Browns favored to win playoff game for 1st time since 1994 - ESPN

The Cleveland Browns are in unfamiliar territory in the best possible way.

The perennially disappointing NFL franchise is making its second playoff appearance since 2020 after experiencing a 17-season playoff drought from 2003 through 2019; it's one of just four teams — along with the Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars and the Houston Texans — to have never appeared in a Super Bowl.

That has produced a shocking, but perhaps not surprising, betting stat: Through 12 qualifying games, Cleveland has never been a road playoff favorite in the Super Bowl era.

That changes Saturday when the Browns visit NRG Stadium in Houston as 2-point favorites, per ESPN BET odds. The last time Cleveland was favored in a playoff game in any capacity was during the 1994 wild-card round against the New England Patriots — a game that ended up being Bill Belichick's only postseason win as Browns head coach.

Sportsbooks aren't reading too heavily into Cleveland's pitiful past in January.

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

«The Browns deserve to be the favorite. 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 4- or 5-point favorite.»

Opinions vary on how big this line should have been under the circumstances; Caesars Sportsbook oddsmakers, for example, made this game anywhere between Browns -3 and a pick 'em. Most books opened the line at Cleveland -1.5, but