The Cleveland Browns will host the Minnesota Vikings in a National Football League preseason game on Saturday. The Minnesota Vikings, on the road, are looking to win their second straight preseason game. The Vikings beat the Raiders 24-23 at home on Saturday to start their exhibition schedule. Minnesota will finish the preseason at Philadelphia next week.
For Cleveland, they fell at home to the Green Bay Packers. The Browns scored just 10 points, and lost by 13 points. Cleveland will wrap up their preseason slate on August 24th, as they go across the country to Seattle.
The Cleveland Browns are -2.5 over the Minnesota Vikings in this game. The total for the affair sits at 37.5.
Vikings Look to Answer the Challenges
The Minnesota Vikings, a season ago, really struggled. In fact, they finished in a tie for last place in the NFC North with the Chicago Bears. The Vikings went 7-10. In that season, they actually played better on the road, winning 5 out of 9 games. Minnesota was 7-6, but fell in their final four games of the season.
Kirk Cousins is no longer the signal caller for the Vikings. He is off to Atlanta. That leaves JJ McCarthy, rookie out of Michigan as the starter. He played in the preseason game, and completed 11 of 17 passes for 188 yards and 2 touchdowns. He did throw an interception as well in the game.
Justin Jefferson is obviously still the big target for Minnesota in the offense. He did not play in this game. The big game for Minnesota came from Trishton Jackson. He finished with four receptions, 100 yards and a score. The other touchdown catch came from Trent Sherfield.
Minnesota will turn to Aaron Jones as their top running back choice. Jones comes to Minnesota after years with the rival Green Bay Packers. Ty Chandler should serve as the top back-up. TJ Hockenson will likely miss Week 1 with his knee injury. They hope he can return anywhere starting with Week 4.
Browns Looking to Repeat 2023
The Browns are coming off a trip to the postseason last year. The Browns went 11-6, which includes 8 wins in 9 games at home. Cleveland lost their regular season finale, and then their first round playoff game.
Cleveland hopes to have their top running back Nick Chubb back in action later in the season. He has been out since his mid season injury last season. Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong Jr will lead the charge without him. In the loss, the Browns carried the football over 20 times, and picked up just 56 yards in the game.
Deshaun Watson will be the starting quarterback for Cleveland. He should get a chance to play in this game, after sitting game 1. Jameis Winston is the back-up and went 4 for 5 with 30 yards last week. Amari Cooper, Jerry Jeudy and Elijah Moore back up a talented receiving core. David Njoku is coming off a breakout season, as the tight end for the Browns.
Browns Win at Home
We like Cleveland to come through and grab this win at home. The Browns are going to see some starters get time here, and we like their chances to grab a win. Our final bet for this game is the Cleveland Browns -2.5 over the Minnesota Vikings. Enjoy the game!
