting in front of the Dawg Pound on Monday Night Football.
The Ravens were expected to challenge for first place in the AFC after going to the conference championship game last season, but a step back on the defensive side of the ball has Baltimore in playoff limbo coming into the second half of the schedule. Joe Flacco hasn’t developed as anticipated, even if the second-year quarterback has better numbers than he did at this time last year.
As much as Ravens backers would love to be raking in the dough, it could be worse. The Browns came into the season with renewed expectations following the hiring of head coach Eric Mangini, but virtually nothing positive has materialized with the former New York Jets sideline boss at the helm. On top of the trading of star wide receiver Braylon Edwards and the firing of general manager George Kokinis, reports out of Cleveland indicate Mangini is now under investigation by the NFLPA for allegedly overworking Browns players.
Baltimore at Cleveland (+10, 40.5) – 8:30 PM ET
With the Browns (1-7, 3-5 ATS) in shambles, Brady Quinn goes back under center against the Ravens (4-4, 5-3 ATS) in the Monday nighter at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
After holding his cards close to his chest during the preseason, Mangini made Quinn the starting quarterback ahead of Derek Anderson prior to the season opener. Quinn played two full games – both losses – before getting yanked at halftime in Cleveland’s 34-3 waxing at Baltimore (-13.5) on September 27. The Notre Dame product and Columbus, Ohio native finished 6-of-8 for only 34 yards passing with an interception against the Ravens, but he was much better than Anderson, who was picked off three times in the second half.
Anderson then started the next five games at quarterback for the Browns, who went 1-4 but a respectable 3-2 against the number with Anderson running the show. Not that Anderson had anything to do with Cleveland’s modest success for bettors: Anderson has two touchdowns and nine interceptions to go along with a league-worst 36.2 passer rating this season.
The Browns are coming off a bye, and they needed the full two weeks to prepare for the Ravens. Cleveland fell 30-6 at Chicago (-11.5) in Week 8 for their third straight loss (1-2 ATS) since clipping Buffalo 6-3 as 6-point road underdogs on October 11. 30th in scoring at 9.8 points per game, the Browns were held to single digits for the fifth time in eight games against the Bears.
Baltimore comes into the Monday nighter with its playoff hopes suddenly slipping away. With their 17-7 defeat at surprising Cincinnati (+3) last week, the Ravens have dropped four of their last five, going 2-3 against the spread in the process. Ray Rice was the only Baltimore player that had a good game against the Bengals, racking up 135 all-purpose yards in addition to a score on the ground.
Ravens backers need a bounce-back game from the Baltimore defense on Monday night. The Ravens gave up 146 yards rushing to the Bengals – including 117 yards on 34 carries to Cedric Benson, as they allowed a 100-yard runner for the third time in their last four games after not doing so for 39 consecutive contests. Baltimore’s typically tough defense has also allowed more than 400 yards three times this season after not doing so since 2006.
Even if the Ravens don’t have a banner game against the Browns’ woeful offense, they should be able to score enough themselves to cover the 10-point NFL point spread. Cleveland is last in the NFL in defense (409.1 YPG), and will be missing both of its starting inside linebackers in its 3-4 scheme on Monday night. Eric Barton (unspecified) is out for the Browns, who were already playing without D’Qwell Jackson (shoulder) for the rest of the season.
The betting trends certainly favor Baltimore heading into Monday night. The Ravens are 8-0 ATS in their last eight games against teams with losing records, while the Browns are only 1-6-1 against the number in their last eight home games and 3-10-1 ATS in their last 14 contests overall.
