Of all the games happening in Week Three of the NFL season, this certainly is one of them. The winless Cleveland Browns (0-2) travel to Indiana to face the equally winless Indianapolis Colts (0-2). This game is happening whether we want it to or not.
If you’re looking to make penance for something awful you did this week and don’t want to go to confession, you can tune into this game on your local CBS station at 1 p.m.
The Game: Cleveland Browns at Indianapolis Colts (+1.5)
O/U: 42.5
The History
For a couple of teams that have been playing since 1947, they’ve only matched up 33 times. The Browns have a 17-16 advantage. Both teams were originally part of the now defunct All American Football Conference that lasted from 1946-1949. Of the eight teams that made up the AAFC, only the Colts, the Browns and the San Francisco 49ers were invited to join the NFL.
For a decade these were two of the best teams in the NFL. That decade just happened to be the 1960s. The Browns and then Baltimore Colts met in the NFL Championship game twice with each team winning once. The Browns won the first NFL title game 27-0 on December, 27, 1964. The next time they met up, it was the Colts who took home the hardware, beating Cleveland 34-0. Since it was after the NFL-AFL merger, the Colts earned the shot to go to Super Bowl III where they were upset, 16-7, by Joe Namath and the New York Jets.
The Browns and Colts have met in the playoffs two times since then, with the Colts winning 20-3 on December, 26, 1971 and the Indianapolis version of the Colts winning 38-21 on January, 9, 1988.
Cleveland’s longest streak in the series hit seven games. In fact, they were the first seven games the teams played, bridging the AAFC days from 1947 to 1949 and lasting until their first match up as NFL franchises in September, 1950.
CLEVELAND BROWNS (0-2)
It looks like the Browns will once again be without the services of No. 1 draft pick Myles Garrett. He didn’t practice all week and is officially listed as doubtful on their injury report. Sammie Coates also probably won’t play and star linebacker Jamie Collins definitely won’t suit up and is still in the concussion protocol.
The good news (?) is that rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer is healthy and will start and attempt to bounce back from his four turnover performance against the Baltimore Ravens last week. In Kizer’s defense, only three of those turnovers were interceptions, so he’s got that going for him.
Against Baltimore, the Browns managed only 93 rushing yards as a team and 26 of those came from Kizer scrambles, and if you really want to get specific, 13 of them came on a single scramble. Kizer will have a healthy Kenny Britt to overthrow as well as Rishard Higgins, who caught seven passes for 95 yards last week.
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (0-2)
Before the Colts get cocky, they’ve looked like refried shit all season. Chuck Pagano is bucking to be the first head coach fired and Andrew Luck is nowhere in sight. Jacoby Brissett will get his second start of the year in his third week with the team. Last week he was 20 of 37 for 216 yards and a game destroying interception in overtime that gave the game to the Arizona Cardinals.
The Colts did actually move the ball some with Brissett at quarterback and he sent eight passes Jack Doyle’s way. I expect more of the same in this game. Frank Gore, in what is likely his farewell tour, carried the ball 14 times for 46 yards and a touchdown. They’ll need a lot more from him Sunday.
Against Carson Palmer, the Colts managed four sacks and, if anything, Kizer is even more sackable.
The Pick
I’ve gone back and forth on this one and up until I talked myself out of it by writing this very preview, I was rolling with Cleveland. But, no. The Browns are just too banged up on defense to catch a scrambling Brissett and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams loves to blitz bad quarterbacks to give them easy first read passing options. He sucks. Colts 13, Browns 9
This week
Straight up: 1-0
Against the spread: 0-1
Last week
Straight up: 11-5
Against the spread: 8-8
Season
Straight up: 22-10
Against the spread: 16-16
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