The Browns are favored over the Texans but it’s an odd line
The Cleveland Browns (5-3) are hosting the Houston Texans (2-6) and despite the Houston franchise being in complete disarray after an off-season in which they traded away their most valuable player and a miserable start to the season which resulted in the firing of both their head coach and general manager, which were the same person in Bill O’Brien, Cleveland is only favored by a shockingly low 3.5 points at BetMGM.
This low number is actually even higher after going up from three to 3.5 from Monday to now, but is this obvious bet a good one?
Last week the Texans were big-time favorites against a Jacksonville Jaguars squad who not only stunk, but was also without Gardner Minshew to guide them. The replacement was sixth-round draft selection and underwhelming Oregon State product, Jake Luton. Even with this extremely favorable opportunity, Houston only won by two points. Jacksonville failed to connect on a two-point conversion late, ending the game at 27-25.
How Houston is only catching a field goal and a hook is insane to me, but the Cleveland Browns have also been massive disappointments the three weeks before their bye week. Most will remember the embarrassing loss to Pittsburgh, the closer-than-ideal victory against Cincinnati and another embarrassing loss to Las Vegas.
With Wyatt Teller and Nick Chubb coming back, every fiber in my being wants to take the Cleveland Browns and lay the points, especially with the weather likely favoring the smash-mouth running team. But the inconsistencies that we have seen for the last few weeks lead me to believe the smarter play is to wait to see how high this line can go and possibly catch a touchdown with the X-Factor Deshaun Watson and his Texans.
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