Browns in rare betting territory for playoff game at Texans

The 11-6 Cleveland Browns accomplished interesting feats ahead of their Saturday afternoon wild-card playoff game at the 10-7 Houston Texans. 

According to Doug Greenberg of ESPN, the Browns began Friday evening as road playoff betting favorites for the first time in the Super Bowl era. Additionally, Cleveland is favored for a playoff game for the first time since the Browns hosted the New England Patriots for a wild-card matchup in January 1995. Cleveland defeated New England 20-13 that day. 

Specifically, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Browns as of early Friday evening as two-point favorites against the Texans. At that same time, ESPN Bet had Cleveland as a 1.5-point favorite. 

"History, to us, doesn't play a part in linemaking," DraftKings race and sports operations director Johnny Avello told Greenberg. "We concentrate on the two teams, the way they are built and the way they are playing today." 

The Browns defeated the Texans 36-22 at Houston's NRG Stadium on Christmas Eve. Houston quarterback and presumed 2023 Offensive Rookie of the Year C.J. Stroud didn't play in that game because he was in the NFL's concussion protocol. Stroud is on track to start against Cleveland on Saturday afternoon. 

"The Browns deserve to be the favorite," Avello continued. "They have a little bit higher power ranking, they have a little bit more experience and their defense is one of the best in the league. What they don't have here is home-field advantage. If they were playing this game at home, they probably would have been a four- or five-point favorite."

According to ESPN stats, the Browns ended the regular season leading the NFL in total defense with an average of 270.2 yards surrendered per game. Meanwhile, Cleveland hadn't made the playoffs since the 2020 Browns earned a road postseason win at the Pittsburgh Steelers in January 2021. Cleveland fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in that tournament's divisional round. 

"They're almost like America's team in a way," Avello added about a Browns franchise that has never made a single Super Bowl appearance in its history. "It's a team that has been embraced."

On Friday, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Browns at +1100 odds to represent the AFC in Super Bowl LVIII.