Cleveland Browns vs Denver Broncos 12/15/18 NFL Odds, Preview and Prediction

The Cleveland Browns take on the Denver Broncos at Mile High on Saturday in a showdown between the AFC North and AFC West.

The Browns are fresh off a 26-20 home win over the Carolina Panthers while the Broncos are still licking the wound of their 14-20 road loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

More Wins This Year

The Cleveland Browns entered this season having won four games in the previous four seasons. They now have more win this year alone with already five in the bag, including three in their last four games. At 5-7-1, the Browns are incredibly still alive in the playoff hunt. And although no one is expecting them to make it to the big dance, their faithful have a lot to be hopeful about in the future.

Rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield had another strong game against the Panthers as he went 18-22 for 238 yards with one touchdown and no interception. Mayfield has thrown for 15 scores with just five pickoffs in his last seven games after recording just four touchdowns and five interceptions in his first four NFL starts. With Nick Chubb being the 14th leading rusher in the league at 760 yards, Cleveland finally has an offense to carry its franchise to the future.

Suffering A Bad Loss

The Denver Broncos are trying to keep their postseason hopes alive but they suffered a bad loss at the hands of a San Francisco 49ers team that entered last week with a 2-10 record. The 6-7 Broncos are however just one game out of the 2nd wildcard slot with still three games to play. Denver still has to face Oakland on the road and San Diego at home  after this week but they must not overlook the Browns who are no longer the whipping boys of old.

Denver’s offense sputtered against San Francisco, mustering only a total of 274 yards of offense. Case Keenum completed 24-42 passes for 198 yards with one score and no pickoff while Phillip Lindsay ran for only 32 yards after accumulating 267 yards on the ground in his previous two games. The offense must do better on Saturday if the Broncos still want to go to the postseason.

Who Wins?

Cleveland is 5-19-1 SU in their last 25 games played and 1-24 SU in their last 25 road games. Denver is 8-17 SU in their last 25 games played and the Broncos are 3-3 SU at home this season. Head to head, the Broncos are 5-0 SU in their last five games when playing the Browns.

Impressive (in their own standard)  as the Browns have been this season, history doesn’t favor them at all this weekend. The Browns are 1-24 SU in their last 25 road games and winning at Mile High is never easy. The Broncos are 32-10 SU in their last 42 December games at home. Considering their home losses this season were by a combined total of nine points to the Rams, Chiefs and Texans, this won’t be an easy task for Mayfield and company.

Other Bets To Make

The Browns are 8-5 ATS this season and are 5-12-1 ATS in their last 18 road games played. The Broncos are 6-2 ATS in their last eight games played and 3-7-1 ATS in their last 11 games played at home. Head to head, the Broncos are 4-0-1 ATS in their last five games played versus Cleveland.

The under is 7-6 in Cleveland’s 13 games this season and the total has gone over in 14 out of their last 21 games on the road. The under is 5-0 in Denver’s last five games played and the under is also 5-0 in the Broncos’ last five home games. Head to head, the total has gone over in five out of the last seven meetings between these two teams.