Las Vegas doesn't think too much of the Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers this season.
According to an ESPN.com, which generated odds for every NFL game via CG Technology in Weeks 1 through 16 this season, the Browns and 49ers are not favored right now in any of them.
Not one.
(Why no Week 17 odds? Well, as ESPN notes, the "high variance" of those games "caused by potential playoff seeding, QBs sitting out the final week or playing partial games" certainly would have a dramatic effect. So you can't bet on them.)
Now, this doesn't mean Vegas/CG believes these teams both will go 0-15 heading into the final week of the season. It merely means that the lines are set to get as equal amount of the betting public's money on each side of the ledger. But it certainly means there isn't a lot of respect for the teams that Hue Jackson and Chip Kelly are taking over.
The Browns are touchdown underdogs (or more) in three of the first four games. In fact, they only have one game in which they'll be less than field-goal dogs — at home vs. the San Diego Chargers in Week 16. In case you're asking, "Ah, but what about that Week 17 game?!" Um, no. It's at the Pittsburgh Steelers. Not without one of those Roethlisberger-sitting-out-the-final-week deals, anyway.
The 49ers earn a tiny bit more respect. Barely. They have pick-ems against two NFC South teams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints, when they come to the Bay Area around midseason. They're also even with the New York Jets in Week 14.
But the 49ers also are dogs to the Los Angeles Rams (twice!) and double-digit dogs in three matchups. Even the Buffalo Bills, who have had a tough little stretch here of late, are touchdown faves. Wasn't it just yesterday Jim Harbaugh had this team 5 yards from a Super Bowl?
Perhaps we are underestimating these two teams. If you think so, try to get your money down now. But that would mean you're betting on the likes of Blaine Gabbert, Colin Kaepernick, Josh McCown, Robert Griffin III, Cody Kessler — or some combination of them — doing well. Hey, it's your money.
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