John Warner previews this week’s NFL TNF matchup and gives out his favorite bets!
The first slop fest of Thursday is upon us and man did Roger pick out a stellar game for us degenerates, Joe Burrow and the (Bayou) Bengals take on Odell Beckham’s Number Two’s. These are probably the two worst teams in the AFC North, so it’s only right they get the first Thursday Night game. Thankfully, the NFL figured out that people actually watch these Thursday games, and gave us some better matchups this year after about Week 4.
The Bengals fought hard against what seems to be a decent Chargers team, and even though they lost in total yardage and turnovers, they led the vast majority of that game. This is Burrow’s first primetime game, but we’ve seen what he can do in the spotlight plenty of times. Cincy averaged just 4.4 YPP against LA last week, a dismal showing no doubt, but I also have LAC’s defense rated higher than CLE’s. I’m expecting Cincinnati to be able to run a bit more this week than last, hopefully the running game is able to pace Burrow a bit more, letting him control the clock and take his time.
The Browns wilted pretty much instantly against Baltimore last week, averaging almost the same as the Bengals did, with a paltry 4.5 YPP, in what looked like every bit of a preseason game for Cleveland. Tough ask to start your season off against a team that will be out for blood this year in Baltimore, but that performance was pitiful. This will be a good test for Cleveland, Cincinnati is a team that on paper they are better than, and these are just the kind of games that good teams win. If you’re ever going to back up the talk, beating rookie QBs on the road on a short week is probably a good place to start.
I have to admit when I first saw the line on this, I was a bit surprised. I’m not exactly sure what the Browns have done to warrant being 6-point favorites over anyone but here we are! Sure, we have a revamped coaching staff, but I just can’t shake last year’s Browns stink from my mind. All that shit talking to lead up to the year only to be the same fucking Browns we all knew they were. And I can’t say anything we saw from them last week was awe-inspiring. It looked like the same pile of shit we saw last season! Sure, there’s a gulf in class between the Ravens and Bengals, but I just can’t buy that the Browns are ~4.5 points better. We’ll wait and see what adjustments Stefanski makes, at least he’s not a corpse like Freddie Kitchens was… right?
Thursday Night Football Bets
Bengals +6 +100
Under 43.5 -105
Season Total: 2-3-1 -0.65X
