- Jacksonville opens as an 8.5-point favorite at Bovada and 9 points at BetOnline, with the total set at 40.
- Trevor Lawrence produced 24 total touchdowns against five interceptions over Jacksonville’s final eight games last season.
- Deshaun Watson starts for Cleveland after missing 22 months with consecutive Achilles injuries, beating out Shedeur Sanders in camp.
- Cleveland traded Myles Garrett, the NFL’s single-season sack record holder, to the Rams in June for Jared Verse and three draft picks.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jaguars Browns odds favor Jacksonville by 8.5 points at Bovada and 9 points at BetOnline, as the Jaguars host Cleveland in Sunday’s regular-season opener at EverBank Stadium.
The Number
Bovada has Jacksonville -8.5 at -110 and Cleveland +8.5 at -110, the second-widest spread on this week’s NFL board, behind only the Chargers, who lay as much as 9.5 against Arizona. BetOnline widens the number to Jaguars -9 at -105, Browns +9 at -115.
Both books put the total at 40, though BetOnline also lists alternate numbers of 40.5 on the over and 39.5 on the under. A spread and total that size at NFL beting sites point toward a final score close to Jacksonville 24, Cleveland 16, a Jaguars team pulling away rather than trading scores into the fourth quarter.
| Market | Odds |
|---|---|
| Jaguars spread | -8.5 (Bovada) / -9 (BetOnline) |
| Browns spread | +8.5 (Bovada) / +9 (BetOnline) |
| Total | 40 (Bovada) / 40 (BetOnline) |
| Jaguars moneyline | -415 (Bovada) / -400 (BetOnline) |
That moneyline means laying at least four times the payout to back Jacksonville outright, the kind of price that pushes legal sports betting action toward the spread instead.
Jacksonville’s Case
Trevor Lawrence enters his sixth season off a stretch that carried Jacksonville to eight straight wins and the AFC South title in coach Liam Coen’s first season. He produced 24 total touchdowns against five interceptions over his final eight starts, and the Jaguars scored an NFL-best 33.6 points per game during the run. Jacksonville also allowed the league’s fewest rushing yards per game last season, 85.6, a problem for a Cleveland offense built to lean on its ground game.
Third-year receiver Brian Thomas Jr. remains the top target after a 1,282-yard, 10-touchdown rookie season in 2024. An ankle sprain held him to 707 yards in 14 games last year, and Sunday is the first read on whether he’s back to that level.
Bhayshul Tuten, who ran for 307 yards and five touchdowns on just 83 carries last season, takes over the backfield after Travis Etienne left for New Orleans in free agency. Travis Hunter, who had season-ending knee surgery in November and missed the last 10 games of his rookie year, is on track to play both cornerback and receiver in his first game back.
Cleveland’s Reset
Head coach Todd Monken named Deshaun Watson the Week 1 starter on Aug. 24 over second-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Watson missed the final 10 games of 2024 and all of 2025 recovering from consecutive Achilles injuries, and Monken said the decision reflected the full offseason, training camp, preseason games and joint practices with Buffalo, not a single outing.
The Browns also open without Myles Garrett, who set the NFL single-season sack record with 23 sacks in 2025 and won his second Defensive Player of the Year award. Cleveland traded him to the Rams in June for Jared Verse and three draft picks.
Quinshon Judkins, whose rookie season ended after 14 games when he fractured his fibula in Week 16, is back healthy and remains Cleveland’s most reliable source of offense. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET Sunday, the first NFL Sunday of the season for Florida sports betting.
