Cleveland Browns vs Houston Texans Point Spread Picks

Cleveland is 7-1 straight up at home but 2-4 on the road. They've lost their last two road games at Denver (29-12) and the Rams (36-19). The Browns are 30th offensively on third down (31.02%) and they're down to 38-year-old backup QB Joe Flacco (7 TDs, 5 INTs). Four quarterbacks have combined for 16 TDs, 18 INTs, plus 40 sacks. Cleveland is 13-27 ATS after outgaining their opponent by 100+ total yards in the last game. Houston has won five of its seven home games and the offense is 10th in the NFL in total yards. With Cleveland 14-36 ATS against rush defenses that allow 3.5 yards carry, back the home dog. Play Houston. 

Deshaun Watson is set to make his first appearance for Cleveland and he hasn't played for nearly two years, but he's going up against his previous team, the Houston Texans, who are 1-9-1 and have one of the worst offenses in the league. The Texans have gone UNDER three straight after their 30-15 loss at Miami that stayed UNDER by three points and Houston is averaging just 15.8 points per game while allowing 23.6. The Browns score 23.9 points per game and allow 26.0 and they went UNDER last week even with the game going to overtime as they beat Tampa Bay 23-17. Houston is dead last in the NFL in total yards gained, #29 in rushing yards and #27 in passing yards. The Browns are 45-18-3 UNDER their past 66 December games and 7-2 UNDER overall their past nine games against teams with losing records. Play the UNDER.

Houston comes off a 27-25 win over Jacksonville, and even though the Texans are only 2-6, they have played one of the toughest schedules in the league, including against Kansas City, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh to start the season. Deshaun Watson had touchdown passes of 57 and 77 yards and finished with 281 yards against the Jaguars. Houston has won and covered the last five meetings with the Browns, who haven't beaten the Texans since 2007. Cleveland had a bye week after its dismal performance in a 16-6 home loss to Las Vegas. Baker Mayfield completed only 12 of 25 for 122 yards and no touchdowns and was victimized by several dropped passes. The Browns defense could not stop the run as the Raiders racked up 209 rushing yards on 4.6 yards per carry. Cleveland is 16-40-1 ATS its last 57 games after a loss and 6-19-1 ATS its last 26 November games. Also, the Browns are just 3-8 ATS their last 11 games overall, and they have gotten the money once in their last eight games versus AFC teams. Mayfield rejoined the team after clearing COVID protocol, but his inconsistency makes him vulnerable in this matchup. Take the Texans for a Max Play.

Cleveland appears to have finally turned the corner and already has won four more games than their 0-16 season of last year and the Browns are also 7-4 ATS. They come off two wins in a row following Sunday's 35-20 victory at Cincinnati that wasn't as close as the score indicated. Baker Mayfield threw a career-high four touchdown passes and the Browns broke their 25-game road losing streak. Now that they've rid themselves of that stigma, the Browns travel to Houston to face the red-hot Texans, who'll playing on a short week after beating Tennessee on Monday night. DeShaun Watson threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score and the Texans erased a 10-0 deficit to win 34-17. However, Cleveland apparently has responded well to interim coach Gregg Williams and the Texans are 0-7 ATS in their last seven December games. Also, Houston has covered just two of its last seven against teams with losing records and the Texans are 2-5 ATS their last seven home games going back to last season. The Browns have stayed UNDER 13 of their last 19 versus teams with winning records and the UNDER is 21-8 in Houston's last 29 December games and 10-4 UNDER their last 14 versus AFC teams. Take the Browns and UNDER.