Browns Lions Betting – Young Lions Roar At Home Against Browns
Online betting players should have their eye on Detroit, a team with a lot of young players who are finding their way in the NFL, but they have the talent and the team seems to all be on the same page. You’ll get to see most of their starters on Saturday, when the Lions welcome Cleveland to the Motor City.
- What: NFL betting
- When: Saturday, August 28, 5:00 PM ET
- Where: Ford Field, Detroit, MI
- Pick: Detroit Lions -2
What’s On The Line
The Browns gave away their last game, falling 19-17 to St. Louis at home due to five turnovers. The Lions needed a late quarterback scramble to beat Denver 25-20 on the road in their second preseason game. These two teams are obviously very young, so there’s going to be a lot of mistakes in this contest, but we should get an idea of who will be starting in Week 1.
Offensive Matchups: Browns Lions Betting
Cleveland’s offense was actually half-decent against the Rams, gaining 285 yards, but no team is going to have a good shot of winning if they commit five turnovers. The Browns lost three fumbles (fumbling five times in all), and they were picked off twice. Jake Delhomme was 12-of-16 for 127 yards and a touchdown, but he had problems holding onto snaps, fumbling twice on a soggy field. The offensive line also allowed four sacks, which will have to be rectified.
Matt Stafford was 13-of-18 for 130 yards and a touchdown for the Lions, but it was Drew Stanton’s 25-yard jaunt with 1:53 left that was the difference. The Lions would love to see Stanton overtake Shaun Hill as the No.2 quarterback as he’s a Michigan native who went to Michigan State, and if he keeps making plays with his feet, he very well could. Rookie Jahvid Best had eight carries for 49 yards for the Lions.
Betting Edge: Lions
Defensive Matchups: Browns Lions Betting
Chris Gocang led the way with six tackles for Cleveland, and you would think that he has the starting middle-linebacker spot all sewn up. The Browns did a good job of holding the anemic St. Louis offense under their thumb, but a few problems popped up, namely, with discipline. Cleveland gave the Rams three first downs because of penalties, and the Browns aren’t even close to being good enough to make that many mistakes.
The Lions also had their troubles with the flags, giving the Broncos four first downs because of penalties, and the duo of Brady Quinn and Kyle Orton passed all over Detroit. Safety Randy Phillips made four tackles in place of an injured Louis Delmas, and the Lions can feel confident that Phillips could step in for Delmas if his groin doesn’t get better for this game.
Betting Edge: Draw
Notable Injuries: Browns Lions Betting
Defensive linemen Shaun Rogers (leg) and C.J. Mosley (ankle) are still on the Physically Unable To Perform list, so they’re out for this game.
Delmas (groin) leads a long list of Detroit defensive backs who are hurt: Jon Wade (finger), Aaron Berry (hamstring), Jack Williams (knee) and Ko Simpson (knee) are all out.
Betting Edge: Browns
Outlook and Pick: Browns Lions Betting
NFL betting odds have the Lions as a 2-point favorite in this contest at home, and we’re going with Detroit to defend their home field. The Lions have a lot of good young pieces in place, and they have a little bit of confidence from last season, when they had a bad record, but they were at least competitive in a lot of the games. The Browns are a bit of a mess all over the place, and the quicker that Colt McCoy can get used to the speed of the NFL game, the better, because Jake Delhomme is one four-pick game away from retiring. Take the Lions in your sports betting book.
