The Cleveland Browns could not have picked a worse time to go to New Orleans and play the defending Super Bowl champion Saints. Well, the betting world knows that the Browns did not choose this game, it was put on the schedule by the league. But he NFL betting experts foresee doom for the Cleveland Browns in this game, and there is very little reason to expect otherwise.
Last year the Cleveland Browns were the trendy pick to make the playoffs. They had two fairly well-known quarterbacks in Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson, and it just looked like Eric Mangini may give the Browns the direction they needed. Mangini wound up turning the Browns into a bad circus, and the team fell off the cliff finishing 5-11.
As the NFL scores keep rolling in for the 2010 season, Browns fans will need to be patient. New team president Mike Holgren is never afraid to admit when his teams are rebuilding and the Cleveland Browns are rebuilding. The 2010 season could be worse than the 2009 season, but Holgren will deliver a winner in Cleveland in the next few years. Along the way, Cleveland fans will have to endure some pretty depressing beatings.
One of those depressing beatings for the Cleveland Browns will come in week seven against the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints. The optimistic fan can say that Cleveland has a chance to hold its own in this game, but in their week six thrashing of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the Saints found their offense. That is not a good thing for the Cleveland Browns.
Saints quarterback Drew Brees found that touch he is famous for and threw for 263 yards and three touchdowns in week six against a good Tampa Bay defense. On the ground, with Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas injured, the Saints went to rookie Chris Ivory who ran for 158 yards. Ivory did not score a touchdown but, then again, he didn’t need to.
The Browns are in the bottom half of the league in all defensive categories. The NFL predictions prior to the season had the Browns with a less than adequate defense, and so far the Browns are living up to that expectation. But Cleveland fans need to relax. Mike Holgren is an offensive expert, so he is going to focus on the offense first. For Holgren, a good offense starts with the quarterback.
Cleveland rookie quarterback Colt McCoy actually had a good Northbet game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in his pro debut last week. He threw for 281 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Considering the fact that he was facing one of the best defenses in football, the kid held up okay. It looks like the Browns may have found their quarterback of the future in McCoy.
In this game, McCoy will not get much of a chance to play as Brees and the Saints offense will spend the majority of the game on the field. It is doubtful that the Browns will cover the points in this game, but it is also expected that McCoy will show more steps toward his development as a future NFL star.
Pick: New Orleans Saints 35-10
