The sports  betting world can already see the results starting to happen in Cleveland. The Browns are  0-3 this season, but the team looked good in the week three 24-17 loss to the  Baltimore Ravens. Little sparks of light such as the relentless running of  Peyton Hillis who racked up 144 hard-fought yards on 22 carries against a very  good Baltimore Ravens run defense. 
The Cincinnati Bengals are making a mess of  the NFL betting  lines this season. When wide receiver Terrell Owens was signed to the  Bengals, his receiving counterpart Chad Ochocinco all but guaranteed a Super  Bowl berth for Cincinnati. Football betting experts usually do not put a lot of stock in what Ochocinco says, but the  Bengals are an improved team over last season and they should be challenging  for the AFC North title this season.
The problem with the Bengals is that they  are inconsistent . . . again. After getting schooled in week one by the New  England Patriots, the Bengals have gone on to beat the Baltimore Ravens and the  Carolina Panthers. But even as badly as the Panthers played in week three, the  Bengals could not put the game away until late in the fourth quarter. Cincinnati needs to pick  up the pace on offense if Ochocinco’s prediction has any chance of ever coming  true.
This week’s NFL pick for the Bengals will be a win over  the Cleveland Browns, but it will not be easy and it will not be a guarantee.  If the Browns get that offense of theirs rolling by the second quarter, then Cincinnati’s inability to  put anyone away this season could come back to haunt the Bengals. The Bengals  need to put the hammer down early in this game, and get the Browns down by a  couple of touchdowns by the second quarter.
The Browns and their fans can see the improvement  already. However the one area that is obviously lacking in Cleveland is at quarterback. The prevailing  theory is that Colt McCoy is being groomed to be the starter in Cleveland, but Mike  Holgren does not rush quarterbacks. The one thing Cleveland fans will have to learn is  patience. Mike Holgren will deliver a winner to Cleveland, it will just take a couple of  years to get there. When Holgren got to Seattle  not many people thought that Matt Hasselbeck was a starting quarterback in the  NFL. By the time Holgren was done with Seattle,  Hasselbeck was a Super Bowl quarterback and one of the best quarterbacks to  play for the Seahawks.
The Browns will be game in this contest,  and it will take everything the Bengals offense has to pull this game out. The Cincinnati offense line  is still suspect, and the running game is struggling to support the passing  game. The Bengals should have just enough to get past the Browns this week, but  look for the Browns to slowly remove that label of NFL doormat as Cleveland moves towards  respectability in the NFL.
Pick:  Cincinnati Bengals 16-14