It was a rough week 1 for one of us.
Fleet (10-6-0): Browns fan. Golly gee I was 10 – 6. I guess I just have to continue above .500 and become a pick guru of sorts.
Matt (6-10-0 Straight Up, 4-11-1 vs spread): lol, oof, went a little too hot in Week 1 but hey, we live and learn. Dolphins fan.
Cincinatti (0-1) @ Cleveland (0-1)
Line: Cleveland -6
Matt: If Baker Mayfield is going to be an NFL QB, he’s pretty much got to win this game. Cincinnati’s pass defense was atrocious in 2019, surrendering a league high 7.4 Net Passing Yards against per attempt. IE, every pass against Cincy in 2019 went for basically 75% of a first down (for reference, a league average defense last year was in the 6.3 NY/A range. The 49ers led the league at 4.8 NY/A, with New England in 2nd with 5.0 NY/A). That’s very bad. Losandiego couldn’t take advantage of that terrible Cincy D last week, but I put that more on Tyrod Taylor than Cincy. If Baker is going to keep this starting QB job in Cleveland long-term, he’s got to start coming out and getting W’s in these winnable games. I can’t believe I’m saying it, but I like Baker to use his plethora of weapons to secure a nice, decisive victory here.
…But even if Baker is god awful (which is indeed highly possible) Myles Garrett might have 6 sacks by himself and win this game on his own. Bless Joe Burrow’s heart, there is a chance that he will be running for his life all day.
Cincy seems to have one path to victory – Joe Burrow stealing this game. I think Joe Burrow is going to be a very good QB and he is certainly talented enough to win Cincy a football game or two here and there, but this isn’t the time or the place for young Joe Burrow.
Matt’s Pick: Cleveland to win and cover -6
Fleet:
I have said it a lot, only for it to be untrue but, this week might be the final nail in the coffin for me as a Browns fan. Last week was no big surprise (Ravens = good) and there is still plenty of season left. The Bengals were worse than the Dolphins last year (who were openly tanking) for a reason. A loss here may finally lead to me renouncing, in all its glory, my shaky at best Browns fandom.
At least for this year.
Fleet’s Pick: Cleveland
