For the second Monday Night Football game tonight, we have the Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers in an AFC North battle.
The Steelers had a very disappointing day in their 30-7 loss to the 49ers. The offense, which looked excellent in the preseason, scored just one touchdown and recorded only 239 total yards.
On the other side, the Browns’ defense was absolutely dominant in their 24-3 win over the Bengals, holding them to just 2.6 yards per play. It was business as usual for Nick Chubb on the ground, rushing for over 100 yards on 18 carries.
Tonight, the Steelers are short home underdogs for the second week in a row and hoping to avoid an 0-2 start against their division rival. Let’s take a look at the rest of the betting lines as well as the Browns vs. Steelers predictions from our team of betting experts.
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Browns vs. Steelers Betting Lines, Start Time, and More
All odds are from DraftKings Sportsbook unless stated otherwise.
- Spread
Browns -2.5 - Moneyline
Browns -142, Steelers +120 - Total
38.5 - Game Time
8:15 p.m. EST - Location
Acrisure Stadium - How To Watch
ABC/ESPN+
Bearman: I am not giving up on the Steelers after one horrible week. They are better than what we saw last week against a good 49ers team but might just be a fringe playoff team in a tough division.
The Browns had a much-needed home opener win vs. the Bengals but also have to factor in the bad weather and Joe Burrow’s injury. The last time the Browns were 2-0 was 1993 before half of the people in this column were born.
Steelers get the needed bounce-back win here, and I won’t even take the points.
Pick: Steelers ML (+124 at FanDuel)
Blewis: I agree with Bearman here. I have a hard time seeing the Steelers lose back-to-back weeks as home underdogs to start the season, especially against a Browns team who won’t have the same fortune of playing at home in bad weather conditions against a Bengals offense that looked extremely rusty.
It isn’t a strong play, and I’ve been going back and forth on this all week, as I did like this matchup initially for the Browns’ defensive line.
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For props, I like Elijah Moore in this one to have a good game for Cleveland. Amari Cooper isn’t expected to play, which opens up an opportunity for Moore to be the No. 1 option in the passing game. He had 43 yards last week on seven targets in a game where Deshaun Watson only threw for 154 yards. This week, he just needs to go over that number again.
Lean: Steelers ML (+124 at FanDuel) Pick: Elijah Moore over 43.5 receiving yards (-110 at FanDuel)
Katz: Perhaps this is overreacting to last week, where the Steelers’ offense just looked completely inept. They looked like a team that just hadn’t really played in months … except Mike Tomlin had the starters out there for all three preseason games. I guess it is just unnecessarily putting players at risk and doesn’t help.
It was admittedly about as tough a matchup as you could ask for against the 49ers. Harris carried the ball six times for 31 yards. That may look decent, but it’s important to realize he had a 24-yard carry in there.
This week, Harris should see more volume, but he’s still in a near-even timeshare with Jaylen Warren. Something like 13 carries for 39 yards sounds perfect for Harris this week.
Pick: Najee Harris under 49.5 rushing yards (-110 at BetMGM)
Soppe: Any game evaluation has to start at the quarterback position in 2023, and in this game, we have a pair of quarterbacks capable of making big plays and big mistakes.
Neither looked great in Week 1, but both are not shy to challenge down the field, and both have capable, big-play receivers that encourage them to do so.
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Both of these defenses were bottom 12 in opponent score rate last season, another factor that could lead to some big plays. Sure, the Browns’ defense looked good in poor weather conditions against Burrow, who hadn’t played in a month. But I’m not yet sold on them as an elite unit. The Steelers showed no signs of resistance against the 49ers (5.9 yards per play).
Six of the past seven meetings between these divisional rivals have seen at least 40 points scored, and I think we make it seven of eight on Monday night.
Pick: Over 38 points (-110 at DraftKings)
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