Bucs vs. Browns Spread Prediction
The Cleveland Browns will be an underdog on the road Sunday when they visit the Tampa Bay Bucs at 1:00 p.m. ET. Will Baker Mayfield lead the Browns to an upset victory and get Cleveland to .500 on the season?
Game Snapshot
455 Cleveland Browns at 456 Tampa Bay Bucs
1:00 p.m. ET, Sunday, October 21
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Bucs are 3.5-point favorites to beat the Browns. The total, meanwhile, sits at 52 points. As of this writing, 61% of the public betting tickets are on the Bucs to cover the point spread.
Cleveland Browns
Nick Chubb will start Week 7 against the Bucs. With Carlos Hyde traded to Jacksonville, Chubb takes over as Cleveland’s early-down back. This should be an upgrade for the Browns’ run game, as Hyde was averaging just 3.4 YPC. Chubb has a blowup ROS outlook in a Baker Mayfield offense. He’s an RB2 against a Bucs defense that will be without DT Gerald McCoy this week.
Tampa Bay Bucs
Bucs DT Gerald McCoy (calf) has been ruled out for Week 7 against the Browns. McCoy may be looking at a multi-game absence after not practicing all week. It’s a huge downgrade to the interior of the Bucs’ defense. Nick Chubb and Baker Mayfield get matchup upgrades with McCoy out.
NFL Betting Trends
Cleveland
The Browns are 3-10-1 against the spread in their last 14 road games.
Tampa Bay
The Bucs are 0-6-1 against the number in their last seven games played in the month of October.
Prediction
For the first time this season, Mayfield looked like a rookie a week ago in the Browns’ home loss to the Chargers (at least for an entire game). Mayfield was also hobbled by an ankle injury suffered during the game, however, which appeared to impact his accuracy. I like Mayfield and the Browns to bounce back this week. Mike Smith played the scapegoat role for the Bucs earlier this week when the team fired him as defensive coordinator. But Tampa’s defensive problems go far beyond Smith and without McCoy, the Bucs will have trouble making stops. In what figures to be a shootout, give me the points and the better defense.
NFL Week 7 Prediction: Cleveland Browns +3.5