Football betting odds don’t favor the Browns to win this season but stranger things have happened. The Browns have had just one winning season over the last seven years and they won just five games a year ago. The Browns did add veteran quarterback Jake Delhomme in the off-season and they have a new direction under team president Mike Holmgren. Last season the Browns started 1-11 but they won their last four games. Every year since 2002 there has been at least one team that has made a dramatic improvement from one season to the next. The Browns actually did it in 2007 as they tied for the AFC North title a year after finishing in last place.
The question to answer this season is whether Cleveland can be the surprise team in NFL betting in 2010. There are some positives for the Browns but they do have some areas on concern. The Browns should be vastly improved at quarterback. Delhomme is an NFL veteran and he is a huge upgrade over Derek Anderson or Brady Quinn. Cleveland can run the ball with Jerome Harrison and they do have some receiving talent although it is young. The defense was not very good but in the last four games they were a little better as they held two of their last four opponents to 10 points or less.
What might help the Browns in 2010 is their football betting division. The Pittsburgh Steelers have a number of questions while the Cincinnati Bengals are coming off a season in which nearly everything went their way. The Ravens are going to be tough but Cleveland can be competitive against the other two teams.
The early part of the season is going to decide if Cleveland has a chance to be a surprise team in 2010. They open up with winnable games against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs. If they can somehow start 2-0 they could turn some heads and get some people in Cleveland to believe there is hope for the 2010 season.