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NFL Week 12 Betting – Browns Host Ravens in MNF POS

Zack Garrison

by Zack Garrison in NFL Football

Updated Jan 17, 2018 · 9:39 AM PST

Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns (-3, 41.5 o/u)

Sans lightning-rod QB Johnny Manziel, the floundering Cleveland Browns (2-8, 1-3 Home) get set to host their equally dismal division rivals, the Baltimore Ravens (3-7, 1-4 Away), tonight at FirstEnergy Stadium (8:30 PM Eastern) in what is arguably the worst Primetime game of the entire NFL season.

Manziel was downgraded to the third-string QB after photos surfaced of the notorious party animal getting jiggy with it on the Browns bye week.  The photos may not have been a huge deal for other players, but Manziel has a noted problem with drugs and/or alcohol and went so far as to check himself into rehab this offseason.

“It’s the trust, the accountability part of it,” Cleveland head coach Mike Pettine told the Associated Press. “It was right on the heels of discussions that not just I had with him, but [quarterbacks coach] Kevin O’Connell and [offensive coordinator John DeFilippo] Flip and just that trust was violated. I can’t emphasize the importance of the trust and the accountability piece. This is where we had an obvious shortcoming.”

Josh McCown, who came into the year as the Browns’ starter, will retake the first-string role. McCown was seen as a stop-gap for the Cleveland offense in the long-term, but he played decently early in the year, throwing for 1,897 yards, 11 touchdowns, and four interceptions in seven starts. In reality, McCown was one of the lone bright spots for the Browns O this season. The team sits 28th in the league in scoring with just 18.6 PPG, and average just 75.6 yards per game on the ground (Isaiah Crowell leads the team with just 328 yards and the team’s only rushing touchdown). But McCown had the squad averaging over 270 yards passing per game before being sidelined with a rib injury. 

Over in Maryland, the Ravens are having their worst season in the John Harbaugh/Joe Flacco-era. But the Ravens’ problems aren’t systemic like the Browns’; the team has simply been decimated by injuries. The list of key injuries is almost comical: top wideout Steve Smith, defensive lynchpin Terrell Suggs, safety Matt Elam, starting running back Justin Forsett, and now Flacco, himself, are all out for the season.

Flacco, who’s been a model of durability over his career, suffered a torn ACL and MCL in last week’s win over the Rams. The gritty QB suffered the injury on the final drive, but managed to stay in the game to set up the winning field goal.

“I’m really proud of the fact that I was able to go that long,” Flacco told the Associated Press. “I wanted to go my whole career without missing anything. It’s just the nature of the game. It happens. I just have to go out there, rehab, get back and be stronger.”

Matt Schaub will take the reins for Baltimore going forward. Once a capable starter for the Houston Texans, Schaub lost his job after a 2-14 season in 2013 that saw him throw 14 picks (to just ten TDs). Baltimore has no choice now, though, but to put their faith in the former Virginia Cavalier.

“We’ll rally behind Matt. We’ll rally behind the rest of our running backs, because we’re a football team,” coach Harbaugh explained to the AP. “We are a team, and that’s how we approach it.”

Both teams have been miserable for bettors this season; Baltimore has covered just once, while the Browns are 3-6-1 ATS. With Schaub making his first start in over a year, it’s tempting to lay the points. But the Ravens D should be the strongest unit in this game and, with McCown making his first start in weeks, I like Baltimore to surprise on the road. Though they haven’t covered much, the Ravens have been able to keep games close all year despite the injuries, and they’re 5-1 ATS in their last six games as an underdog.

Pick: Ravens +3.

(Photo credit: Jeff Weese (Coach is Happy  Uploaded by AlbertHerring) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.)

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