Browns Digest

Cleveland Browns Considered Slight Favorite In Season Opener With Cowboys

The Browns kickoff the 2024 season with a 4:25 kickoff against America's Team

Spencer German

Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons (11) celebrates his sack against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Set. 24, 2023.
Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons (11) celebrates his sack against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Set. 24, 2023. / Joe Rondone / The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY NETWORK
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It's not everyday that an NFL team gets to open up their season against the Dallas Cowboys, at home with Tom Brady making his broadcasting debut. That's the unique scenario the Cleveland Browns will experience on Sunday when they kickoff the 2024 season at home with 4:25 p.m. game at the newly named Huntington Bank Field.

Week 1 can always be a bit flukey though, as teams often get off to slower starts as they get re-acclimated to live football. In many cases offenses are still figuring out what they do well. Defenses only have last year's tape to utilize in trying to map out a gameplan.

With that in mind, the Fanduel Sportsbook is rewarding the Browns as the home team in this weekend's season opener, listing Cleveland as -2.5 point favorites against Dallas. Other figures via Fanduel show the Browns as -144 if bettors play the moneyline. The o/u for the game is 41.5.

The Cowboys being involved in any matchup will always bring a little more notoriety to a game given their status as "America's Team." This inter-conference matchup comes with plenty of extra juice considering both Cleveland and Dallas were playoff teams from a season ago, and both come armed with two of the best defensive players in football with Myles Garrett and Micah Parsons.

There are still plenty of unknowns though entering this Week 1 showdown. Plenty of uncertainty exists around Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson and whether or not he'll ever return to being the player he was early on in his career with the Houston Texans. Watson has slowly worked his way back from a fractured glenoid in his throwing shoulder and also historically starts seasons a little bit slower.

Meanwhile, Dallas spent the entirety of training camp without their top weapon on offense in CeeDee Lamb, who held out for a contract extension. While a new deal was consummated between the two sides last week, the team's head coach Mike McCarthy revealed that Lamb will be on a "pitch count," as he continues a delayed ramp up to the season.

All those things matter when it comes to betting this matchup. For now, at least, the powers that be are giving Cleveland a slight edge to start their 2024 season 1-0.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

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Spencer German

SPENCER GERMAN

Spencer German is a contributor to the Northeast Ohio cluster of sites, including Cavs Insider, Cleveland Baseball Insider and most notably Browns Digest. He also works as a fill-in host on Cleveland Sports Radio, 92.3 The Fan, one of the Browns radio affiliate stations in Cleveland. Despite being a Cleveland transplant, Spencer has enjoyed making Northeast Ohio home ever since he attended college locally at John Carroll University, where he graduated in 2013.

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