NFL Picks – Two Poor Teams Try To Get A Rare Win In Week One

The Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a great chance to get a win on opening day. Why? They’re playing each other.  Here’s a preview and some NFL picks.

Cleveland Browns @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 
Sunday, September 12th – 1:00 PM ET 
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa 
Broadcast: CBS 
NFL Odds: Browns +3, Bucs -3 
Total: 37 

You will not find the Cleveland Browns or Tampa Bay Bucs in the 2010 NFL Playoffs this season. Both organizations are trying to build from the ground up, and that makes particular sense since they were both in the bottom fourth of the NFL’s member franchises in 2009. Cleveland is greeting a new horizon on two fronts: Former Super Bowl-winning coach Mike Holmgren is now the main wheeler-dealer in the front office, and the new quarterback in town is Jake Delhomme, finally in a locale other than Charlotte, North Carolina, as a member of the Carolina Panthers. Tampa Bay is sticking with young coach Raheem Morris, who endured a brutal 2009 season in which his team went 3-13 and was 1-12 through the first 13 weeks of the campaign. Both of these teams find themselves in tough divisions. Cleveland has Cincinnati, Baltimore and Pittsburgh to deal with in the AFC North, while Tampa Bay must play New Orleans and Atlanta twice per season, along with the aforementioned Panthers. This is one of the more winnable games on each team’s schedule. How will the action proceed in the Sunshine State?  

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NFL Picks: What The Browns Have To Do To Win 

For Cleveland, all eyes are on Jake Delhomme as he begins a new chapter of his career. Delhomme is a walking interception factory, and everyone around the NFL knows it. Delhomme was so bad in 2009 that little-known Matt Moore was inserted into the starting lineup as his replacement after 13 games. Moore didn’t turn the ball over, and the Panthers – albeit without any pressure whatsoever – won their final three games to finish 8-8. Delhomme deserved to be benched, but it’s still worth noting that he has won an NFC title and gotten to one other NFC Championship Game in his career (in the 2005 season). He’s had a better career than most of the men who have ever played quarterback. Only two seasons ago, he led Carolina to the No. 2 seed in the NFC postseason but imploded in the divisional round against Arizona. If Delhomme had reached the Super Bowl that season (win or lose), he would not have been shipped this past offseason. He holds the key to a Cleveland Brown win against a team with a younger and less proven quarterback in Josh Freeman. 

NFL Picks: What The Bucs Have To Do To Win 

Because Tampa Bay has the less experienced quarterback in this game, the burden falls on the Bucs to run the ball better. Carnell “Cadillac” Williams needs to be a force this season, softening up defensive front lines so that Freeman won’t be utterly besieged in the backfield. This template has to be in evidence against the Browns, whose main problem over the years has been their offense, not so much their defense. Cleveland knows how to fight, but its throwers and pass catchers have been substantially undependable. Tampa needs to victimize Delhomme and snag still more interceptions from the balky right-handed thrower’s arm. If Cleveland displays good ball security, though, Tampa’s running game has to be up to par on Sunday for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to have a really good chance. 

Outlook & NFL Picks

Delhomme, at 35 years old, knows how to prepare for a season-opening game a lot better than Josh Freeman does. The experience Cleveland has under center will be the difference in this game. The Browns won’t turn the ball over and will force Freeman to beat them. Freeman will fail.

NFL Point Spread Picks: Browns +3