Cleveland Browns vs Las Vegas Raiders: Wild card race

Cupcake schedule

This will be a very interesting game. Both teams showed some potential in the first part of the season and could be in direct playoff race at the end of the regular season. Neither will end up as a winner of its division most likely, meaning that both will compete for AFC wild cards, so this game might count double in the end. Cleveland has a 5-2 record, but that record seems highly suspect. Other than Indianapolis, there are no real quality wins on that schedule. They've beat Dallas, Washington and Cincinnati twice. In both losses, they got humiliated by their divisional rivals, Steelers and Ravens, losing both games by more then 30 points

Their performances were quite inconsistent as well at times. Especially on offense in the passing game. Baker Mayfield doesn't seem in rhythm at times. The ball doesn't come nicely out of his hand, resulting in too many bad throws. He should do better, considering the talent the Browns surrounded him with. Luckily for them, they are thriving with running the ball and haven't skipped a beat after Nick Chubb got injured, because they have Kareem Hunt as a backup

Covid free

Raiders on the other side had one of the toughest schedules.They had some big wins like upsetting the Chiefs at Arrowhead, but also few painful losses, like the ones to Buffalo and New England. Problem in all of their losses was not being able to maintain the level of their play throughout the 60 minutes. They hung around in the first half, but got outplayed in the second. They need to do a better job with the adjustments after halftime, because it's obvious that opponents are winning that battle so far.

They had some issues with Covid-19 infections before the Bucs game. Trent Brown was positive, so the entire starting OL had to be isolated and didn't practice before that game. Brown is activated now and will play against the Browns. He's a huge part of this offense and a major factor in keeping Derek Carr upright in the pocket. Johnathan Abram was also on covid/reserve list and he is also a very important player on defense, that sets the tone for physical play on defense.

Browns vs Raiders betting tips

I really like the Raiders in this spot. They played really well so far this season. Derek Carr is having one of the best seasons of his career. He is finally surrounded with some good receivers in Ruggs, Renfrow and Waller. They have the ability to stretch the field with the speed of Ruggs, Agholor (and Gafford at times). Which allows Carr to show off his precision on short to intermediate routes, moving the ball down the field methodically. He is great at making the right pre-snap call, reading the defenses and putting his skill players on offense in the right position to win. I think that is where they will make the difference in this game. They have a superior QB, which will be key for the win here.

Also, don't forget to check out our new feature for comparing outright odds. These two opponents are both part of the AFC conference. Odds for winning it can be found with this link: https://theplayer.com/odds/american-football/usa/nfl/nfl-afc-conference-winner