For the first time since 2008, the Cleveland Browns will make an appearance on NBC\u2019s Sunday Night Football season. A capacity crowd will be on hand to roar for the Browns, who have a realistic chance of making the playoffs this season and need to show they are for real. They get their big chance to prove themselves against the NFC champion Los Angeles Rams in primetime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are they Browns going to sputter again like they did in their opener or can they look crisp and get the job done as they did in Week 2?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Rams are a very good road team. They have lost only three road games since the start of Sean McVay\u2019s tenure in 2017, losing one in 2017 and two in 2018. Moreover, of the two teams they lost to on the road in 2017, they defeated one of them in a road playoff rematch: the New Orleans Saints. The Rams lost at New Orleans in the regular season but struck back in the NFC Championship Game. The Rams are 14-3 straight up in their last 17 regular-season road games, not counting that NFC Championship Game win, which would make them 15-3 in their last 18 non-preseason road games. They know how to handle road-field pressure. They don\u2019t get rattled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other main reason the Rams will cover the spread is that Cleveland is not a proven commodity. The Browns need to prove they belong. They might do that, but they have not yet earned the benefit of the doubt. They got the win against a hapless New York Jets team in Week 2 but it felt like they had chances to put the game away earlier. And the Browns were still struggling with penalties. A better team would have made them pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the end of the day, Baker Mayfield is talented but he\u2019s been erratic, missing a lot of makeable throws through two games. Their offensive line is also a mess and now they\u2019ll have to deal with Aaron Donald, Dante Fowler Jr. and Clay Matthews, who have played well so far. That\u2019s going to be a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is an early Super Bowl for the Browns. The Cleveland fans are always loud, but they will crank it up an extra notch for this game against a team which made the Super Bowl last season. The first two games of the season were not unimportant, but this was the first really big national game on the 2019 schedule. Everyone in the locker room knows what is on the line here \u2013 especially after they got blown out in their home opener. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we see the very best of Baker Mayfield and the best of Odell Beckham and Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward and the other high-profile Browns, they will win this game. Jared Goff of the Rams has not looked especially sharp so far this season. They haven\u2019t had that explosive game just yet and the Browns have the parts to make sure that explosion is delayed by at least a week. But they have to bring their \u2018A\u2019 game. The Browns haven\u2019t done that as of yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The quarterbacks here have been inconsistent and that figures to keep us to an under. The Browns offensive line is likely going to ensure that Donald and company contain their running game and force Baker into some bad spots. As for the Rams, their offense has been good-but-not-great so far. We\u2019ll see more of that. With that in mind, go under the number here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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