Monday Night Football: Browns Favored Over Shorthanded Ravens

The Cleveland Browns (2-8) appear to be moving on from the short-lived Johnny Manziel era for the time being. After yet another off-the-field issue, Manziel has gone from the team’s starting quarterback to a third stringer. Head coach Mike Pettine has decided to go with veteran gunslinger Josh McCown moving forward with Austin Davis as the primary backup.

Coming into the Monday Night Football matchup with the Baltimore Ravens (3-7), the Browns will be looking for only their third win of the season. Cleveland’s hopes for the playoffs have already been shattered with the team sitting in the bottom half of the AFC North division along with the Ravens, but Pettine will try to get back on track against a divisional opponent.

According to Sportsbook.ag, the Browns, despite going through another quarterback change, are favored to come out on top at home against the division rival Ravens. Cleveland is sporting a -4 point spread heading into Monday’s showdown at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Baltimore will also see a new quarterback under center on Monday night with veteran Matt Schaub taking over for the injured Joe Flacco. The Ravens lost Flacco to a season-ending knee injury last week in the win over the St. Louis Rams.

The Week 12 matchup with the Browns will be the first time in eight years the Ravens will be without Schaub. The veteran quarterback hasn’t started a game in the NFL since 2013 with the Houston Texans. Schaub has lost his last six games as a starter that obviously doesn’t bode well for the Ravens’ chances heading into this matchup with the Browns.

Although Baltimore could pull off the upset against Cleveland, the safe bet here would be to go with the Browns covering the -4 point spread.