Tonight’s preseason game places the spotlight on the Cleveland Browns being hosted by the Philadelphia Eagles in a matchup of former Heisman candidates at quarterback and young, promising head coaches wearing the headsets. The defending NFC champions are four-point favorites with a total of 37.5 for the first matchup of the preseason's second week.
The Eagles nearly became the first team to defeat the Baltimore Ravens in the preseason in seven years but couldn’t convert a late two-point conversion following Eli Ricks’ pick six and then turned the ball over on downs when Ian Book couldn’t maneuver the team out of Ravens’ territory on their final possession.
Cleveland has split their first two games during this exhibition period in which they’ve handed the reins primarily to Kellen Mond and Dorian Thompson-Robinson. This matchup tonight will feature multiple dual-threat quarterbacks on both teams and could provide some much-needed fireworks ahead of the September 7 regular-season opener between Kansas City and Detroit.
We’ve prepped a best bet card for player props in tonight’s game that is presented next.
Trey Sermon OVER 35.5 Rushing + Receiving Yards
Sermon is trying to earn a contributing roster spot in Philadelphia after being claimed on waivers before the 2022 season kickoff. The former Buckeye and Sooner appeared in just two games and saw as many carries for the eventual Super Bowl runner-up.
He’s fourth on the unofficial depth chart that the team released before their first preseason action about a week ago and, if healthy, should make the roster despite a crowded, talented position group.
Sermon tied former NFC West foe Rashaad Penny for the team lead with nine carries in the Eagles’ one-point loss at Baltimore last week, and our theory is that Nick Sirianni and company are interested in seeing how durable Sermon is while they still have the chance to save some money if his production doesn’t meet expectations.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson UNDER 106.5 Passing Yards
DTR shone in the Browns’ second preseason game against Washington, completing nine of ten passes for 102 yards and a touchdown after leading the team out of the halftime tunnel.
Thompson-Robinson orchestrated two drives into scoring territory, one that ended with a missed Cade York field goal and another that resulted in the team’s first touchdown pass.
Washington was stingy against the pass in 2022, ranking fourth in the NFL in fewest pass yards allowed. Philadelphia was tops in the NFL in that category and was the only team that gave up fewer than five net yards per attempt.
We expect DTR won’t be as effective in this matchup as he was a week ago, and we’ll play his under this evening.
Marcus Mariota OVER Rushing Yards
The Birds’ backup is on a $5 million guaranteed deal for 2023 to provide a stable presence behind MVP candidate Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia. He led multiple drives into opposing territory with his first preseason snaps this year, throwing and scrambling his way to first downs, which led to field goal attempts on both occasions.
All but one of his rushes occurred on third or fourth downs, including the patented Eagles’ QB sneak on fourth-and-one that was converted for a first down.
We’re anticipating that Mariota will get around a full quarter of play in tonight’s game, probably in the first half, and will continue to improvise as he gets increasingly comfortable in a new system for the third straight season. Play his over tonight against the Browns.
