Pittsburgh Steelers vs Cleveland Browns NFL Odds, Betting Preview 9/9/18

Week one of the NFL season and we will see a pair of teams from the AFC North square off as the Pittsburgh Steelers grapple with the Cleveland Browns. This game has a start time of 1:00 pm ET and will take place at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. The Steelers are off a 13-3 season, while the Brown went 0-16.

Lines:  Pittsburgh -4… Over/Under 41

A Look At The Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers went 13-3 last year but were upset by Jacksonville in the Divisional round. They lost that game by a score of 45-42. This year they are the favorites to win the AFC North but they are starting their season off with a bit of controversy. Le’Veon Bell is one of the best running backs in the league, but he will not be here for this game as he is holding out. His mates are not happy about that and his loss means that the Steelers will not be able to run the ball all that well. Cleveland may be able to tee off on Ben Roethlisberger in this one. Still, that will be tough to do as Ben is a mobile QB and we note that he is 22-2 in his career against the Browns.  

James Conner should take the bulk of the snaps at RB in this one. The Steelers still have some weapons on offense in WRs Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Ben has stated that the offense is more than just one player, but they will be taking on a defense that looks to be very good. The Steelers were solid on defense for much of the year but struggled in their loss to the Jags in the postseason. That defense should be solid again this year and will look to shut down a Cleveland team that finally has a real NFL QB under center.

A Look At the Browns

The Cleveland Browns went 0-16 last year and they are now 1-31 over their last two seasons, but there is plenty of optimism for the team as they head into 2018. The Brown not only took baker Mayfield with the First overall pick, but they brought in Tyrod Taylor from Buffalo and he immediately upgrades the quarterback position for them. This team has not had a good QB for many years. Well, they now have two real NFL QBs. Mayfield will not play in this one, but it is clear that he is their QB of the future. He played well in the preseason and it is just a matter of time before he is on the field The Browns also have Josh Gordon back at WR and brought in Jarvis Landry in the offseason.    

They averaged just 14.6 ppg last year but should come very close to putting up 20 ppg this year. The defense was 31 in points allowed last year, but just 14th in yards allowed. Their offense just put them in so many bad positions last year. That will not happen this year as Taylor does take care of the ball and this defense has plenty of playmakers on it. The Browns are an improved team, but can they make a run at a playoff spot? That remains to be seen. Their first order of business will be trying to be a QB that they haven’t been able to over the years. This has a chance to be a good game, especially since the two games last year were decided by a total of seven points.  

Trends

Pittsburgh is:

The road team is 3-1-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings

1-6 ATS in their last 7 games overall

2-5-1 ATS in their last 8 vs. the AFC North

The Over is 6-1 in their last 7 games on grass

The Under is 23-6 in their last 29 road games

Cleveland is:

15-35-1 ATS in their last 51 games overall

7-21 ATS in their last 28 home games

The Over is 9-3 in their last 12 games in September

The Under is 11-2 in their last 13 home games