Monday Night Special!!! Cleveland Wins Outright!!! FULL GAME BREAKDOWN

mac_the_handicapper · #1 10-11-2008, 10:44 PM

Week 6 Monday Night Special

New York Giants -8.5 at Cleveland Browns
I’m taking Cleveland and the points here. The reason I can say that easily, because I feel that the Browns are going to win this game outright. I’m crazy right? Well let’s break down this game in great detail. First things first these 2 teams are not that far apart. What have the Giants done to garner the notion that they can lay 8.5 points on the road against a team that plays tough at home on a Monday nighter. They beat Washington in week 1, kudos to them, but that Washington team was not in sync on that night. Besides that game they beat Seattle, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. 3 of the bottom 8 worse teams in the league. On the other hand Cleveland has been riddled with injuries and have had some stiff competition. Once again I stress these 2 teams are not that far apart. The Giants are in the familiar position in which they are due to have a letdown game. We have all seen it before, The Chicago-Arizona game, Dallas-Buffalo, New England-Baltimore. This game reeks of the same stench. On the other side of the ball you take a team like Cleveland. For the first time in a decade they finally had some legitimate optimism heading into the season. They are now healthier than ever due to a bye week and are going to be playing in a rare Monday Night game. The ENTIRE season rests on this game for them. Lose and they drop to 1-4 and most likely kill any hopes of getting into the playoffs. Win and they can ride that momentum into a playoff appearance. They will be in front of their Crowd which is going to be electric on Monday, and there are a few people who are playing for their jobs on Monday. (Crennel, Anderson)

Now let’s get into the game.

New York Giants Offense Vs. Cleveland Browns Defense
On the offensive side of the ball the New York Giants are going to look to do much of what they’ve done all year. They are going to look to pound Brandon Jacobs and air it out with Eli Manning. 2 things that are going to help Cleveland out here is the fact that they are getting their leader back in Willie McGinnest. He may not be the player he once was, but he is still very valuable in the run game and his presence alone should elevate everybody elses game around him. In the passing game, there needs to be 2 major factors in stopping Eli Manning. Romeo Crennel and the defense have had 2 weeks to scheme for Eli Manning, and that is a lot of time. The Browns are going to send all sorts of blitz packages and different zone coverages in this game. You have to believe that with the 2 weeks to plan for it, they would be effective on defense. The other key is the Crowd. They need to get loud, draw some false-starts, and make it so Eli can’t audible or go into the 2 minute offense. If Cleveland can do all those things than they should have success in this game.

Cleveland Browns Offense Vs. New York Giants
Health is finally something that Cleveland now has on their offense. They are getting 3 major players back in this offense. These 2 offenses are similar, in the fact that Cleveland will be looking to pound the ball with their horse Jamal Lewis, and then air it out with Derek Anderson. As far as running the ball goes, Cleveland is getting back 2 major players that are going to allow for Jamal Lewis to do that, and that is the return of Eric Steinbach and Ryan Tucker. Antonio Pierce also may not play, and even if he does will be banged up, so I expect Cleveland to have success here. In the passing game, the Browns are getting Stallworth back, and Derek Anderson will finally have more time in the pocket now that is 2 OL are back. Now I know the talk has been about Kellen Winslow and if he’s going to play or not, I have a feeling that this may be some old Patriots tactics that Crennell is using. This game is too big of a game for him to miss. The biggest key is this. Edwards, Stallworth, Winslow will be covered by Ross, Webster, and Madison. Now they will most likely be sticking Aaron Ross on Braylon Edwards. Braylon is going to expose the height advantage and abuse Ross all day on Monday. On the other match-up Webster doesn’t have the speed to keep up with Stallworth and he’s going to get beat deep at least once. Especially if the Giants stack the box and Cleveland draws up a play-action. And there is nobody on the Giants roster that is going to be able to cover Winslow if he plays. So I love Cleveland in this spot over here.

Special Teams
I like both teams on the return game, as both Bradshaw and Cribbs are dangerous. I will give the advantage to Cleveland in the field goal game, because I don’t feel that John Carney will be able to kick the 45+ yarders and that will be a problem for New York.

Wildcards
Turnovers and Penalties. As long as these 2 things even out for both teams than I feel the Browns are going to be in a position to win.

So all the reasons above are why I feel that the Browns are a lock to cover, and will win this game outright.

Mac Picks: Cleveland +8.5

Suggestion: Lay 3 times as much on the spead, but take the Money line as well

Money$$$ · #2 10-11-2008, 10:50 PM

nice write up

g_rock65 · #3 10-11-2008, 11:51 PM

Love the write-up!!!

walk066 · #4 10-11-2008, 11:52 PM

I do think Cleveland is in a good spot, but I don;t know if I can pull the trigger yet.

mac_the_handicapper · #5 10-12-2008, 09:28 AM

Back to the TOP

mac_the_handicapper · #6 10-12-2008, 10:22 AM

mac_the_handicapper · #7 10-12-2008, 06:25 PM

If you're down on the week so far, don't miss this play!!!

Wabash Wonders · #8 10-12-2008, 07:40 PM

This looked nice before todays games, but I think with Dallas and Washington both losing today, the Giants will be highly motivated to gain a 2 game lead(in loss column) in the division. I can't see them losing this game, but covering the points might be another matter. Good luck with your play...

Bisket · #9 10-12-2008, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wabash Wonders

This looked nice before todays games, but I think with Dallas and Washington both losing today, the Giants will be highly motivated to gain a 2 game lead(in loss column) in the division. I can't see them losing this game, but covering the points might be another matter. Good luck with your play...

just shows the NFC east is overhyped

Yankee23 · #10 10-12-2008, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mac_the_handicapper

If you're down on the week so far, don't miss this play!!!

bump, bump, bump

Wabash Wonders · #11 10-12-2008, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bisket23

just shows the NFC east is overhyped

LOL, because Washington and Dallas lose, that means the NFC East is overhyped? And you are the one who said Philly is overated minutes before they score 23 points in 4th quarter to win!! NFC East is the toughest division in the NFL, deal with it...