Cleveland Browns vs Jacksonville Jaguars

Jacksonville blew a 14-0 and a 17-7 lead and lost to Miami 20-17 when Jason Sanders kicked a 52-yard field goal as time expired for the Dolphins. The Jaguars were outgained 400-267, and Trevor Lawrence had no TD passes while finishing 12 of 21 for 162 yards. Deshaun Watson had a lousy week on and off the field, but he has a great history playing against the Jaguars. Watson won his last six matchups with Jacksonville when he played for Houston, completing 65 percent of his passes for 1,373 yards. Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski still has confidence in Watson, although the Browns have an experienced backup, Jameis Winston, should the league decide on a suspension. The Browns faced one of the top defensive units in the NFL last week against Dallas and Jacksonville allowed 319 passing yards against the Dolphins. Cleveland has won 10 of 11 games against the AFC South and the Jaguars are just 2-5 ATS their past seven games while losing six of them outright. Jacksonville has lost five straight against AFC opponents. Cleveland still has one of the top defenses in the league and it was outgained only 265-230 against the Cowboys. Take the Browns as my Game of the Year.

Trevor Lawrence's injury isn't as bad as originally thought and there is a chance he could play in this game. C.J. Beathard finished the game on Monday night and completed nine of ten passes for 63 yards and third-string Nathan Rourke will likely be activated. Rourke completed 65.7 percent of his passes for 348 yards and a TD in preseason with no interceptions. Cleveland also is without its starting quarterback, Deshaun Watson, and Joe Flacco is expected to start again for the Browns after going 23 of 44 for 254 yards and two TDs, but with a costly interception as the Browns lost 36-19 to the Rams on Sunday and the game went OVER by 15.5 points. Cleveland has now gone OVER five of seven games and this game has another low posted total. Jacksonville has won seven of its past nine games and its game with Cincinnati sailed OVER by 24 points even with backup quarterbacks on both sides playing some or all of the game. The Jaguars are 5-0-1 ATS on the road versus teams with winning home records and 10-1-1 ATS overall against winning teams. Also, the Jags are 9-1-1 ATS their past 11 road contests and they are 8-0 OVER after totaling fewer than 90 yards rushing their previous game. Take the Jaguars as a Max Play and the OVER.

Cleveland will get its first look at Deshaun Watson, who is eligible to play in the preseason, and the Browns plan to play more of their starters for at least a few series in their preseason opener. Jacoby Brissett will be the starter during Watson's suspension, and he is in his seventh season. He played in 11 games with the Dolphins in 2021 and threw for 1,283 yards. He started all 16 games for Indianapolis in 2017. Joshua Dobbs is the No. 3 QB, and he has played in six games in his career. Jacksonville coach Doug Pederson, who is 8-9 both straight up and ATS in the preseason, will play Trevor Lawrence for perhaps two possessions before turning it over to CJ Beathard, who didn't play in the Hall of Fame game, which the Jaguars lost 27-11 to the Raiders. Beathard was recovering from a groin injury, but he is expected to play in this game. Beathard has played four seasons in the NFL, but got into only two games in 2021 and completed two passes for 33 yards. Jake Luton is the other backup, and he went 10 of 17 for 94 yards last week against the Raiders. Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski won all three games in his preseason debut with a 2-1 ATS record, including a 23-13 win and cover against the Jaguars. Also, all three games went UNDER, and Pederson was 10-5-1 UNDER in the preseason when he coached at Philadelphia. In fact, the Browns are 19-3-1 UNDER in their past 23 preseason games. Take the Browns and the UNDER.

The Urban Meyer era begins in Jacksonville with the No. 1 draft pick, Trevor Lawrence, who is touted as the best prospect since Andrew Luck. The Jaguars had an excellent draft, also getting RB Travis Etienne and several key defensive players in the later rounds, in addition to some free-agent signings. Jacksonville owner Shad Khan has made it a point that the Jags are not rebuilding and want to win now, and that kind of motivation is important in preseason games. The Jaguars have plenty of experience in their backup QBs with Gardner Minshew, CJ Beathard, and Jake Luton, all of whom have started regular-season games. Minshew is the former starter and could be traded to a team like the Colts, who lost Carson Wentz to injury. Beathard currently is on the COVID-19 list, but he has played in 19 games while completing 58.6% of his passes in his NFL career. Luton has been activated from the COVID-19 list and he played in three games in 2020, completing 60 of 110 for 624 yards. Cleveland made the playoffs last year for the first time since 2002, and Baker Mayfield's backups will be veteran Case Keenum and Kyle Lauletta, who played two games for the New York Giants in 2018 and was 0-for-5 passing. This will be coach Kevin Stefanski's first preseason for the Browns, who signed DE Jadeveon Clowney to team with Myles Garrett on the defensive line. Play the Jaguars and the UNDER.

Cleveland has feasted on the bad opposition this season, and the Browns got another chance for a win as they travel to play the 1-9 Jaguars, who are essentially tanking this year. The Browns have allowed a total of only 40 points the last three games, including Sunday's 22-17 victory over Philadelphia. Baker Mayfield has been just good enough to keep his team in the game while letting the defense do the rest. Nick Chubb rushed for 114 yards on 20 carries in driving rain. Jacksonville has lost nine in a row after a 27-3 defeat against Pittsburgh last week. The Jags are #27 in total yards per game and #30 in yards allowed. Backup quarterback Jake Luton went 16 of 37 for 151 yards and four interceptions. That doesn't bode well against a Cleveland defense that has been playing great lately even without Myles Garrett. Also, for the first time in several years, the Browns are in playoff contention giving them a huge motivational edge in this matchup. Play the Browns on the moneyline.