After two straight Thursday Night Football slates of top teams, we are lumped with a Divisional rivalry that could very well produce a dour, slow-paced slugfest to kick off week 3. The Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1) head to Cleveland to take on the Browns (1-1), in a battle between two fierce rivals, with the victor left to sit atop the AFC North after 3 weeks, in a division that all 4 teams could win. With high winds predicted coming off Lake Erie, we could be looking at a particularly low scoring battle.
As always, keep reading for our best bets for all Thursday Night Football and Monday Night Football matches. So far this season our best bets are 3-2 (+1.61u). Let’s try and build on this momentum.
Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns Preview & Betting Tips
FirstEnergy Stadium, Friday 10:15am AEST
Last Week
The Steelers hosted the Patriots last week, with the Patriots coming off a first week loss to the Dolphins. The Steelers once again looked poor on offense, with Mitch Trubisky going 21/33 for 168 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT, for his seconds straight week of throwing for less than 200 yards. The Steelers have also struggled to get Najee Harris going on the ground, with the 2nd year running back running 15 times for 49 yards, after a 10 carry 23-yard rushing performance in week 1. The Steelers defence is still top shelf, however with the unit spending so much time on the field the past two weeks, they could be a little weary heading into this one.
The Browns suffered a heart-breaking loss to the Jets in week 2, having led by 13 with under 2 minutes remaining, allowing Joe Flacco to torch them for two late touchdowns, with the Jets running out 31-30 winners. The concern for the Browns is they could have wrapped this game up if either running back decided to go down in field, however they instead decided to run the ball out (Hunt) and run it in for a touchdown (Chubb), thus stopping the clock and allowing the Jets a chance at the death. Whilst Jacoby Brissett continues to not lose games, he isn’t a game breaking quarterback, so the two-headed running attack of Chubb and Hunt must get the job done this week for a Browns side that should be 2-0.
Injury Report
Pittsburgh Steelers
TJ Watt (Edge) – OUT
Anthony Miller (WR) – OUT
Jeremy McNichols (RB) – OUT
Karl Joseph (FS) – OUT
Calvin Austin III (WR) – OUT
Cleveland Browns
Chase Winovich (Edge) – OUT
Jesse James (TE) – OUT
JaDeveon Clowney (Edge) – OUT
Jakeem Grant (WR) – OUT
Greedy Williams (CB) – OUT
Stephen Weatherly (Edge) -OUT
Match Preview
All the prs season talk about how tough the AFC North was going to be, seems to have been incorrect. The Bengals are in the midst of a solid Superbowl hangover, the Steelers have no offense and have lost their best defensive player for 6 weeks, the Browns had their new quarterback suspended for 11 games, and the Ravens defence appears non-existent. Despite this, the division still could prove to be exciting, with all 4 teams surely having a chance to make the playoffs this year.
The Browns defence has been solid for extended periods in both of their opening games, however, have given up some chunk plays that have ultimately cost them dear. Their offense is about where we would expect, with Brissett doing exactly what was expected of him, the O-Line playing well and the running back room looking solid once again.
The Steelers, on the other hand, appear to be lost on offense, and if the Browns’ defence can play 60 minutes of football, they should easily shut this Steelers’ offence down. With the added factor of high winds expected, a prime-time game and two fierce divisional rivals, I’m siding with a low scoring game on Thursday Night Football.
The look ahead for this match up was Browns -2.5, before opening Browns -3.5. It was bet up quickly to Browns -5.5 and now seems set at -4.5. I’m not entirely sure where the opening flurry came from on the Browns, as my number had this closer to Browns -2.5, but I’d have to guess it has something to do with the mediocre Steelers offense and the fact their defence must be exhausted heading into week 3. This is going to be a brutal contest at the line of scrimmage, and if the Steelers are struggling with fatigue, the Browns backfield could run riot.
Alternate Bets:
Under 38.5 - $1.96 @ Betfair
Browns 1-13 (margin) - $2.25 @ Ladbrokes
Nick Chubb (anytime TD scorer) - $2 @ Ladbrokes
Pittsburgh Steelers (team total) under 17
$1.77 (2.5 Units)
