Thursday, May 17th, 2012
The Jacksonville Jaguars will hit the highway in a week 17 NFL pro football match up with the Cleveland Browns on Sunday afternoon. Kick off time in Cleveland is scheduled for 1PM Eastern Time with regional television coverage provided by CBS.
The LVSC NFL odds makes have set the opening line in this game and the Cleveland Browns were opened as a 1 ½ point favorite with the over under coming in at 40.
The early money from the NFL bettors came in on the road underdog Jacksonville Jaguars, as the game is now lined as a pick. The total has seen early movement in the betting towards the under, as the over under is currently lined at 37 for the betting public to wager into.
The Jacksonville Jaguars sits with a 7-8 record this season. They have struggled with 3 straight losses and losers of 5 of their past 6 games. With all that Jaguars still have faint hopes for a playoff spot. To qualify the playoffs the Jaguars must win and many of the 8-7 teams must lose as well. Cleveland is winners of 3 straight and sits with a 4-11 record.
It was a bad loss last week by the Jaguars. In a game the team needed to help their playoff chances the Jags went into New England and got pounded 35-7 in defeat. The Jaguars defense was torched by the Patriots offense for 197 rushing yards and 267 yards through the air. The Jaguars fell behind 28-0 at half and never competed there after.
Jaguars quarterback David Garrard hit on 19 of 25 passes last week for 185 yards with no touchdowns but he threw 2 interceptions. Garrard couldn’t follow up his good work the week prior where he passed for three touchdowns as the offense put up 31 points on the Colts. On the year Garrard has hit on 61% of his passes with only 13 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.
Running back Maurice Jones Drew could only produce 63 yards rushing last week on 18 carries against the Patriots. He has been inconsistent down the stretch with 3 games with 3.5 yards per rush or less in his past 4 games.
Defensively the Jaguars allow just under 24 points per game. They are very poor against the pass and have trouble generating any pass rush. Jacksonville allows 245 yards passing per game ranking 27th in the NFL. Opposing quarterbacks complete 67.7% of their passes against Jacksonville which is 31st and second to last in the league.
The Cleveland Browns are coming off a 23-9 victory against the Oakland Raiders last week. Despite giving up nearly 400 yards to the Raiders offense led by Charlie Frye, the Browns benefited by three Raiders turnovers and good red zone defense.
With a season ending injury to Brady Quinn it has been Derek Anderson under center. He only passed 17 times last week and completed 8 passes for 121 yards 1 touchdown and a surprising 0 interceptions. He may be handing the ball off a lot on Sunday as he has completed for 43% of his passes this season with 3 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.
Running back James Harrison had another solid game last week with 148 yards rushing on 39 carries. He has rushed for 434 yards over his past two games but poor run defenses in Kansas City and Oakland help generate those numbers. The Jaguars are better against the run allowing 109 yards rushing per game. Jacksonville’s weakness is against the pass and it will be interesting to see if the Browns can trust Anderson to make over 30 passing attempts.
Cleveland is a bad defense allowing 24 points per game. They can’t stop the run or pass allowing 145 yards on the ground and 245 through the air. Cleveland is 29th in the NFL against the pass and 28th against the run.
Tony T’s Opinion: The Browns are hard to trust in this point-spread area against a team needing a win behind a good running back.
For the Latest NFL Odds Please Visit our NFL Odds Page
NFL Trend: Cleveland Browns at 6-0 ATS in their past 6 games
Tags: jacksonville jaguars versus cleveland browns cbs tv nfl pro football betting odds pick preview, nfl betting odds
