Week 2 Browns vs. Bengals Odds

Week 2 of the 2020 NFL season kicks off with Thursday Night Football in Cleveland and BetRivers.com has a wide variety of Week 2 Browns vs. Bengals odds, lines, props, and live betting options to choose from.

Rob Dauster is here to break down the AFC North battle between former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks Joe Burrow and Baker Mayfield. BetRivers.com is currently offering a boosted bet of +100 for Joe Burrow to throw a passing TD, which was previously -230.

But before we get to the Week 2 Browns vs. Bengals odds, take a look at our Thursday BetRivers.com Specials:

  • Baker Mayfield Over 249.5 Pass Yds & Over 1.5 Pass TDs (+375)
  • Bengals Win & Over 44.5 pts (+600)

Week 2 Browns vs. Bengals Odds: Thursday Night Football

  • Week 2: 8:20 p.m. ET (NFLN/FOX)
  • Moneyline: Browns -250, Bengals +215
  • Spread: Browns -6 (-107), Bengals +6 (-107)
  • Over/Under: 43.5 points (-107/-107)
  • Implied Score: Browns 24.75, Bengals 18.75

I really like the Browns in this spot tonight for a couple of reasons. For starters, I love fading Week 2 overreactions. The Bengals looked better than we thought at home against a bad Chargers team while the Browns got smoked on the road by the Ravens, who may be the best team in the AFC (+250 to win AFC North/+500 to win AFC).

I don’t think the Browns are as bad as they looked on Sunday — although I will admit that, since they are the Browns, they just might be — and I’m definitely willing to test that theory on the Week 2 Browns vs. Bengals odds by betting against a rookie QB playing his second NFL game on a short week. 

But there’s more to it than that. The Browns were able to put pressure on Lamar Jackson when he dropped back to pass, and that is against a Ravens defensive line that is decidedly better than what the Bengals are going to roll out there. At the same time, Kevin Stefanski was brought in from the Vikings to build the Browns into an offense that relied on running the ball with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt and using that to set up play-action passes from Baker Mayfield to Odell Beckham. Establishing the run didn’t work against the Ravens on the road, picking up just six rushing first downs. If it’s going to work at any point during the season, it will be against the Bengals at home. 

And if Cleveland has a lead, it means that Myles Garrett (Over/Under 0.5 Sacks -167/+134) will be able to pin his ears back and put pressure on Joe Burrow. 

I also think that this game is going to trend towards the under because both offensive lines are banged up. That creates an opportunity to target some props. Burrow finished with just 193 yards passing in Week 1, and the line is currently sitting at 240.5 as we head into Week 2. At the same time, we can look at some rushing props as well. If we are expecting the Browns to establish the run, get out to a lead and force Cincinnati to pass, then taking Nick Chubb over 69.5 yards and Joe Mixon under 75.5 yards seems like it makes sense. Based on the juice, however, there may be more value on betting Nick Chubb to have more rushing yards than Mixon at (-106).