TNF Preview and Bets: Pittsburgh Steelers @ Cleveland Browns

Gambling Opinion by Ethan Irish and Josh Blatt

    We have a division rivalry to start week 3 of the season. The Pittsburgh Steelers will be heading to Cleveland to take on the Browns. Both teams have begun the season at 1-1 and this game will mean a lot going for in the AFC North.

TNF: Pittsburgh Steelers @ Cleveland Browns -4.5 (-110) (Fanduel)

Ethan's Take:

    After the Browns allowed the New York Jets to come from behind and win last week after seemingly having the win that would have made them 2-0. Unfortunately, Nick Chubb is too good and blew the game by scoring a touchdown, leaving too much time on the clock. Cleveland comes in to this matchup with a lot of question marks surrounding both sides of the ball. The defense has not performed as well as it usually does and the offense will continue to be, at least most likely, a running minded scheme week in, week out. A couple trends that stand out to me for the Browns are they are 5-11 against the spread as a home favorite and 2-11 against the spread versus divisional opponents since 2020. 

    For the Steelers, I just think they are not a great team. They got bailed out against the Bengals and almost ended up bailing out the Bengals on a couple occasions as well and against the Patriots in week 2 they were one of the worst offensive teams I have ever seen. With that being said, head Coach Mike Tomlin is great at getting his team for games against division opponents with a 12-7-1 record against the spread versus the division since 2019. The Steelers have also gone 16-8-1 against the spread as an underdog in that same span. I do not know whether or not this will be a high scoring game because the defenses have been so bad or a low scoring game because the offenses have been so bad.

Josh's Take:

    I half-jokingly believe that neither of these teams will win tomorrow, I don't think that we'll see any single game offensive records broken, especially not when it comes to passing. Mitchell Trubisky has played slightly better this season than in 2020-- the last time we saw him play. I see tight ends and running backs for both teams getting a lot of touches, however I'm not sure of the production quality from Najee Harris. I see this game being close, but not because both teams are playing well. If you're thinking about betting on an interception being thrown from either quarterback, this may be the game for you and that goes for either quarterback.

    The Steelers come into this weekend's game 4-0 against the spread in their last four games vs the AFC North. They are 4-0 as underdogs against the spread in their last four games against the Cleveland Brahns, as well as 5-1 against the spread in their last six meetings. These numbers alone make me confident in taking the Steelers at +4.5 in Cleveland. Tight end Pat Freiermuth has 17 targets in the Steelers first two games. He had a slow week in the yards department against the Patriots, but considering the Browns let Jet's tight end Tyler Conklin put up 40 yards on 6 receptions-- Taking Freiermuth's receiving yards seems like a good play. Nick Chubb rushing over is getting hammered, at 84.5 rushing yards-- He's so good at running the football it's crazy. With T.J. Watt sitting this one out, I see Chubb running wild tomorrow.

Ethan's Bets:

Steelers +4.5 (-110). (Fanduel)

Diontae Johnson o5.5 Receptions (-123). (Caesars Sportsbook)

Josh's Bets:

IT'S TIME FOR A PARLAY (+794) (Fanduel)

[Steelers +4.5 (-110), Nick Chubb o84.5 Rushing Yards (-113), Pat Freiermuth o34.5 Receiving Yards (-113).]