Cleveland at New England

New England is coming off an emotionally draining game against division rival Miami. Both teams in this game need a victory to stay in the hunt for the division lead and I like the team off a loss versus the team off the win. Cleveland brings the league’s best pass defense and sixth best overall defense into this game against a mediocre Patriots offense (ranked 22nd) that needed a blocked kick to win last week. New England’s defense is also average at best (ranked 21st). New England is riddled with key injuries (LB Ted Johnson and DT Ted Washington are out and eleven other key players are listed as questionable). Even without these injuries, my Matchup Power Ratings indicate that this spread should be under a field goal. With these problems and the draining game last week, I like the Browns to cover and potentially win.