VSiN’s NFL expert offers a couple of selections for the final Sunday of the 2021 regular season.
Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns (-6, 37.5):
There is a billboard on Interstate 71 between Cleveland and Cincinnati that reads “HELL IS REAL.” Hell just might be sitting through this game at FirstEnergy Stadium. It will be a battle of backup quarterbacks (Brandon Allen and Case Keenum), and several key contributors on both sides of the football will be sidelined for the two teams. The weather forecast is also not great, with winds up in the 20 mph range and some rain in the forecast for Cleveland.
How the Browns could be favored by six points over any team after their performance Monday night in Pittsburgh is beyond me. Cleveland didn’t have any playoff hopes, but had the chance to ruin Ben Roethlisberger’s big night, and the Steelers quarterback, who went 23-for-46 for 123 yards, was actually the better of the two signal-callers. The Browns do turn to Keenum here, and maybe that will rally them and spark some interest, but I believe Cleveland has checked out.
All of the talk is about who isn’t playing for the Bengals, but the Browns have zero incentive to play banged-up guys such as Nick Chubb, Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward, among others.
Cleveland has serious issues in the locker room. Players, on social media, have openly criticized head coach Kevin Stefanski’s play-calling, and it seems as though Baker Mayfield barely consulted with the team about surgery on the injury he was allowed to play through all season long. Things are not well at the team facility in Berea, Ohio — which, frankly, is an annual thing in the offseason.
Zac Taylor seems to be creating a culture in Cincinnati, while Stefanski is just creating the same dysfunction Browns fans know all too well. The Bengals have some incentive to take care of their affairs and go into the playoffs on a high note, even if the backups are the ones doing the job. The Browns very well might not show up at all, mentally. Even if they do, six points is a lot with a low total, bad weather and bad personnel.
Pick: Bengals, +6.
Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-8.5, 41.5):
The Buccaneers can’t really move up, and it would take a lot for Tampa Bay to move down with this weekend’s set of games. The Buccaneers lost to the Rams and beat the Cowboys, so finishing third seems like a foregone conclusion. Bruce Arians may decide to play some of his key guys for a little bit to keep them sharp, but even that might be a bit of a stretch.
Carolina’s offense is offensive. The Panthers were in what I thought was a decent spot last week against the Saints, but managed just 10 points and didn’t look any better with Sam Darnold running the offense again. I don’t really see how Carolina can have success scoring points or moving the football against Tampa Bay’s A-team, B-team, C-team — or even a group of season-ticket holders yanked out of the crowd to line up in Cover-4.
This game has all the makings of an Under. The Panthers’ defense is still a formidable unit and again should be here. I don’t think we will see a no-show from Carolina. We’ve just seen a lot of no-shows from the offense because it is bad, not because Matt Rhule is a bad head coach or anything like that. This one definitely looks like a low-scoring, “get in and get out” sort of game.
Pick: Under 41.5.