Las Vegas Raiders (3-3) at Cleveland Browns (5-2)

Last week when looking at the early lines for week 8, I had the Raiders +3.5 at Cleveland circled. The Raiders are just 3-3, but they have had probably the toughest schedule in the league thus far. The easiest opponents they’ve faced are the Panthers and Patriots, which were both road games, and they’ve pulled out upset victories over the Saints and Chiefs. The Browns, who rank 24th in schedule adjusted first down rate differential at -1.20% and 14th in my roster rankings, aren’t much better than the easiest teams the Raiders have faced, so the Raiders had a good chance to come in and pull the straight up upset, especially if they were to get back left guard Richie Incognito and right tackle Trent Brown, who have been limited to 74 snaps and 73 snaps respectively this season.

Unfortunately, a couple things have changed in the past week to make the Raiders a less favorable bet. For one, Incognito remains out and Brown is apparently truly questionable for this game, so the Raiders still aren’t going to be full strength upfront. On top of that, this line has shifted from 3.5 to 2.5, a big swing, considering 1 in 6 games are decided by exactly a field goal. That happened despite the Raiders losing by 25 points at home, though I don’t really hold that against the Raiders either, against a Buccaneers team that is arguably the best in the league.

The line movement in the Raiders’ favor isn’t warranted though and is almost definitely due to the Browns losing wide receiver Odell Beckham to injury, which I don’t think will be as big of a deal as most think. Wide receiver isn’t as important of a position as the general public thinks and Beckham has been more of a 1b than a true #1 since arriving in Cleveland. In fact, Baker Mayfield’s stats in his career with and without Beckham suggests he’s been a better quarterback without Beckham in the lineup. 

I don’t necessarily buy that the Browns are better without Beckham, but it’s worth noting that Baker has thrown about 20% of his passes to Beckham over the past two seasons and 28% of his interceptions, likely due to his tendency to force the ball into coverage for his star wide receiver. I don’t think Beckham will be missed much. Given that this line is 2.5 now, I actually like the Browns this week, although only slightly and if Brown is able to play for the Raiders, I would probably flip this pick to the Raiders. That’s how close it is.

Cleveland Browns 34 Las Vegas Raiders 31

Pick against the spread: Cleveland -2.5

Confidence: None