Cleveland Browns vs Dallas Cowboys Prediction 9-8-24 Picks

The Dallas Cowboys and the Cleveland Browns meet in week 1 NFL action from Cleveland Browns Stadium on Sunday afternoon. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Dallas Cowboys vs. Cleveland Browns prediction.

Dallas Cowboys Recap

The Dallas Cowboys will hope to finally be able to live up to expectations after another season where the fans were left wanting more after finishing 12-5 for the 3^rd consecutive season, but losing to the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card round in a 48-32 shootout, but it was a Game that was over fairly early as the Cowboys trailed 27-0 in the second quarter and 48-16 early in the 4^th. Dak Prescott is back after a year where he had a career-high 36 touchdown passes that also led the NFL in that statistic. CeeDee Lamb finally signed his extension with the team which is big considering he led the NFL with 135 catches for 1,749 yards and 14 TDs, all career-highs for Lamb as well. Ezekiel Elliott is back in Dallas’ backfield as well. On defense, Micah Parsons returns after anchoring a defense that led the NFL in takeaways, but Dan Quinn is no longer the defensive coordinator to pull the strings. DaRon Bland had an NFL record 5 pick-sixes, but is out for the next 6-8 weeks with a fracture in his foot. Trevon Diggs is back in Dallas’ secondary with a hopefully clean bill of Health after tearing a knee liGament last year.

Why the Dallas Cowboys will win

• The Browns have lost each of their last seven Week 1 home games against NFC opponents.
• The Cowboys have won each of their last three September games as underdogs against AFC opponents.
• The Cowboys have covered the spread in each of their last four September games against AFC opponents.
• The Browns have failed to cover the spread in four of their last five home openers.

Cleveland Browns Recap

The Cleveland Browns come into this one looking to keep pushing forward in 2024 after going 11-6 and posting their first playoff berth since 2020. The stay in the postseason was short-lived though, as the Browns were dismantled by Houston 45-14 in the wild card round. 2023 was a cluster for the Browns to try to get through, starting with Deshaun Watson under center and ending with Joe Flacco of all people. Flacco’s gone, but Jameis Winston comes in to wait in the wings if Watson were to get hurt again. The waiting Game is on for the Browns to see if and when Nick Chubb will come back as it looks like it could be a while before Chubb is back to avoid rushing him back too soon. The Browns did pick up Nyheim Hines and D’Onta Foreman to back up Jerome Ford in the meantime and Jerry Jeudy was brought in to try to add depth to Cleveland’s receiving room which already features the likes of Amari Cooper and David Njoku. On defense, Myles Garrett is back to lead one of the best defensive units in the NFL, after logging 14 sacks last season while Za’Darius Smith added five sacks on the other side. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah anchors the linebacking group again and the Browns retained a lot of their strong secondary, led by Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome.

Why the Cleveland Browns will win

• The Browns have won each of their last nine Sunday games as favorites.
• The Cowboys have lost each of their last six games as underdogs.
• The Browns have covered the spread in each of their last seven games as home favorites.
• The Cowboys have failed to cover the spread in each of their last six games as underdogs.

Cowboys vs. Browns Prediction

I’m going to back the over in this one. Sure, these are two stout defensive units with a lot of talent on both sides. However, the Cowboys possess one of the most lethal aerial attacks in the NFL and getting Lamb back is massive for their future while Cleveland may not have the flash of the Cowboys offensively, but they still have a lot of talented pieces and I think the defenses might be getting a bit too much love and respect here. Give me the over.