Jeff Fisher is a fine coach and the Rams had a good offseason. They haven't had a great preseason yet, but St. Louis is 6-0 against the spread in week three of the preseason. There is plenty to prove for this game after losing to Green Bay 21-7 last week. They have a new defensive coordinator in Greg Williams and both he and Fisher preach physicality on both lines. The Rams have a good QB rotation with Sam Bradford, mobile Austin Davis and veteran Shaun Hill. And they are getting healthy, getting defensive tackle Michael Brockers, right guard Rodger Saffold, middle linebacker James Laurinaitis and defensive end William Hayes back at practice this week. All the talk in Cleveland is on the QB battle, but Johnny Manziel doesn't look like an NFL starter right now and Brian Hoyer has been awful. Remember, Hoyer (a career backup) was impressive as a starter last year but it was only three games before he got hurt. The offense scored 12 points in the opener and had 17 before a Hail Mary TD at the buzzer Monday. It's a short week for the Browns, having played on Monday night, and neither Hoyer nor Manziel has looked good against starting defenses. Take the points on the Rams.
This pick was released to clients on August 20, 2014 at 8:09PM ET.
NFL
St. Louis at Cleveland
August 23, 2014
8:00 PM Eastern
1 unit on St. Louis +3 (-125) (risk 1 to return 1.8)
Result:
WIN
WIN
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