Week 13: Little details could help Shedeur Sanders, Browns vs 49ers

The Cleveland Browns are looking forward in a positive way at the start of the Thanksgiving week. Knocking off the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 12 (see our founder’s vlog of his experience out there here) and having some relative excitement about QB Shedeur Sanders is a nice change of pace for fans. Whether or not “fine” is good enough moving forward for Sanders is still a question, but HC Kevin Stefanski has given him the starting role versus the San Francisco 49ers.

Early last week, we shared why the Raiders could be the “perfect” opponent for Sanders and the Browns.

While we are still working through the good and bad of the Niners’ stats and data, and our readers have started talking about San Fran in The Feed, there are a few details that could help Cleveland against San Francisco in Week 13:

• The 49ers played on Monday Night Football, getting an ugly win against the Carolina Panthers, while the Browns played on Sunday afternoon
• QB Brock Purdy struggled mightily with three interceptions and less than 200 yards passing on 32 attempts. Cleveland’s defense provided a blueprint for stopping Purdy in their matchup two seasons ago, handing him his first loss as a starter
• San Francisco must travel to Ohio, a 4.5-hour to 5 hour flight, for Week 13
• The Niners will be playing a 1 PM Eastern game, which will feel like it is starting at 10 AM for their bodies on Pacific time. While that might feel like a small thing, recent data suggests otherwise:

Interestingly, ATS (Against the Spread) performance of Pacific Time Zone teams gets progressively worse as they travel further east. Based on these results, we can conclude that West Coast teams don’t meet expectations and therefore “play badly” when traveling to the East Coast.

As of now, the Browns are pretty big underdogs going into Week 13. The above data doesn’t mean Cleveland is likely to win due to the travel schedule, but is much more likely to cover the spread due to the travel schedule.

The shorter week, the long flight, the time difference, the Browns defense and Purdy’s recent struggles all could combine for another big victory for Sanders and Cleveland in Week 13.

Do you think the short week due to MNF and the travel details will have a big impact on Browns vs Niners in Week 13?

Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below