Cleveland Browns (0-8 SU, 2-6 ATS) vs. Detroit Lions (4-4 SU, 4-4 ATS)
Week 10 NFL
Date/Time: Sunday, November 12, 2017 at 1PM EST
Where: Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan
TV: CBS
By Loot, NFL Football Handicapper, Lootmeister.com
Point Spread: CLE +13/DET -13
Over/Under Total: 43.5
The Cleveland Browns come to Ford Field on Sunday for a week ten matchup with the Detroit Lions. The Browns are in search of their first win of the season and are coming off a bye-week where they are hoping they got some things figured out. In their last game before the off-time, they were beaten at home, 33-16, by the Vikings. They hope for better on the road this week against a Detroit Lions team that went into Lambeau to score a much-needed MNF win over the Green Bay Packers, 30-17. That came against a compromised Packers team and they can nose above .500 with a victory over the winless Browns this week.
Cleveland is in a rebuild phase so a different set of lens are required when evaluating. Still, even by those standards, they leave a lot to be desired. It seems like the oddmakers have struggled in catching up to the harsh reality of how bad the Browns are. In their last 35 games, they have covered the spread a startling 6 times. Now, we'll see how they fare in the second half and based on their last game and some recent injuries, the prognosis isn't overly-rosy. They were without both corners last game with Jason McCourty and Jabrill Peppers out, along with Myles Garrett having suffered a concussion. All are questionable for this game. The quarterback job in not cemented, with Kevin Hogan coming off a rib injury and DeShone Kizer and Cody Kessler both getting time behind center. They lost T Joe Thomas and the line has under-performed this season, with no playmakers aerially or on the ground. The only silver lining is a defense that has shown signs of rising, despite a lot of young talent missing time this season with injuries.
The Cleveland offense has not been clicking. Up-front, where they were supposed to be a top group, things haven't really come together and not having Thomas in there really hurts. Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson (questionable) can sometimes come together and make things happen out of the backfield, but they can also not really be there in certain spots. And Johnson being their leading receiver is not a good sign. Help could be on the way with Josh Gordon being reinstated, but that doesn't pay off until early next month. They have some talent on the rise, like rookie tight end David Njoku and Ricardo Louis, but all in all, this might be the worst offense in the league, averaging less than 15 points a game.
The Cleveland defense has been erratic this season, but they do perform well some weeks, which is more than you can say for the other side of the ball. They have some talent across different areas that will pay off in coming years—guys like Peppers, Garrett (probable), and others. The middle has some fire with Christian Kirksey, Joe Schobert, and Jamie Collins. Up front, guys like Danny Shelton have helped the Browns become pretty solid against the opposing run, with Garrett giving them needed element of pass-rush. You can see some things heading in the right direction on this side of the ball.
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The Lions have been pretty streaky in recent seasons and it was important to stabilize their condition on MNF with the win over the Packers. Granted, a Rodgers-less Packers team isn't the same entity as before, but a win is what counts and Detroit really needed it in week 9 after losing three in a row and blowing a nice 3-1 start. The Detroit offense was able to get some things cooking, with a big day aerially and a solid showing by the Lions' defense.
Detroit's offense provided a good development for the team on Sunday. Rather sluggish in recent games, they sprung to life on the road in a must-win. Matthew Stafford threw for 361 yards and two touchdowns on 26-for-33 passing. They weren't able to run the ball all that well, though Ameer Abdullah ran for a TD score. But they didn't need it on MNF, with Stafford hitting his main targets Golden Tate and Marvin Jones, as both were over 100 yards receiving. Jones caught both Stafford TD passes. RB Theo Reddick had 61 yards, with Eric Ebron adding a few catches. Stafford was really threading the needle with some of his passes and this part of the team will need to be really good if the Lions are to make a push in the second-half of the season.
The Detroit defense took care of business on Monday, holding a compromised Packers' offense to 311 total yards and just 2-for-9 on third downs. In the middle, Jarrad Davis and Tahir Whitehead were very active. The secondary is a mixed bag, a porous unit on occasion, but a playmaking group that can change the game with Darius Slay, Glover Quin, Tavon Wilson, and other adept at making things happen. The line is quite rigid against the run, with Anthony Zettel, Ziggy Ansah, A'Shawn Robinson, and Akeem Spence also making life hard on opposing quarterbacks. After giving up a combined 99 points in their last 3 games, maybe Monday's performance will steady the ship on this side of the ball.
Detroit did well on Monday, but it was against a depleted Packers team and they are hardly a dependable entity, even at home and especially when laying a lot of points. It's not easy to get behind this current manifestation of the Browns. Detroit is in no position to overlook even a winless team at just 4-4 and needing to make up ground. I see a fairly easy win for Detroit, as they cruise home for the cover.
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