The New York Giants don’t want to be that team. You know, the one that is the victim of the Cleveland Browns first win of the year. While that should be enough motivation for the G-Men, how about still being in contention for the NFC East title while fighting to maintain a playoff position. The Giants have turned things around by winning five straight after their 2-3 start and now it’s their turn to beat up on the Browns in Week 12, just like the rest of the division has already done.
Kickoff for this regular season Week 12 game is set for Sunday, November 27, 2016, at 1 p.m. ET at FirstEnergy Field.
NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
New York Giants -7
Cleveland Browns +7
Over/Under 44.5
Odds Analysis
The Giants haven’t been rolling over teams, which leads me to believe this one is closer than many expect. With the line at New York -7, the visitors are seeing plenty of action on the spread wager but the home team would be a nice pick to pad the wallet. It’s hard to see that after the past few games, but the Browns will have a good shot at pulling off the upset with McCown leading the way.
Injury Report
Cody Kessler – The quarterback carousel in Cleveland continues with Kessler sidelined with a concussion. The Browns will turn to veteran Josh McCown on Sunday with Robert Griffin III still a week or so away from making his return. It hasn’t really mattered who plays the position, they all have the same number of wins, but Kessler was looking like a front runner to take over the position for good.
Matchup to Watch
The weight of a winless season has caught up with the Browns and they looked like they had already cashed it in during a loss to the Steelers last weekend. There had been some close games and near misses along the way, but over the past three games the Brownies just collapsed and were blown out each time. Against a struggling Steelers team on Sunday, Cleveland was dominated up front. The Browns surrendered eight quarterback sacks to a team that had managed just 13 entering the contest. They also lost their starting quarterback, again, when Kessler was knocked out with a concussion.
And it got worse. The Steelers totaled 10 tackles for loss, scored a touchdown on a strip sack of McCown and intercepted a pass. After struggling to keep the Steelers off their quarterback, the Browns now get to deal with the Giants active front. New York’s ends Olivier Vernon and Jason Pierre-Paul spent a good portion of last Sunday getting to know Chicago’s Jay Cutler. JPP had 2.5 sacks while Vernon added one and a pair of tackles for loss. It was the kind of effort we expect from those two and they delivered in a big way to help the Giants keep their winning streak alive.
Free ATS Pick
Is it time to take the Giants seriously? I think that’d be a yes. New York has won five straight and remains the only team to beat the NFL-best Cowboys, so they’re doing something right. It didn’t look so good earlier in the season when a three-game losing skid had the G-Men floundering and questioning the hiring of Ben McAdoo. Now McAdoo has the pole position for coach of the year honors. He needs to keep his team focused this week, though, and that might be difficult with games against Pittsburgh and a rematch with Dallas following this one.
The Giants had problems putting away Chicago’s B team last week and needed to rally from a 10-point deficit. That wasn’t a good sign, but they won the game and in this league that’s all that matters. There are no style points just Ws and Ls and right now the Giants are on the good side of that ledger. Two of Cleveland’s closest games came with McCown starting and the Giants will have to deal with the veteran. The Browns let one slip away in a 25-20 loss to Baltimore when McCown threw for 260 yards and a pair of scores. He also tossed a pair of touchdown passes and compiled 341 passing yards in a 31-28 loss to the Jets. McCown still has game and he’ll keep his team close, but the Browns won’t get that elusive first win of the year.
NFL Odds: Giants 26, Browns 20
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