Cleveland Browns vs Seattle Seahawks Odds
The Cleveland Browns will once again be missing star quarterback Deshaun Watson when they visit the surging Seattle Seahawks on Sunday afternoon in NFL Week 8 betting action at Lumen Field.
Watson made a brief appearance in last week’s entertaining 39-38 win over Indianapolis after missing the previous two contests but was forced to leave the game, and has since been ruled out of Sunday’s contest with a shoulder injury.
The Seahawks are coming off a 20-10 victory over the visiting Arizona Cardinals to improve to 4-1 SU in their past five contests, with three of those victories coming by double-digit margins.
Latest Betting Notes: Cleveland Browns
Deshaun Watson’s ongoing struggle with injuries is quickly emerging as an unwanted distraction in Cleveland. Despite clearing concussion protocol, the Browns declined to put Watson back into last week’s clash with the Colts.
Instead, they once again turned to journeyman PJ Walker, who has now led them to consecutive wins despite completing just 50% of pass attempts for no scores and three picks.
The Browns’ two recent wins have come by a combined margin of just three points, extending the team’s middling 5-6 ATS run that has not featured consecutive victories. With the browns backfield also stricken by injury, this team faces and enormous challenge to turn things around on the road, where they have failed to tally consecutive wins in almost three years, and gone winless ATS in their past three.
Latest Betting Notes: Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks quietly kept pace with the NFC West-leading San Francisco 49ers with last week’s victory over Arizona. Now just one game back of the Niners, the Seahawks have leveraged a sturdy defense in their past three outings after scoring 37 points in each of their first two wins of the season.
Seattle has surrendered just 10 points per game in its past three outings, spawning a 3-0 run for the UNDER, and have given up just 17.8 points per game while going 4-1 SU in five home dates. That stingy trend extends to the squad’s track record against the Browns on home turf. The Seahawks have won outright in eight of 11 all-time head-to-head home dates, and have surrendered just 9.2 points per game over their past six home clashes with the Browns.
The Keys to Victory: Browns
With Watson now confirmed out, PJ Walker will enjoy another opportunity to prove he is capable of leading an NFL offense. Yes, Walker has been under center for the team’s two recent wins. However, the argument can be made that the Browns won despite Walker, not because of him.
His inability to consistently find receivers after halftime in the team’s eventual 19-17 win over the Niners was negated by questionable officiating. And his 0-for-5 passing in the Indy red zone and meager 46.9% completion rate do little to inspire confidence. Completing matters are the injuries plaguing the Browns backfield.
Already missing Nick Chubb, the Browns are now dealing with injuries to both Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt, who recorded three scoring runs last weekend.
The Keys to Victory: Seahawks
With DK Metcalf on the shelf, the Seahawks handed added responsibility to a pair of rookie receivers last weekend, and the duo of Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Jake Bob answered the call by racking up 124 combined receiving yards and one scoring catch each.
While Metcalf could return this weekend, the emergence of the rookie receivers provides quarterback Geno Smith with some much-needed options. Smith has struggled over the past two weeks. The veteran failed to find the end zone in the team’s 17-13 loss in Cincinnati and has tossed three picks over the past two games.
However, he has enjoyed the benefit of Kenneth Walker III’s steady performance in the backfield. Walker ran for a season-high 105 yards last week after reaching the end zone in each of the previous four games.
