NFL Betting Free Picks: St. Louis Rams at Cleveland Browns

Added on Aug 21, 2010 by Jack Thurman in

NFL

Huge day of preseason NFL betting action on Saturday and we’ll take a look at a game between a couple of teams with losing records in 2009 that are looking to get better as the Cleveland Browns host the St. Louis Rams. Cleveland is further along in the rebuilding process having won as many games last season (5) as St. Louis has won in the past three seasons. Browns opened the preseason with a win at Green Bay while the Rams lost at home.

St. Louis Rams at Cleveland Browns
August 21, 2010—4:30 PM Pacific

While neither team in this matchup has had much success in the past few years, in Cleveland there are several signs that they may have turned the corner. Perhaps the biggest improvement came in the executive suite, where Mike Holmgren is now the team president and has been given control of all football decisions. He kept second year head coach Eric Mangini which was a good move and set about giving him the tools to win.

The Browns upgraded dramatically at quarterback during the offseason—gone are Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn, which could be a case of ‘addition by subtraction’ in itself. In their place are a couple of solid NFL veterans in Jake Delhomme and Senecca Wallace. Behind them is former Texas standout Colt McCoy who is in a fortunate position for a young quarterback on a losing team in that he’s not expected to bail them out immediately and has a couple of respected pros to learn from. The other big personnel move on the offensive side of the ball was signing Josh Cribbs to a contract extension. Cribbs has already shown signs of being a dominant and multifaceted offensive weapon, and the plan is to design the offense to get the ball in his hands as often as possible.

Sam Bradford doesn’t have the luxury that McCoy does—the former Oklahoma quarterback is the future of the team whether he likes it or not. That’s why St. Louis is paying him a guaranteed $50 million. Based on his recent comments, he’s not very comfortable with that concept yet:

“I think that’s ridiculous. I don’t think one person is any face of the franchise. It takes 11 guys on offense, 11 guys on defense and however many guys you have playing special teams to win a football game. That’s how I look at it. And I wish more people would look at it like that.”

Bradford has a point on a logical level, but as the excellent football writer Michael David Smith noted :

“But while it’s nice of Bradford to want to spread the credit around to his teammates, let’s be serious: Those other 11 guys on offense, 11 guys on defense and however many guys on special teams weren’t guaranteed $50 million before they ever set foot on the field.”

Adding to the pressure on Bradford is the motley crew backing him up–A.J. Feeley, Keith Null, and Thaddeus Lewis. Feeley is a solid pro and not a bad guy to have as a #2 behind a strong starter (as was his situation in Philadelphia), but probably not someone best suited to provide leadership and a viable option for talented young player expected to be the franchise quarterback. Null and Lewis both have a long way to go and wouldn’t be a lock to make a CFL roster at this point.

Bradford looked rusty in his NFL debut—not surprising for someone who hadn’t played football at any level in over a year (he missed his entire senior season at Oklahoma with an injury). A bigger concern was his offensive line, which led to Bradford being sacked four times. Feeley will start this game, but every indication is that Bradford will start the second half with Null and Lewis possibly seeing action as well.

For the Browns, Colt McCoy is listed as ‘questionable’ with a hand injury. Word is that it’s not serious, but with two veterans fighting for the starting job there’s no real reason to rush him back and he may not see any action here. That means it’ll be Delhomme and Wallace most of the way, which also means that Cleveland will have the much better quarterback at any stage of the game. St. Louis’s defense was shredded by the Vikings and Sage Rosenfels last weekend—their #1 quarterback (some guy named Brett Favre) hadn’t reported yet, but they really didn’t need him as the 32 year old journeyman passed for 336 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. With Delhomme and Wallace both trying to win the starting gig, they could put up even bigger numbers.

St. Louis had only 8 first downs and 150 yards of total offense against Minnesota, which means that even a Cleveland defense that struggled last year (#31 in total defense) should be able to contain them. This is the first home game of the Holmgren era, and he wants to re-establish the Cleveland ‘Dawg Pound’ as one of the nastiest home venues in the NFL . With a huge advantage on offense and a couple of solid quarterbacks battling for the #1 position on the depth chart they should handle the Rams with ease. Browns put up 24 points against a much better Green Bay team without Joshua Cribbs getting any touches–he’ll see more action tonight making matters even worse for the hapless Rams.

Bet Cleveland -3’ over St. Louis