After Joe Flacco Announced Out, Browns Become 3-Point Favorites vs Broncos in Week 9

• With Joe Flacco going down with injury, the Cleveland Browns are now a 3-point favorite on the road
• Brandon Allen will get his chance to prove that he belongs on an NFL stage but is he ready?
• Will the line move more in the favor of the Browns or Broncos as the game gets closer?

The Denver Broncos were supposed to be contenders this year. It was just a few years ago in 2016, where they lifted the Vince Lombardi trophy.

With new quarterback Joe Flacco at the helm, a player who won a Super Bowl not long ago either, this team was expected to do some damage this year.

A 2-6 record would indicate that the season is officially over.

Now that Flacco has gone down with an apparent injury, which conveniently happened after he ripped the coaching staff for their conservative approach, the team has turned to Brandon Allen. That move has effectively made the bookies favor the Browns in their Week 9 matchup. The Browns vs Broncos spread opened at DEN -1.5 but things have changed.

Cleveland Browns vs Denver Broncos Odds

Odds taken October 29, 2019.

Just Who is Brandon Allen?

The 27-year-old quarterback Brandon Allen is in his third year in the NFL.

He was taken in the sixth round of the 2016 draft out of Arkansas college. He has been waived by the Jacksonville Jaguars and picked up by the Los Angeles Rams where they subsequently released him on two different occasions.

This will be his first start in the league. As of now, all signs point to him struggling right out of the gate.

Joe Flacco went off on the #Broncos coaching decisions. pic.twitter.com/U0bLwu71Uw

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) October 27, 2019

Let’s take a look at his preseason numbers.

We all know that the preseason is where second and third stringers mostly get a chance to play. Allen didn’t impress at all, throwing for just over 107 yards in four games to go along with zero touchdowns and three interceptions.

In short, he did himself no favors with such a putrid performance.

The Browns Won’t Hold Back

The Cleveland Browns are mired in their own disappointing season. They are fresh off a 14-point loss to the New England Patriots. That loss has been one of many this year for this underperforming Browns team.

With quarterback Baker Mayfield under a ton of scrutiny and first-year head coach Freddie Kitchens on the hot seat, they will be looking to throw the kitchen sink, excuse the pun, at the Broncos in Week 9.

Mayfield threads the needle downfield to OBJ for 31 yards
#Browns vs #Patriots pic.twitter.com/IchBOZKkjh

— Browns Replay (@BrownsReplay) October 27, 2019

For as bad as the Browns have been, they have one helluva defensive unit. In terms of defending against the pass, they rank amongst the best. They check in at number 7 in the league, allowing just 222.1 passing yards per game.

Former number one overall pick Myles Garrett tied for the league leader in sacks for the year, he is surely going to be coming after Allen all day long. It also won’t help that the Broncos recently traded away their best receiver in Emmanuel Sanders.

What to Expect?

It didn’t take long for the bookies to quickly change the line with the absence of Flacco. With the Broncos being the early favorites at -1.5 it made little sense, but it is even more of a head-scratcher to see the Brandon Allen-led Broncos are now only 3-point underdogs.

Sure the game will be in the Mile High City, but it won’t matter.

It’s still early as of right now, so bettors haven’t jumped all over this line yet, but they will. There is only one way this line will move, and that is in favor of the Browns.

You should follow the trend as well. The smart play would be to put your money on the Browns before the line gets higher as I suspect that it will.