Forget the Preseason, Browns Favored to Score Least Points in 2018

• Oddsmakers released odds for which NFL team will score the fewest points in 2018
• The Cleveland Browns had the fewest points in 2017 and are favored to repeat with the shortest odds
• Are the Browns the best bet or could another team offer more value?

The Cleveland Browns have gone 1-31 the past two seasons and not surprisingly finished 31st in points scored in 2016, before finishing dead last in 2017.

They have never finished higher than 27th in points scored over the past five seasons.

Oddsmakers have released odds on which team will score the least points in the NFL this season and the Browns are currently favored to take home the “honor” once again.

Odds to Score the Least Points in the NFL in 2018

*To view the odds for all 32 teams, follow the link in the table.

Will the Browns Struggle to Find the End Zone?

Cleveland are the yearly whipping boys of NFL teams and pundits alike. Year after year they continue to find ways to lose. Their point totals have been on a decline the past five years from 27th, 27th, 30th, 31st, and 32nd.

The good news is there’s nowhere to go but up.

Tyrod Taylor takes care of the football. pic.twitter.com/1xPnfV2oWq

— PFF (@PFF) August 19, 2018

The Browns have made several key offseason moves on both sides of the ball and many are projecting them to win at least a handful of games. In free agent acquisition Tyrod Taylor and first overall pick Baker Mayfield, Cleveland’s QB position should be much improved over the offense which was guided (I say that loosely) by DeShone Kizer in 2017.

With Taylor at QB in Buffalo last year, the Bills may not have lit up the scoreboard, but they at least finished 22nd in points scored with 302.

Which Team Will Score the Least?

Bad teams score very few points. Occasionally mediocre teams get lucky despite also scoring very few points. Which brings us back to the Bills.

Outside of their 9-7 record, there was very little statistically to say they didn’t overachieve. Buffalo scored the least points of any team with a winning record in 2017. Every team under them had a losing record besides the 8-8 Arizona Cardinals.

In fact five losing teams managed to score more than the Bills, including the 5-11 Bucs and 4-12 Texans.

Look up and down the list of contenders and it’s hard not to find a team which has at least some reason for optimism. In quick succession consider this:

The Bengals did score less than Buffalo last year (290), but have stability, and I’d still take Andy Dalton and AJ Green over anything the Bills throw out there. The Dolphins and Colts get back Ryan Tannehill and Andrew Luck. OBJ is healthy for the G-Men and they’ve added Saquon Barkley. Jameis Winston may be suspended three games in Tampa, but the Bucs put up 335 points last year.

Fewest Points Per Year in NFL the Last 5 Years

That leaves the Bears, Jets, and Cardinals who are all also working in young and/or new QBs like the Bills.

The Chiefs’ offense was much improved when now Bears’ Head Coach Matt Nagy took over in KC last season, which should help Mitchell Trubisky.

Rookie QB Sam Darnold has been turning heads with the Jets, and the Cardinals will likely start veteran QB Sam Bradford, who will have Larry Fitzgerald and David Johnson at his disposal.

https://twitter.com/SCAR_179NY/status/1034614699835445249

The Bills have the worst odds to win the Super Bowl and you just can’t point to any one thing they’ve improved in this offseason, while none of their three QBs inspire confidence.

2017’s Lowest Scorers

After the Browns, the Giants had the second-worst record at 3-13 and conversely had the second-fewest total points (246). The Colts and Texans were 4-12 and Indy had the third -fewest at 263.

Continue the exercise back a couple more seasons and the worst teams continually also rank at least in the bottom five in total points. The Bills have one of the lowest win totals this year and are the best bet at +800.

Are the Buffalo Bills already the NFL's worst team? https://t.co/zeKCvJz7zE pic.twitter.com/k6BHkq7oIk

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 28, 2018