Oakland Raiders at Cleveland Browns: 2015 Week 3 NFL Pick

stevenlourie 2015 NFL Picks, 2015 Week 3 NFL Picks, Browns, NFL Picks, Raiders, Uncategorized

Oakland Raiders (1-1) at Cleveland Browns (1-1)

Both of these teams won as home underdogs last week, pushing themselves to 1-1. However, I think the Browns are a significantly better team than the Raiders. The Browns have noted issues in the passing game and minimal offensive skill position talent, but they have one of the best offensive lines in football and a solid defense. The Raiders’ roster is still much thinner on talent. They were able to knock off the Baltimore in last second, upset fashion last week, but I think that will prove to be more of a fluke than anything when we look back at their season. This line (Cleveland -3.5) suggests that these two teams are essentially even, which I disagree with.

The Raiders are also on the road now, where they haven’t won since week 11 of 2013. They were given a gift by the league scheduler when they were given two home games to start the season. Not only does that increase your chances of getting some wins, even some fluky wins, early, but, when you do go on the road in week 3, you tend to cover the spread because you’re the more rested squad. Teams who have their first road game of the season week 3 are 40-27 ATS since 1989. Still, it’s really hard to like the Raiders on the road here, especially as a Pacific Time Zone team playing in a 1 PM ET start time game in the Eastern Time Zone. On top of that, the Raiders are 8-23 ATS off of a win since 2009. The Browns should be able to beat them pretty easily.

Cleveland Browns 23 Oakland Raiders 13

Pick against the spread: Cleveland -3.5

Confidence: Medium

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13 thoughts on “Oakland Raiders at Cleveland Browns: 2015 Week 3 NFL Pick”

  2. The Browns are significantly better? Are you on drugs? The Browns beat Tennessee last week not a good team at all. They have a better defense at the moment, but they have garbage at QB and one receivers. They really only beat Tennessee because of 2 slopped out long passes, not on sustained drives. The Raiders aren’t coming off of a loss so what does it matter that they’re 8-23 ATS since who cares when off a loss? I’d love to bet you $1000 that the Browns WILL NOT win by 10. I’ll predict the Raiders run all day long on the Browns #32 ranked run D, and that the Browns have extreme difficulty moving the ball with their horrible offense.

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    • I’m just not buying how the Raiders played last week. I think that week 1 was much more representative of this team’s talent level than week 1. It’s a guess, but that’s the nature of week 3. We’re guessing how good pretty much every team is at this point. There have only been 2 games. I spent a lot of time this off-season every team in the league and I do think the Browns are noticeably better. I don’t throw all that work out easily. They’re significantly better on defense and on the offensive line and Raiders’ skill position guys aren’t that much better. On top of that, they’re on the road, where they haven’t won in forever, 3 time zones away for 1 PM ET start, and they haven’t been able to sustain success past one game over the past few years. I don’t think this team is much different. Again, it’s a guess, but I have my own money on the line, not anyone else’s and my record against the spread over the past two years is better than anyone else I’ve seen. We’ll see how this plays out on the field. It’s possible I’m wrong.

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  3. Profanity is the mark of a limited vocabulary. Your father left the better part of himself on the bathroom floor. Browns are perceived as weaker than they are due years of bad a front office. Example: Selected Manziel over Carr.

    Browns roll in this one.

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  7. You must have fell & bumped your head. The Raiders are the better team, with a much better QB. I think you will be eating crow when this game is over. All I can figure from your comments is that you are a Browns fan and just hoping for a win. “GO RAIDERS”

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