This Thursday night, the New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns will play their final preseason game at Huntington Bank Field. This will be the final opportunity for each team’s coaches to evaluate personnel before making the mandatory roster cut to 53 players this weekend.
Quarterback Drake Maye is set to start for the New England Patriots and play at least one quarter. The announcement has resulted in the Patriots’ per-contract NFL prediction market price jumping to 57¢ (from 40¢) in the last 72 hours. Cleveland fans are expected to fill most of the Huntington Bank Field seats Thursday night, mostly to watch backup quarterback Shedeur Sanders take over once Deshaun Watson has been pulled.
The Cleveland Browns appear to be in prime position to finish last in their division (more on this in the “latest news” section below). By contrast, the New England Patriots are coming off an AFC championship with a quarterback they believe in.
Although New England’s “to win” contracts are relatively high for a preseason game, we’re still comfortable picking them up as long as they remain under 60 cents. The Browns are a mess both on and off the field, and forecasters are already predicting that rookie head coach Todd Monken won’t be able to sway the Browns’ fortunes during the 2026-27 NFL regular season campaign.
The Patriots’ first-string players will be in the game long enough to provide an early cushion before New England inserts its “bubble” players into the mix. We’re taking the Patriots to win with more than 40.5 combined points scored.
Quarterback Deshaun Watson has been confirmed to be the Cleveland Browns’ starter once the regular season begins. He beat out Shedeur Sanders for the position, but recently revealed that he’s unhappy with the Cleveland fan base (who unceremoniously booed him during Week 2 of the preseason).
Cleveland’s fan base wants Shedeur Sanders in at quarterback, but that’s a moot point for now thanks to head coach Todd Monken designating Watson as the team’s QB1. Watson hasn’t really had a solid year in the NFL since 2019-2020, but Sanders may not represent the answer to the Browns’ offensive woes if he can’t beat out Watson for the starting role.
NFL fans who choose to stream Thursday’s contest live on Prime Video can expect the crowd to boo Watson following each incompletion and cheer Sanders for just about everything as soon as Watson gets sent to the bench. If you believe what Deshaun Watson said in a recent press conference, the last time Cleveland’s faithful applauded him was when he ruptured his Achilles tendon back in 2024.
Trading volume for this market on Kalshi is relatively low going into Tuesday, with only $61,000 traded so far on which team will win. Prices should remain relatively stable unless New England reverses course and decides to sit all of its key players out for the entirety of the game.
The Patriots are expected to repeat as postseason contenders once the 2026-27 NFL regular season has concluded. Cleveland is unlikely to be competitive in the AFC North Division, where the team will face the prospect of attempting to outperform Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Baltimore if it wants to qualify for the NFL Playoffs.
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