Bengals at Browns Betting Pick: Week 1

Taking the field at 1:00 on Sunday, September 10th is the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns. This game will be played at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland OH. Carrying the game on television is CBS.

The odds for this week 1 AFC North matchup have the Bengals as the 2.5 point favorites against the spread. Read on to get our betting insights for this week 1 matchup.

Betting Odds for Browns vs. Bengals

Spread: Bengals -2 | Browns +2.5
Total: 47.5
MoneyLine: Bengals -137 | Browns +113

Why You Should Bet on the Browns

The Browns head into the season looking to take a step forward, as they finished in last place in the AFC-North and 12th in the AFC. Cleveland’s overall record was 7-10, including going 3-6 on the road and 4-4 at home. In divisional games, the Browns went 3-3.

Against the spread, the Browns put together a record of 8-8-1 on an average scoring margin of -1.2 points per game. As the favorite, the Browns were 3-4 vs. the spread while going 5-4-1 (ATS) as the underdog. Cleveland’s over/under record came in at 8-8-1.

Cleveland starting quarterback Deshaun Watson will taking over for Jacoby Brissett who led the Browns in passing yards last season (2608) and is now on the Commanders. Last season, Watson played in six games and finished with 1102 yards on a completion percentage of 58.2%.

In the backfield, the Browns are welcoming back Nick Chubb who is the team’s top returning running back in terms of attempts and is coming off a season in which he finished with 1525 rushing yards and averaged 5 yards per attempt. Chubb is entering his 6th season in the league.

When looking at the team’s wide receiver group, the Browns are returning last year’s two most productive players. Amari Cooper caught 78 balls for 1160 yards last season. Donovan Peoples-Jones finished with 839 receiving yards and three touchdowns.

Why You Should Bet on the Bengals

The Bengals are looking to build on last year’s trip to the AFC-Championship game where they lost to the Chiefs by a score of 23-20. Heading into last year’s playoffs, the Bengals had a regular season record of 12-4. After going, 4-3 against division opponents, Cincinnati finished 1st in the AFC-North standings.

Last season, the Bengals had an overall ATS record of 13-6 which included going 8-3 on the road and 5-3 at home. For the season, their games were 13th in total points with an average of 45.3 points per game, leading to an over/under record of 7-11-1.

Last season, Joe Burrow completed 68.3% of his passes for a total of 4475 yards. For the season, he finished 5th among QB’s in passing yards and 2nd in touchdowns (35). Burrow’s passer rating for the season was 100.8 (11th).

In the backfield, the Bengals are welcoming back Joe Mixon who is the team’s top returning running back in terms of attempts and is coming off a season in which he finished with 814 rushing yards and averaged 3 yards per attempt. Mixon is entering his 7th season in the league.

When looking at the team’s wide receiver group, the Bengals are returning last year’s two most productive players. Ja’Marr Chase caught 87 balls for 1046 yards last season. Tee Higgins finished with 1029 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.

Final Prediction & Where To Bet

Right now, the point spreads for both the Bengals and Browns are right where they opened. Currently, the Bengals favored by -2.5 while the Browns are +2.5 point home underdogs.

Even though home teams finished with a slightly below .500 record vs. the spread last season, I see there being more value on taking the Browns at +2.5, and like their chances to cover the spread vs. the Bengals.

BetByState Expert Pick: Browns +2.5

Where to Bet This Game

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