The Cleveland Browns face the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, August 29th at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for a Week 3 NFL Preseason matchup.
The Cleveland Browns are 2-0 so far this preseason after beating the Jacksonville Jaguars and the New York Giants. The Browns will now be playing in their second road contest of the preseason against these Falcons, as they look to end the preseason with a perfect record. It looks like the Browns' starters are going to play in the first half of this game, something we have not seen from Cleveland so far. The Browns have played quarterbacks Kyle Lauletta and Case Keenum throughout the preseason, but Baker Mayfield will now get to take some snaps at QB before the regular season begins. The Browns' defense has had a great preseason so far, only allowing a combined 26 points to their opposition in the first two games.
The Atlanta Falcons are winless so far in the preseason as they took losses to the Tennessee Titans and the Miami Dolphins. Neither of those two games were close, as the Falcons lost both games by 20 points. Atlanta has to be concerned about its defense, as 60-points allowed combined in the first two games is not what you want to see. This is a Falcons team that lost Keanu Neal to the Dallas Cowboys after former head coach Dan Quinn was hired by Dallas as its defensive coordinator. The Falcons will also be playing their starters in this game, more than likely for a few series in the first half. The backups on offense for the Falcons have struggled, especially at the quarterback position. Feleipe Franks and AJ McCarron combined for 7/15 passing with 66 yards and an interception last week, which is abysmal, to say the least. The Falcons' offense will look to sharpen up before the regular season.
The Browns are 6-point favorites and the total is set at 36. I am going to take the Browns here and lay the points. I do not love laying a touchdown on the road in a preseason game, but the Browns have been the much better team and I trust their starters a lot more in this spot. When the backups enter the game, I think Cleveland holds the advantage as well.
AUTHOR: Ron Romanelli
Follow Ron Romanelli on Twitter @RonnieRomanelli