Shedeur Sanders has turned the Cleveland Browns into the biggest public side of NFL Week 12.
The Browns haven’t been a public darling for most of the last two decades. They’ve been the team that sharps quietly bet, the team the public forgets, or the team the public fades. But tomorrow in Las Vegas, that flips — and in a dramatic way.
Cleveland is +3.5 at the Raiders on Sunday, and the Browns are taking 83% of betting tickets at Action Network. That makes them the single biggest public side on the entire Week 12 board.
For this franchise, that level of support is almost unheard of.
A Public Side the Browns Rarely Become
We’ve tracked 366 Browns games in Bet Labs since 2003. In that entire sample, Cleveland has closed with 75% or more of betting tickets just three times:
- 2019 (Baker Mayfield) — Lost outright to the Broncos
- 2011 (Colt McCoy) — Lost outright to the Bengals
- 2007 (Derek Anderson) — Lost outright to the Cardinals
The Browns are 0-3 straight-up in those games. And their record for ticket share? Just 78%, set by Mayfield in 2019.
Now, Sanders — in his first career start — walks straight into one of the most lopsided public positions the franchise has ever seen.
This is an incredibly fast turn in sentiment. In Week 10 vs. the Jets, Cleveland closed with 59% of tickets — the first time they were the public side in any game since November 3, 2024.
Sixteen games without public support, and suddenly the Browns show up as the most popular ticket on the board.
Cleveland hasn’t covered the spread as the public side since Week 2 of 2024.
But Shedeur is proving to be a different type of catalyst. He’s moving perception — and money — immediately.
Cleveland has started 38 different quarterbacks since 2003. Only 23 of those 38 have ever closed on the public side of a game.
And only:
- 15 have ever closed with 60%+ of the tickets
- 7 have ever closed with 70%+
On Sunday, Sanders becomes the eighth to join that 70% club — in his very first NFL start. When the Browns get this kind of love, it usually goes poorly. Since 2003, Cleveland has been:
14-32-2 ATS (30.4%)
…when receiving 60% or more of betting tickets.
Cleveland is stepping into a role it rarely plays — overwhelming public favorite — with a rookie quarterback making his debut on the road.
The enthusiasm around Shedeur Sanders is real. The public action is real. The hype is real.
Now we find out if the results can be any different from history — or if Sunday becomes the Browns’ fourth straight outright loss as one of the most popular bets on the board.
