Bookmaker – Delhomme Doubtful for Sunday. Cleveland starting quarterback Jake Delhomme is keeping the Bookmaker busy with his status which looks doubtful for Sunday’s game at Baltimore against the Ravens. Delhomme missed last week’s home opener against Kansas City in which Cleveland lost 16-14 as 3-point favorites to fall to 0-2 both straight up and against the spread.
Disappointment
Delhomme had a great preseason and looked to be rejuvenated after arriving at Cleveland during the offseason from the Carolina Panthers where his career imploded last year. Delhomme was never the same quarterback after his poor performance in the 2008 playoffs in which Carolina was upset by Arizona as the number one seed at home.
Cleveland players spoke of their admiration for Delhomme’s commitment, work ethic, and professionalism and it is a significant disappointment to the Browns and Delhomme himself that he is injured. Delhomme went down in the season opening loss at Tampa Bay due to an ankle injury and was unable to practice last week. Cleveland head coach Eric Mangini said that Delhomme has made progress in the last week.
Wallace Fills In
Seneca Wallace got the start for the Browns last week in their SBG sportsbook loss to Kansas City and now has a career record of 5-10 when starting. Rookie Colt McCoy was the backup. Cleveland has had 15 different quarterbacks start for them since 1999. Last week Wallace was 16-31 for 229 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Wallace has a quarterback rating of 73.2 so far this season with a 52% completion rate and a 1/1 touchdown to interception ratio.
Brutal Stretch Ahead
The Internet Bookmaker is going to have the Browns listed as big time underdogs in the weeks ahead as Cleveland faces a brutal 7 game stretch against teams that are favored to make the playoffs starting on Sunday at Baltimore where they opened as a 10.5-point underdog. After Baltimore the Browns host Cincinnati and Atlanta and then travel to Pittsburgh and New Orleans before coming home for games against New England and the New York Jets.
Will Mangini Make It?
Perhaps another thing the Bookmaker can do is post odds as to whether or not Mangini will survive all of this and still have his job after that 7-game stretch. Mangini needed four wins in his final four games last year to keep his job and a similar run doesn’t appear to be in the cards any time soon.