Jacksonville Jaguars (7-8) at Cleveland Browns (4-11)
NFL Football Week 17: Sunday January 3, 2010 1 PM EST
The Line: Cleveland Browns – 1 1/2
Two teams closing out the season riding opposite streaks over the past three games meet in Cleveland as the Browns host the Jacksonville Jaguars.
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A tumultuous season comes to a close for the Cleveland Browns. It was a season that started without a naming of a starting quarterback up until a few days before the regular season, a disgruntled star wide receiver, and a new head coach who was considered a cast off. While the starting QB situation seems to have been settled and the disgruntled Braylon Edwards was traded to the New York Jets, head coach Eric Mangini’s status remains in limbo as Mike Holmgren moves into Cleveland to take over the GM role. Whether Mangini will be retained or not will be answered over the next few weeks if Mangini could actually get on the field and settle it for himself, he would play the way the Browns have been playing as of late. Cleveland enters this game winners of three in a row accounting for three quarters of their wins all season long.
Brady Quinn looks lie he’s going to be fine as the starting QB of the future and their is reason for hope. Mangini isn’t the only one hoping to hold onto his job as a new GM often means a house cleaning of sorts and there are only a handful of players who have real job security on the Browns roster. Though winning late often helps, we can’t discount how the Browns accumulated the 11 losses and that came with virtually no offense and a defense that gave up almost 24 points a game.
Three weeks ago the Jaguars controlled their own destiny as far as the playoffs went, all they had to do was win out and they were in. The Jags did the exact opposite, lost three in a row and have gone in reverse knocking them from the playoffs. While few expected Jacksonville to be a playoff team this year, it still has to be disappointing to see it all crumble before their eyes. The Jags haven’t exactly lost to the slouches of the league, conversely it’s been to the Colts, Patriots, and the Dolphins who look to have just misses the playoffs on their own. There will undoubtedly be changes in Jacksonville as they always seem to be missing just one piece of the puzzle. 
For the past few season’s it’s been wide receivers but maybe some will start to question if QB David Garrard has what ti takes to get this team to the next level. Like just about all non playoff teams, we have a roster full of players looking to save their jobs.
Cleveland has covered six straight times and four in a row against teams with a losing record but they are 1-4 against the spread as a favorite of up to three points. Jacksonville is 1-4 against the spread in their last five road games, 1-6 against the spread in their last seven against a team with a losing record and 1-4 against the spread in their last five as an underdog.
This is a tough game because Jacksonville is the better team but Cleveland appears to be playing better football right now. I think it’s important to remember that Jacksonville, though they have been losing, have lost three very tough games while Cleveland’s schedule has been somewhat easier. This game is a toss up so I’ll take the points.
Mitch’s Pick: Jacksonville Jaguars + 1 1/2
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