Monday Night Football: NY Giants at Browns
Monday Night Football: NY Giants at Browns
This matchup made a lot of sense before the season started with the New York Giants off their Super Bowl XLII win and the Cleveland Browns coming off a 10-win season in 2007. The G-Men have certainly done their part to keep the MNF hype up as the last of the NFC unbeatens, but the Brownies enter just 1-3, their lone win so far against the 0-6 Cincinnati Bengals. Kickoff on ESPN is at 8:30 (ET).
You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig – and it’s wearing lipstick of all things. How is that an improvement again?
The folks at ESPN will have to break out the industrial-size tube of Radiant Ruby to cover up this sow of a Monday Night Football game. The New York Giants are the best team in the NFC right now at 4-0 (3-1 ATS); the Cleveland Browns are getting their helmets handed to them at 1-3 (2-2 ATS). No point anymore in hyping this broadcast as a matchup between two 10-win teams from a year ago. Cleveland’s disappointing start has already erased the goodwill generated by the Browns’ first winning season since 2002.
There’s really not much you can say that’s positive about the 2008 Browns thus far. At least they won their last game, beating the even more hapless Cincinnati Bengals 20-12 two weeks ago as 1-point road dogs. Monday night’s betting odds are much less kind to the Browns – they get 8½ points, with a total of 43. That’s down from as low as 6½ at the open.
The betting lines moved this week as the Kellen Winslow “mystery illness” story developed. Winslow went to the Cleveland Clinic on Thursday with what turned out to be a case of swollen testicles. He won’t be able to play in this contest, which leaves the Browns without their top catching threat against the defending Super Bowl champions.
Cleveland’s offense has already fallen off the map as it is. Joe Jurevicius (50 catches last year) is on the PUP list and free agent signee Donte’ Stallworth will be making his first start of the year because of a quadriceps injury. Defenses are focusing on Braylon Edwards; he has only 11 catches after four games and has dropped five passes. It’ll be even more difficult for Edwards to get free now that Winslow is unavailable.
The running game isn’t getting Cleveland anywhere, either. Jamal Lewis is down from 4.4 yards per carry in 2007 to 3.4 yards per carry in 2008. That’s comparable to his last two years in Baltimore, where it was assumed Lewis was past his prime. It’s even more likely to be the case now at age 29.
This broken-down offense is matched up against the fearsome Giants defensive line. Even without the services of Osi Umenyiora, New York is fifth in run blocking efficiency and first in getting to the quarterback. The Giants pass defense downfield is also excellent – more bad news for Edwards. But it’s mostly the blitz packages that QB Derek Anderson will have to worry about Monday night. Anderson has been sacked eight times, showing there is still room for improvement on the Cleveland offensive line.
If you like the Giants defense, you’ll love what they’re doing with the ball. Eli Manning is outperforming his more famous brother Peyton at the moment, leading the top offense in the NFL with a 99.7 passer rating and just one interception. Even better, New York is rushing for 5.8 yards per carry, tops in the league. Cleveland has not done well at stuffing the run this year. The Browns’ defensive line is No. 29 in run blocking efficiency, and not likely to improve with DE Shaun Smith playing with a cast on his broken hand after being listed as doubtful for Monday.
If Cleveland is going to cash in against the Giants, it might have to come from the special teams. This is just about the only advantage for the Browns on the field – punter Dave Zastudil is launching the ball and getting excellent field position for his defensive teammates. This is exactly the kind of difference-maker that the betting public overlooks. However, the Browns may still be overvalued as a team after going 12-4 ATS last year. A lot of other things besides punting are going to have to go right for Cleveland to cover.
This matchup made a lot of sense before the season started with the New York Giants off their Super Bowl XLII win and the Cleveland Browns coming off a 10-win season in 2007. The G-Men have certainly done their part to keep the MNF hype up as the last of the NFC unbeatens, but the Brownies enter just 1-3, their lone win so far against the 0-6 Cincinnati Bengals. Kickoff on ESPN is at 8:30 (ET).
You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig – and it’s wearing lipstick of all things. How is that an improvement again?
The folks at ESPN will have to break out the industrial-size tube of Radiant Ruby to cover up this sow of a Monday Night Football game. The New York Giants are the best team in the NFC right now at 4-0 (3-1 ATS); the Cleveland Browns are getting their helmets handed to them at 1-3 (2-2 ATS). No point anymore in hyping this broadcast as a matchup between two 10-win teams from a year ago. Cleveland’s disappointing start has already erased the goodwill generated by the Browns’ first winning season since 2002.
There’s really not much you can say that’s positive about the 2008 Browns thus far. At least they won their last game, beating the even more hapless Cincinnati Bengals 20-12 two weeks ago as 1-point road dogs. Monday night’s betting odds are much less kind to the Browns – they get 8½ points, with a total of 43. That’s down from as low as 6½ at the open.
The betting lines moved this week as the Kellen Winslow “mystery illness” story developed. Winslow went to the Cleveland Clinic on Thursday with what turned out to be a case of swollen testicles. He won’t be able to play in this contest, which leaves the Browns without their top catching threat against the defending Super Bowl champions.
Cleveland’s offense has already fallen off the map as it is. Joe Jurevicius (50 catches last year) is on the PUP list and free agent signee Donte’ Stallworth will be making his first start of the year because of a quadriceps injury. Defenses are focusing on Braylon Edwards; he has only 11 catches after four games and has dropped five passes. It’ll be even more difficult for Edwards to get free now that Winslow is unavailable.
The running game isn’t getting Cleveland anywhere, either. Jamal Lewis is down from 4.4 yards per carry in 2007 to 3.4 yards per carry in 2008. That’s comparable to his last two years in Baltimore, where it was assumed Lewis was past his prime. It’s even more likely to be the case now at age 29.
This broken-down offense is matched up against the fearsome Giants defensive line. Even without the services of Osi Umenyiora, New York is fifth in run blocking efficiency and first in getting to the quarterback. The Giants pass defense downfield is also excellent – more bad news for Edwards. But it’s mostly the blitz packages that QB Derek Anderson will have to worry about Monday night. Anderson has been sacked eight times, showing there is still room for improvement on the Cleveland offensive line.
If you like the Giants defense, you’ll love what they’re doing with the ball. Eli Manning is outperforming his more famous brother Peyton at the moment, leading the top offense in the NFL with a 99.7 passer rating and just one interception. Even better, New York is rushing for 5.8 yards per carry, tops in the league. Cleveland has not done well at stuffing the run this year. The Browns’ defensive line is No. 29 in run blocking efficiency, and not likely to improve with DE Shaun Smith playing with a cast on his broken hand after being listed as doubtful for Monday.
If Cleveland is going to cash in against the Giants, it might have to come from the special teams. This is just about the only advantage for the Browns on the field – punter Dave Zastudil is launching the ball and getting excellent field position for his defensive teammates. This is exactly the kind of difference-maker that the betting public overlooks. However, the Browns may still be overvalued as a team after going 12-4 ATS last year. A lot of other things besides punting are going to have to go right for Cleveland to cover.
even if Lewis was sidelined I'm still bankin on NY puttin up the points themselves. Put up 41 and 44 already, hopefully they can keep that pace.