New York Jets @ Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Browns -3.5

Total: 40.5

 

Cleveland Browns

Players to Watch

Tyrod Taylor – The Browns starting QB completed 73-percent of his passes in Week 2 against the Saints for 246 yards and a touchdown with one interception.  Being the mobile QB that he is Taylor also ran for 26 yards on four carries.  In all Taylor has thrown for 443 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions while rushing for 103 yards and a score. 

Carlos Hyde – Hyde leads the team in rushing with 105 yards but he is averaging a putrid 2.8 yards per carry.  He has found the end zone in both games so far this season but the Jets have a tough run defense that could pose some problems.  Given how limited the Browns are however I do expect him to still see 15-20 carries throughout the game.

Jarvis Landry – Landry is the team’s leading receiver, totaling 12 catches on 22 targets for 175 yards on the season.  The Jets secondary has put up solid numbers this season with most of the scoring and yardage that went against them in Week 1 came in garbage time.  I still expect Landry to be heavily targeted but this is next expected to be a high scoring contest.

David Njoku – The talented tight end has been targeted 14 times through seven games but has only managed seven total catches for 33 yards on the season.  The targets are nice and if he can convert more of those into catches the Browns offense would certainly improve.

Antonio Callaway – The trade of Josh Gordon creates opportunity for the likes of Callaway and Rishard Higgins to be bigger parts of the team’s passing attack.  The Browns used a second-round pick on Callaway and he had a big touchdown catch in Week 2 against the Saints which show his upside.

New York Jets

Players to Watch

Sam Darnold – Overall you can’t hate what Darnold has done through two games this season.  In Week 1 he saw his first career pass go for a pick-six the other way but he rebounded to throw for 198 yards and two scores after that while completing 76-percent of his passes.  In Week 2 he completed 61-percent of his passes for 334 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.  As is the case with most rookie QB’s, I expect there to be a pick or two in this game but I like his completion rates and the Jets are not afraid to let their QB sling it.

Isaiah Crowell /Bilal Powell – The Jets use a running back by committee system and seemingly just go with the hot hand.  Crowell has seen the most carries through two weeks, totaling 22 carries for 137 yards and two scores.  Most of that production came in Week 1 where he ran for 102 yards and both touchdowns.  For Powell the Jets have used his skills as a pass catcher as he has totaled 17 carries for 66 yards on the ground and six catches on eight targets for 79 yards and a score receiving.

Quincy Enunwa – Many figured Robby Anderson would be the clear-cut No.1 receiver to enter the season but instead it has been Enunwa who Sam Darnold has looked to the most.  Through two games Enunwa has caught 13 passes on 21 targets for 155 yards and a touchdown.  In Week 2 he caught seven passes on 11 targets for 92 yards.  He will have a tough matchup tonight but should still see close to 10 targets.

Pre-Game Props

1) The last non-kneeling, offensive play of the 1st quarter is a running play – Yes (2.5x) No (2.5x)

This is always a tough prop for me to pick because game flow doesn’t really impact the end of the first quarter as teams are OK with running the ball and just starting out with the flipped field and seeing as neither of these teams have overly potent offenses I am going to go with YES that the last offensive play of the quarter is a run.

2) Either team scores 10 or more points in the 1st quarter – Yes (3.3x) No (2.1x)

The game total for this contest is 40.5 and the spread is just three points.  If one of the teams ends up scoring 10+ points in the quarter it would go against Vegas who is right more often than not so I am going with NO.

3) Either team commits a turnover in the 1st quarter – Yes (4.3x) No (2.1x)

So both teams here actually have pretty solid defenses through two weeks and both quarterbacks have thrown their share of INT’s to begin the year as well.  This is also a very nice multiplier here on the YES so I am going with that.

4) The first offensive play of the 1st quarter gains four or more yards – Yes (2.6x) No (2.3x)

I am going to go with NO for this one.  I can see both teams starting off with a running play and seeing as both defenses are pretty solid I doubt we see a four-yard game to start.

5) Two or more Jets players catch a reception on the Jets opening drive – Yes (2.4x) No (3.4x)

I know I have been touting good defenses here but I just think the Jets might have it together a bit more early on so give me a catch by Enunwa and a catch by Powell on this first drive and a YES for this prop.

6) Cleveland scores on their opening drive – Yes (4.3x) No (1.6)

So the odds here are pretty low, as I said Vegas is not expecting a ton of points here and the spread is only three so for Cleveland to go down and score on their first drive that would somewhat fly in the face of how Vegas sees this game playing out and for that reason I am a NO.