Thursday Night Football Preview New York Jets @ Cleveland Browns: NFL Best Bets and Props, David Njoku, Jerome Ford, Amari Cooper and More
It's time for Thursday Night Football, and we're here to help you win your fantasy championships and some money.
Last week we saw the Los Angeles Rams beat up on the New Orleans Saints only for the Saints to mount a comeback that came up eight points short. Once again all of our prop bets hit. After getting off to a slow start the first few weeks, we have been absolutely on fire with them. We also hit the moneyline and over/under again. There were a ton of fantasy points to go around in that game. Unfortunately, not many went to Alvin Kamara, but we still got a fun game. This week in our last Thursday Night Football game of the season, we get the New York Jets going on the road to take on the Cleveland Browns for championship week in a game that will drive fantasy owners crazy right up until their lineups lock.
Week 17 Thursday Night Football Best Bets
This is going to be a tough game for fantasy owners to gauge prior to kickoff. Let's start with the home team. Joe Flacco has been on fire and Amari Cooper is coming off the best fantasy game of the year for any wide receiver. On the other hand, the Jets have been the toughest defense in the league against fantasy quarterbacks and wide receivers. So how do you attack this game?
When it comes to Flacco, we are outright benching him in this matchup. Cooper you probably have to start, but temper expectations. He's not carrying your team this week. Odds are he won't be catching a TD pass and he almost certainly won't be topping 100 yards, let alone 265 yards and two TDs like last week. He should be viewed as a low-end WR2 this week. The rest of the wideouts on the Browns should not even be considered as options. However, there are two Browns we do like this week, and that's tight end David Njoku and running back Jerome Ford.
Njoku has been the best tight end in fantasy football over the back half of the year and should see a ton of targets this week. The strength of the Jets' defense is the corners and the pass rush which lines up perfectly for a big game from Njoku. The game script is also perfect for Ford. The Jets struggle to stop running backs and are great against the pass. They also don't score much and are usually losing. That sets up ideally for Ford to break out this week. Despite his struggles as of late, he is one of our top starts at running back this week.
For the Jets, there is never a locked-in great start because the offense is so bad. We are playing Breece Hall, especially in PPR leagues, because he has big-play ability and sees a ton of targets. The rest of the Jets we are fine benching. Trevor Siemian isn't going to do anything against this defense. Garrett Wilson is a desperation option at wideout, but we would avoid him if possible.
As for the game itself, we like the Browns to win this convincingly enough. We don't expect a ton of points and despite the low line, we don't see this game hitting the over unless there are defensive TDs. That's very possible in a Jets game, nevertheless, that's scary to bank on. Particularly in this game where one defensive TD may not be enough to get it done.
The Picks
Cleveland Browns -7.5 (+100)
Cleveland Browns Moneyline (-340)
Over/Under U34.5 (-112)
Player Props of the Night
Prop #1: David Njoku, Over 5.5 Receptions (+120)
Njoku will be the focal point of the Browns' passing attack tonight. He will lead this team in receptions, targets, and yards. This line is easy money. He's topped this mark in six of his last seven games and in every game that Flacco has started. Over his past three games, he's caught 22 of a ridiculous 31 targets and this matchup is set up for it to be his best game yet.
Prop #2: Jerome Ford, Over 46.5 Rushing Yards (-115)
As we already mentioned, this game is set up perfectly for Ford. The Browns have been passing non-stop since Flacco took over, but that's just not how you beat the Jets. Look for them to run the ball early and often and even more late. Once the Browns get a lead, they will be pounding the ball with Ford for almost the entirety of the second half. This is the perfect game script to get a struggling running back back on track.
Prop #3: Trevor Siemian, Over 0.5 Interceptions (-180)
If this isn't the easy bet of the night we don't know what it is. In two starts, the woefully bad Siemian has thrown one TD and three interceptions and now he's taking on one of the best defenses in the league. He got picked off last week by the worst pass defense in the league. This game is going to get very ugly and Siemian will be picked off multiple times.
#jets #browns #david-njoku #jerome-ford #amari-cooper
