The Arizona Cardinals won the pool for the last remaining undefeated team in the NFL this sea-son and now shoot for a 6-0 start when they visit Cleveland for a very interesting inter-conference bout with the Browns Sunday afternoon. This is also the second match-up of two recent Heisman winners, former Oklahoma quarterback-mates Mayfield and Murray; Murray and his Cardinals won the first match-up two seasons ago.
Cleveland is favored by three and a hook here, despite a bunch of injuries. How are we playing this game with our free Week 6 NFL pick?
NFL Betting Lines
The Week 6 NFL betting odds opened the Browns as a three-point favorite over the Cardinals, with an over/under of right around 53.5. Early betting action then added a hook to that line and dropped that total four points to 49.5.
Cardinals Betting Preview
Arizona is a perfect 5-0 on the season after defeating San Francisco last week 17-10. The Cardi-nals turned an early gift takeaway into a touchdown and led 10-0 at the half. Arizona then al-lowed the 49ers to get within 10-7 late in the third quarter but tacked on an insurance score with five minutes left and hung on from there for the victory and the cover as a six-point favorite. The Cardinals got out-gained by San Francisco 338-304 and out-rushed 152-94 but stopped the Niners four times on fourth-downs, including on the key play of the game in the second quarter at the Arizona 1-yard line. Two weeks ago, the Cardinals beat the rival Rams in Los Angeles 37-20, so last week’s perfor-mance impresses us in that they didn’t suffer a letdown following a big game, which to us is a good sign of team maturity. At 5-0, Arizona leads the NFC West by a game and a tie-breaker over the 4-1 Rams.
Browns Betting Preview
Cleveland, meanwhile, is 3-2 on the season after losing at San Diego (yeah, we know) last week 47-42. The Browns trailed that game 13-10 late into the second quarter, then scored twice in the last minute to lead 20-13 into the half. Cleveland then scored the first seven points out of the locker room and later led 42-35 with four minutes left but gave up two scores in a minute and a half to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The Browns also came up empty ATS as dogs of 2.5 points. Cleveland piled up 531 yards of offense last week but gave up 493, a bunch on several Chargers’ big plays. The Browns also ran the ball for 230 yards and won the time of possession 36:24 split. Unfortunately, their injury-depleted defense couldn’t stop San Diego in the fourth quarter. Two weeks ago, Cleveland won at Minnesota 14-7; three weeks ago, the Browns beat Chicago 26-6; four weeks ago, they beat Houston 31-21. So the Browns are 3-0 when favored this season, 0-2 when dogged. At 3-2 overall, Cleveland trails first-place Baltimore by one game in the tough AFC North.
More Week 6 Picks: Vikings vs. Panthers Prediction
Cardinals-Browns History
These teams used to meet all the time as NFL rivals from 1950-69 but not so much anymore. Most recently, two seasons ago, Arizona beat Cleveland 38-24 in the first match-up of former Oklahoma Heisman quarterbacks Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield.
- Get more details: Arizona at Cleveland 10/17/21 Match-up Stats
NFL Betting Trends
- Home teams are just 37-42 SU, 34-45 ATS in the NFL this season.
- Favorites are 49-32 SU but only 35-46 ATS in the NFL this season.
- Arizona is 10-9 SU, 12-5-2 ATS on the road over the last two-plus seasons.
- Cleveland is 12-6 SU but only 7-10-1 ATS at home over the last two-plus seasons.
Totals Report
Unders are 3-2 in Cardinals games this season, which are averaging 50 total points. Overs are 3-2 in Browns games this season, which are averaging 51 points. Unders are 44-37 in the NFL this season.
