Morning Coffee: A FanDuel best bet for Thursday Night Football

​The Russell Wilson era in Denver is over.

Despite the fact that it will cost them $85 million in dead cap money over the next two years, the Denver Broncos have decided it is worth it to move on from Wilson.

While the Broncos overpaid the Seattle Seahawks in terms of player and draft capital, it’s the five-year, $245 million contract extension with $165 million guaranteed that will be most difficult for the franchise to overcome.

Sean Payton has been entrusted to turn things around in Denver.

We might never know for sure when he made his decision, but it’s abundantly clear that Payton believes that he has a better shot to fix the franchise without Wilson on his roster.

Whether he’s right or wrong, Payton’s choice cannot be ignored.

Meanwhile, it’s a strange coincidence that just over 24 hours after it was confirmed that Denver will move on from Wilson, two former Broncos quarterbacks are set to go head-to-head on Thursday Night Football.

It will be Joe Flacco versus Trevor Siemian in the final Thursday night game of the season.

It might not be the most appealing match-up on paper, but I can promise you that one week from now I’ll be wishing that I had a prime-time game to write about in this column.

This is the Morning Coffee for Thursday December 28^th, 2023.

A FanDuel Best Bet For Thursday Night Football

The Cleveland Browns can officially clinch a playoff spot with a win over the New York Jets tonight.

The Browns have won and covered three in a row with Flacco at quarterback, and the betting public expects that run to continue tonight as Cleveland has been bet up from -5.5 to -7.5 at FanDuel.

Despite winning two of their previous three games, the Jets have covered the spread only once in their previous eight games.

Meanwhile, the Browns are 5-0 against the spread as home favourites this season.

Since Week 13, Flacco has thrown for more yards (1,312) and more touchdowns (10) than any quarterback in the league.

Robert Saleh’s defence will provide Flacco with his toughest test to date as Cleveland’s starting quarterback.

It will be very interesting to see how he responds.

Meanwhile, with Zach Wilson sidelined with a concussion, the Jets will turn back to Siemian after he led them to a 30-28 win over the Washington Commanders in Week 16.

Don’t expect New York to score 30 points again tonight.

The Browns defence has conceded points on just 24.2 per cent of their drives this season.

For perspective, the league average is 35 per cent.

Cleveland has played its best football at home.

Tonight, it will be defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz armed with a stacked unit versus offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and his fourth-string QB.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that I like the Browns tonight.

Kevin Stefanski has emerged as the betting favourite to win AP NFL Coach of the Year at FanDuel thanks in large part to the job that Schwartz has done with his defence.

With a chance to clinch a playoff spot in front of their home fans, Stefanski and Schwartz should have their guys focused and ready to compete against an inferior opponent.

I jumped on Browns -5.5 early and I’m glad that I did, as the number for tonight’s game has climbed to -7.5.

While I considered a couple of different Same Game Parlay options, I’ll recommend a play on the alt spread and lock in Cleveland -6.5 -138 as my FanDuel Best Bet for Thursday Night Football.