Three Cleveland Browns vs. Steelers Prop Bets

The Cleveland Browns will play one of their biggest games of each season this week when they take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in an AFC North rivalry game. Cleveland is favored heading into this matchup on their home field, as they look to back up their performance against the Steelers in the Wild Card round last season. And there are several prop bets worth taking a look at for this game for bettors who want to go deeper than the point spread and total.

Browns Under 2.5 Team Touchdowns (-110)

While the Browns are favored to beat the Steelers, this could be a lower scoring game than anticipated. Unlike last season’s high-scoring game in the Wild Card round, both the Steelers and Browns have top-tier defenses heading into this matchup. In that vein, the Browns could very well be held to under 2.5 touchdowns even if they do manage to come up with a victory against Pittsburgh.

This season, the Steelers have allowed the second-fewest points in the AFC North, with only the Bengals allowing fewer points than Pittsburgh so far. Combine that with multiple injuries to the Cleveland offense, including a questionable Baker Mayfield, and the Steelers should be able to keep the Browns’ offense in check even if Cleveland returns the favor when Pittsburgh has the ball.

Steelers To Score Longest Touchdown (+125)

The injuries that are plaguing the Cleveland offense should also have an impact on how many big plays the Browns can string together in this matchup. In addition to Mayfield being questionable, multiple offensive linemen, the team’s top two running backs, and Odell Beckham are on the injury report this week. For that reason, the Steelers should be able to score the longest touchdown on the day in this game.

Pittsburgh, for better or worse, regularly throws the ball down the field to targets like Diontae Johnson. Cleveland’s offensive attack is predicated more around running the ball, with deep passes more likely to connect than the kind of long runs that Cleveland could need to win this prop. At plus money, there is decent value on the Steelers to win in this market.

Lowest Scoring Quarter: First Quarter (+220)

In general, the first quarter of games has the potential to be the lowest scoring in the NFL. In the first quarter, there is often a feeling-out process between both teams, as each offense looks to assess what the defense is doing and how they can attack it. Because of that, taking the first quarter to be the lowest-scoring quarter of this contest could be a strong value play at better than 2/1 odds.

Along with the general notion that first quarters have the potential to be low scoring, bettors must also consider the Browns’ quarterback situation. If Baker Mayfield is deemed healthy enough to start, the Browns will need to deal with him reacclimating to live game action after missing last week’s contest. And if he is unable to go, the Browns will once again be relegated to Case Keenum, which would not bode well for early scoring either.