NFL Week 17 and the Cleveland Browns will travel to M&T Bank Stadium to take on the Baltimore Ravens. The game has a start time of 1:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on CBS. Current Vegas odds have Baltimore listed as 13.5 point favorites, while the total is set at 39.
Analysis: The Cleveland Browns come in having lost 4 games in a row which has knocked them from any playoff chances they may have had after getting out to a 7-4 start this year. The Browns are 5-1-1 ATS in their last 7 games following a S.U. loss and 13-6-1 ATS in their last 20 games on fieldturf, but just 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games in December. The Browns have not been a good offensive team this year, ranking 21st in total yards, 21st in passing, 17th vs the run and 25th in points allowed (19.3 ppg). The defense has been decent this year, ranking 23rd in yards allowed, 7th vs the pass, 32nd vs the run and 10th in points allowed (21.1 ppg).
The Baltimore Ravens suffered a crucial loss at Houston last week to drop their record to 9-6 on the year. They still have a shot at the playoffs, but need to win this game and get a San Diego loss as well. Baltimore is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a S.U. loss, but 3-10-1 ATS in their last 14 vs. AFC and 3-12 ATS in their last 15 games in December. Baltimore's offense has been very solid this year, ranking 11th in total yards, 14th in passing, 7th in rushing and 8th in scoring (25.9 ppg). The defense for this team has also been solid, as they come in ranked 9th in yards allowed, 27th vs the pass, 4th vs the run and 7th in points allowed (19.5 ppg).
Pick: Going to go with the Under in this game. How will the Browns score at all in this game as they are down to Connor Shaw at QB and they have no Josh Gordon and no running game either. This offense will not get many points off of a Baltimore defense that has allowed just 14.1 ppg at home for the year. On defense the Browns have not been terrible as they come in allowing just 21.1 ppg overall for the year, including just 21.7 ppg on the road. The Ravens have scored 26.1 ppg at home, but still this is a very conservative offensive team and while they do need to win this one badly they also know that they won't have to do a whole lot on offense to win the game. Their defense should be enough to win this game. 21-7 sounds about right for this one.
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