Las Vegas Raiders vs Cleveland Browns 12/20/2021 NFL Preview and Prediction

The Las Vegas Raiders head to Cleveland to take on the COVID-19 ravaged Browns in a game that was supposed to be played last Saturday but moved to Monday due to the Browns’ personnel issues.

Las Vegas has lost two in a row, dropping a heartbreaking 15-17 game against the Washington Football team two weeks ago and getting pummeled by the Kansas City Chiefs 48-9 last week. The Raiders have fallen to 6-7 on the season after just one win in their last six games played. Las Vegas is in the bottom of the AFC West and 13th in the conference team standings.

Cleveland has alternated between a loss and a win in its last eight games played. The Browns are coming off a big w4-22 win over the Baltimore Ravens last week and are 7-6 on the season and in third place in the AFC North and currently in 10th spot in the AFC conference team standings. Cleveland will be without Baker Mayfield and Jarvis Landry in this game.

Las Vegas Raiders

The struggling Las Vegas offense was held down to only 9 points by the Kansas City Chiefs last weekend while Mahomes and company scored 48 points on the Raiders’ hapless defense. Derek Carr threw for 263 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT but the Las Vegas rushing attack produced only 44 yards on the night. Hunter Renfrow caught 117 passing yards and the team’s lone TD score while Josh Jacobs rushed for 24 yards on 9 carries.

The Raiders rank 2nd in the NFL in passing offense at 287.8 yards per game. They are 29th in rushing offense at only 84.6 yards per contest. Las Vegas is 18th in the league in scoring at 21.8 points per game scored and 31st overall in scoring defense at 27.7 points per game allowed.

Cleveland Browns

The Browns stayed in the thick of the AFC playoff race with a 24-22 win over the Baltimore Ravens. Myles Garrett scored his first career TD while Baker Mayfield threw two touchdown passes with one interception. Nick Chubb rushed for 59 yards on 17 carries while Donovan Peoples-Jones led the team with 90 receiving yards on 5 catches.

Cleveland ranks 23rd in passing offense at 205.7 yards per game this season. They are the 4th best rushing team in the NFL at 143.5 yards per contest. The Browns also rank 19th in scoring at only 21.4 points per game this season while their scoring defense is 14th at 22.2 points per game allowed.

Who Wins?

The Raiders are 1-5 SU in their last six games played. Las Vegas is 3-4 SU in seven road games played this season, and 1-4 SU in their last five games against the AFC. The Browns are 3-2 SU in their last five games played. The Browns are 5-2 SU in seven home games played this season but 7-13 SU in their last 20 December games.

Las Vegas has been in disarray as they have lost five out of their last six games. The offense has been terrible, scoring 16 or fewer points in five out of their last six games while the defense has been horrible, allowing 30 or more points in four out of their last five games played. The Raiders rely too much on their passing game while the Browns have the 6th best passing defense in the league.

The Browns are playing at home too, where they are 5-2 SU this season. Give me the Browns as I don’t want any part of the struggling Raiders right now.

Prediction: Cleveland Browns

Other Bets to Make

Las Vegas is 1-5 ATS in their last six games played. The Raiders are 3-6 ATS in their last nine road games, 2-5 ATS in their last seven games after allowing more than 350 total yards in their previous game, 2-5 ATS in their last seven games after an ATS loss, 1-5 ATS in their last six games after a straight-up loss of more than 14 points, 1-5 ATS in their last six December games, 1-5 ATS in their last six games against the AFC, and 0-3-1 ATS in their last four Week 15 games played.

Cleveland is 1-5 ATS in their last six games played. The Browns are 1-4 ATS in their last five games played at home, 2-6 ATS in their last 8 December games played, 2-7 ATS in their last nine Week 15 games, 1-4 ATS in their last five games as home favorites, and 1-5 ATS in their last six Monday games. However, Cleveland is 6-2 ATS in their last eight home games against an opponent with a losing road record.

As stated above, the Raiders’ offense has been sputtering as of late and they are facing one of the top defensive teams in the league in the Browns. Las Vegas is making the trip to Cleveland after getting hammered by the Chiefs last week so their egos could still be hurting in this game.

No doubt the Raiders will want to bounce back but with an offense that has failed to show up in their last six games, except for the Dallas game. The Browns will not have Baker Mayfield on the field for this game but Case Keenum is a veteran and former starter who has delivered before for Cleveland.

I think that the predictability of the Las Vegas offense is going to hurt them against a Browns team that defends the run very well. On the other hand, the Browns running game will be the key to their offense and Keenum is going to be a great facilitator. I’ll lay the field goal and take the home team here.

Prediction: Cleveland Browns -3

The total has gone over in 12 out of the last 18 games played by Las Vegas. The over is 10-1 in their last 11 games after allowing more than 350 total yards in their previous game, 5-1 in their last six games as underdogs, 5-1 in their last six December games, 9-2 in their last 11 games after a straight-up loss, 11-3 in their last 14 games against the AFC, 10-4 in their last 14 games played on grass, and 4-1 in their last five games against an opponent with a winning record.

The total has gone under in the Browns’ last four games against an opponent with a losing record. The under is 19-6-1 in their last 25 home games against an opponent with a losing record, 5-2 in their last seven games as betting favorites, and 5-2 in their last seven Week 15 games.

Head to head, the total has gone under in five out of the last seven games between these two teams. The under is also 4-1 in their last five meetings in Cleveland.

The Raiders favor the OVER when it comes to stats from the entire season. However, this is a team that has mightily struggled in the last six weeks, especially on offense. Las Vegas has scored 16 or fewer points in six out of their last nine games played.

Meanwhile, the Browns are playing depleted with COVID-19 and injury-related absences. But even when complete, they are a team that loves to run the football and this leads to longer possessions which in turn means lower scores. The Browns’ rush defense is Top 5 and their scoring defense ranks in the upper half of the league. With all the missing players on both sides, I’ll take the under.

Prediction: Under 41

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