The San Francisco 49ers (4-8) face off against the Cleveland Browns (2-10) at FirstEnergy Stadium this week. The game will begin Sunday, Dec 13 at 1:00 p.m. ET and can be seen on FOX.
Cleveland lost big to the Bengals 37-3 last week. Brian Hartline had a solid game in the loss, registering eight catches for 83 yards. Gary Barnidge contributed as well, putting up 59 yards on five receptions. San Francisco is hoping for a similar result as last week when they beat the Bears 26-20. NaVorro Bowman led the San Francisco defense, totaling 13 tackles.
The odds are even for this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is 40 points.
Heading into Week 14 of league action, the Browns are 2-10 Straight Up (SU) and 3-8-1 Against The Spread (ATS). In the past five games, Cleveland has struggled with a 0-5 record SU and ATS. Look for Cleveland to take advantage of an inferior San Francisco pass defense, which ranks 27th in the league with 269.9 passing yards allowed per game. As for the Cleveland defense, there are important areas to keep an eye on. The 49ers will be matching up against a skilled Cleveland run defense which has allowed 115.8 rushing yards over its last five matchups. For the season, it allows 136.3 rush YPG. San Francisco’s defense could allow points against the Browns heading into halftime. The 49ers surrender an average of 13.3 points per road game in the second quarter, more than any other team in the league. The Browns hold the upper hand in time of possession battle this week, because San Francisco averages a time of 27:36 per game, ranking 31st in the NFL.
Moving to the road team, the 49ers have a record of 6-6 ATS and 4-8 SU. The 49ers went 2-3 SU and 3-2 ATS over the last five games. Taking away the running game shouldn’t be a difficult task for San Francisco. The Browns average the league’s worst yards per carry at 3.4. There is a possibility to see many yellow flags on the field when the Browns are playing. They are one of the most penalized teams in the NFL with 7.7 infractions per game.
Predictions: SU Winner – SF, ATS Winner – SF, O/U – Over
Notes
Cleveland is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Cleveland’s last 6 games.
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Cleveland’s last 12 games.
Cleveland is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games.
Cleveland is 0-4-1 ATS in its last 5 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Cleveland’s last 6 games at home.
San Francisco is 3-0 SU when leading at the half this season. Cleveland is 1-1 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Cleveland is winless (0-6 SU) in games where it wins the turnover battle, and 1-2 SU when losing the turnover battle.
According to overall NFL pass rankings, Cleveland is rated higher on both sides of the ball. Its 13th-ranked offensive passing game will face the 27th-ranked pass defense of San Francisco, while its 25th-ranked pass defense will look to limit the 30th-ranked aerial attack of the 49ers.
