The Pittsburgh Steelers, trying to end a two-year playoff drought, open the season at home against the Cleveland Browns as seven-point favorites, according to OddsShark.
NFL odds 2014, Week 1: Browns vs. Steelers
The Steelers open at home as favorites against the division rival Browns.
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The Browns will enter the contest with their third coach in three years, without Josh Gordon, the NFL's leading receiver from 2013, and will have their most famous player on the sideline holding a clipboard. Brian Hoyer will start at quarterback for the Browns, but everyone will be thinking about Johnny Manziel, who could play in some capacity.
The Steelers are coming off back-to-back 8-8 finishes, but expectations are high for the team to challenge the Bengals for the AFC North title. To do that they'll need to get off to a better start than last season, when they lost their first four games by an average of 10 points.
Pittsburgh has dominated the Browns over the last decade, going 19-2 SU and 13-7-1 ATS in their last 21 meetings. The recent betting odds trends favor the Steelers as well. Pittsburgh is 7-1 ATS in its last eight games and 5-1 ATS in its last six home games, while Cleveland is 1-6 ATS in its last seven games and 3-7 ATS in its last 10 road games.
For a complete betting preview of the matchup, be sure to head over to OddsShark.
