By Ian S. Palmer
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The Arizona Cardinals take a trip east this Sunday, November 1 to take on the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. Arizona beat the Baltimore Ravens 26-18 at home in a thriller on Monday night and now have a 1.5-game lead in the NFC West with their 5-2 record. Meanwhile, the struggling Browns were taken down 24-6 by the St. Louis Rams on Sunday. Cleveland now sits in third place in the NFC North with their mark of 2-5.
Cardinals vs Browns – Pinnacle NFL Betting Line
- Pinnacle currently lists the Cardinals at -4.5 (2.000) with the Browns +4.5 (1.909) with the over at 46 points (1.961), under 46 (1.943)
The Cardinals bounced back with a big win over Baltimore in week seven after being humbled 25=13 by the Pittsburgh Steelers in their previous outing. Even with the win though, the Cardinals record on Monday nights certainly isn’t anything to write home about since it now stands at 3-8. Chris Johnson led the way against the Ravens as he ran for 122 yards on 18 carries and scored a touchdown. It was the third time Johnson has cracked the 100-yard barrier this season. Edgerrin James was the last Cardinals player to achieve that feat back in 2007.
Arizona has a great chance to beat the Browns if they can continue to play well defensively. They held Baltimore to 276 yards last week and they have the sixth-best defense in the league by conceding a total of 328.7 yards per outing on average. Quarterback Carson Palmer had another big game by going 20 for 29 in passing for a pair of touchdowns and 275 yards. He’ll be facing a weak Browns’ defense which allows a fifth-worst 393.1 yards against per game this year. Arizona is 2-1 both against the spread and straight up on their travels so far this campaign.
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The Browns have now lost two in a row as they couldn’t handle first-year running back Todd Gurley of the Rams last week. Gurley scored a pair of touchdowns and ran for 128 yards in the game. However, it wasn’t a surprise to most Browns’ fans since the team allows own the NFL’s worst rush defense this season as they allow 151 yards against per contest. They’ve now allowed eight touchdowns against on the ground this year.
Cleveland also had problems offensively last week as they were charged with four fumbles. The first three turnovers resulted in 17 points by the Rams. They need to be aware that the Cardinals’ defense has 11 interceptions this season which leads the league. Cleveland has now been hit with 13 fumbles this year in their seven games. Head coach Mike Pettine may be without quarterback Josh McCown due to an injured right shoulder. But he’ll start if he’s healthy enough. McCown had a tough time last week as he was sacked four times.
If McCown can’t play, then fans should expect to see Johnny Manziel receive his second starting assignment on Sunday. He played well in his last game against the Tennessee titans when he went 8 for 15 and gained 172 yards in the air to go along with two touchdown passes in Cleveland’s 28-14 victory. If Manziel starts, he’ll likely be passing to Travis Benjamin as the two work well together. Benjamin has scored three touchdowns and caught seven of nine passes for 213 yards when teaming up with Manziel this year. The Cardinal’s secondary will be tough to crack as it allows only 224.2 yards against per game, which is the seventh-lowest in the league. Cleveland is 1-1-1 against the spread at home this campaign and 1-2 straight up.
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