Browns’ AFC North odds still fairly optimistic; also looking at Week 5 division odds

Cleveland hits their bye week at the right time for the quarterback position.

The Cleveland Browns have +275 odds to win the AFC North, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. That puts them at second place in the division, behind the Baltimore Ravens but far ahead of the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers. Here are the odds in order:

• Baltimore Ravens: -175
• Cleveland Browns: +275
• Pittsburgh Steelers: +650
• Cincinnati Bengals: +700

It’s a far fall from preseason expectations for the Bengals, who were among the top teams favored for a Super Bowl. Their offense has just shown no life through four games, though. This week, they are 3-point road favorites against the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals are an interesting team because I expected them to be the worst in football, yet Josh Dobbs has had them playing at a respectful level. I keep picking the Bengals week in and week out, though, because I keep thinking to myself, “Surely they will get it together this week, right?”

The Ravens take on the Steelers in a big divisional game, and the Ravens are favored by 4.5 points on the road. Pittsburgh might be able to swing their home field advantage in their favor, but Baltimore’s effort last week against Cleveland was impressive. With how porous Pittsburgh’s defense has been, I can’t see how they will stop Baltimore’s misdirections and ability to keep plays alive.

The Browns will host the San Francisco 49ers after their bye week concludes in Week 6, but there are no odds posted for that game yet — stay tuned for Sunday night to hear about that. I’d expect the 49ers to be favored, unless they suffer some quarterback injury of their own this week.

What odds would you take if you were placing a bet?