The Pittsburgh Steelers are favored over the Cleveland Browns ahead of their Week 6 matchup. Despite Cleveland entering the matchup at 1-4, the Steelers are only 4.5-point favorites on most sportsbooks, per VSiN.
Cleveland enters the matchup at Acrisure Stadium after a close 21-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London. The Browns will have to get back and adjust after the time change, but they didn’t look bad against Minnesota. It was the first start for QB Dillon Gabriel, and the rookie third-round pick went 19-33 for 190 yards and two touchdowns.
The Browns’ defense has been a bright spot for most of this season as well, but they allowed a late touchdown drive by Minnesota, with QB Carson Wentz finding WR Jordan Addison to take the loss. But it’s a unit that’s better than their record would suggest. The team has also gotten positive contributions from rookie RB Quinshon Judkins in recent weeks. Judkins ran 23 times for 110 yards in the loss against the Vikings, bringing his total on the season up to 347 yards.
The Steelers will be looking for their third-straight win, and they should be well-rested coming out of their bye week. It’s the first divisional game of the year for the Steelers, who got a lot of help in their quest to win the AFC North with the rest of the division going 0-3 on their bye. Beating the Browns will give the Steelers a divisional win and move them to 4-1 on the season.
It’s the first of two divisional matchups for the Steelers, as they’ll face the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football in Week 7.
Given the strength of Cleveland’s defense and Pittsburgh’s offense having an up-and-down start to the season, it’s not a huge surprise that the line isn’t higher. The Steelers are still fairly considerable favorites, but even at 3-1 and Cleveland at 1-4, oddsmakers expect the game to be fairly close. The divisional game component certainly plays a factor, and the Browns were able to upset the Steelers last year, although that was a home game for Cleveland.
Some books, like Wynn and Stations, have the Steelers as five-point favorites, but the majority of books, including DraftKings, have the Steelers at 4.5-point favorites. We’ll see if the Steelers can win and cover in their first game post-bye in an important divisional game.
