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David Banks
Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 14 of the NFL season kicks off on Thursday night at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh where the Steelers (9-3, 6-6 ATS) will be gunning for their fourth straight win when they host the Cleveland Browns (4-8, 3-7-2 ATS) in the AFC North rivals first encounter of the season; the NFL Network will cover this one live starting at 8:20 ET.
Cleveland looks to be headed towards its fourth straight losing campaign having won just four of 12 games with two still to play with the Steelers along with a set of games against San Francisco and St. Louis. If only head coach Pat Shurmur’s squad had an offense, this club could have come possibly teased its fans and betting backers with at least a .500 record. As it is, the Brownies offense has scored an average of just 14.6 PPG (#28) and gained an anemic 290.8 YPG (#30). Injuries sustained by RB Peyton Hillis simply killed this team’s ground attack, and QB Colt McCoy has only thrown for 2524 yards at 5.90 yards per attempt and sports a 14/9 TD/INT ratio. He got nicked up last week at home vs. Baltimore, but is expected to give it a go Thursday night. Defensively, Cleveland has been rock solid in defending the pass (#1 at 173.3 YPG) which bodes well for them in this spot when chasing the Steelers speedy wide receivers, but defending the run has been another story (#31 at 151.2 YPG), so RB Rashard Mendenhall could have a huge night for fantasy players.
The defending AFC champs enter this Week 14 prime time battle with the Browns in fine form having rattled off three straight wins (2-1 ATS), which includes a pair of covers both at home and on the road against the division rival Cincinnati Bengals. Last week's woodshed beating of the Bengals was head coach Mike Tomlin's squad’s most impressive win of the season. After a scoreless first quarter, the Steelers erupted for 28 points in the second quarter to cruise 35-7 home win and cover as TD favorites. RB Mendenhall and WR Mike Wallace combined for four touchdowns, while QB Ben Roethlisberger completed 65 percent of his passes for 176 yards without an interception; he’s thrown for 614 yards and four touchdowns to just two interceptions throughout Pittsburgh's current three-game winning streak. The Steelers stand 5-1 SU & 4-2 ATS at home to date with the lone loss coming in the form of a last-second defeat at the hands of the hated Baltimore Ravens.
Pittsburgh has flat out owned the Browns winning nine of the last 10 overall meetings while posting a 5-4-1 ATS tally during that stretch. They swept the season series a year ago both SU & ATS winning 28-10 at home as 14 point favorites while going into Cleveland and handing the Browns an embarrassing 41-9 defeat (-6.5). Though the Browns have split their last eight games versus the pointspread when installed road underdogs of 10-14 points, they're just 1-6 ATS against the L/7 AFC North opponents faced and 2-10-1 ATS the L/13 times they played off a SU defeat. The Steelers have won each of the last five times they were installed a favorite of this magnitude and gone 8-2 ATS their L/10 within the division, but check in with a poor 6-16 ATS record when favored by 10.5 points or more.
PICK: Pittsburgh/Cleveland UNDER
Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 14 of the NFL season kicks off on Thursday night at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh where the Steelers (9-3, 6-6 ATS) will be gunning for their fourth straight win when they host the Cleveland Browns (4-8, 3-7-2 ATS) in the AFC North rivals first encounter of the season; the NFL Network will cover this one live starting at 8:20 ET.
Cleveland looks to be headed towards its fourth straight losing campaign having won just four of 12 games with two still to play with the Steelers along with a set of games against San Francisco and St. Louis. If only head coach Pat Shurmur’s squad had an offense, this club could have come possibly teased its fans and betting backers with at least a .500 record. As it is, the Brownies offense has scored an average of just 14.6 PPG (#28) and gained an anemic 290.8 YPG (#30). Injuries sustained by RB Peyton Hillis simply killed this team’s ground attack, and QB Colt McCoy has only thrown for 2524 yards at 5.90 yards per attempt and sports a 14/9 TD/INT ratio. He got nicked up last week at home vs. Baltimore, but is expected to give it a go Thursday night. Defensively, Cleveland has been rock solid in defending the pass (#1 at 173.3 YPG) which bodes well for them in this spot when chasing the Steelers speedy wide receivers, but defending the run has been another story (#31 at 151.2 YPG), so RB Rashard Mendenhall could have a huge night for fantasy players.
The defending AFC champs enter this Week 14 prime time battle with the Browns in fine form having rattled off three straight wins (2-1 ATS), which includes a pair of covers both at home and on the road against the division rival Cincinnati Bengals. Last week's woodshed beating of the Bengals was head coach Mike Tomlin's squad’s most impressive win of the season. After a scoreless first quarter, the Steelers erupted for 28 points in the second quarter to cruise 35-7 home win and cover as TD favorites. RB Mendenhall and WR Mike Wallace combined for four touchdowns, while QB Ben Roethlisberger completed 65 percent of his passes for 176 yards without an interception; he’s thrown for 614 yards and four touchdowns to just two interceptions throughout Pittsburgh's current three-game winning streak. The Steelers stand 5-1 SU & 4-2 ATS at home to date with the lone loss coming in the form of a last-second defeat at the hands of the hated Baltimore Ravens.
Pittsburgh has flat out owned the Browns winning nine of the last 10 overall meetings while posting a 5-4-1 ATS tally during that stretch. They swept the season series a year ago both SU & ATS winning 28-10 at home as 14 point favorites while going into Cleveland and handing the Browns an embarrassing 41-9 defeat (-6.5). Though the Browns have split their last eight games versus the pointspread when installed road underdogs of 10-14 points, they're just 1-6 ATS against the L/7 AFC North opponents faced and 2-10-1 ATS the L/13 times they played off a SU defeat. The Steelers have won each of the last five times they were installed a favorite of this magnitude and gone 8-2 ATS their L/10 within the division, but check in with a poor 6-16 ATS record when favored by 10.5 points or more.
PICK: Pittsburgh/Cleveland UNDER
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