Fantasy Football: 5 Bold Predictions for Week 4

The Browns Will Upset the Raiders

At the time of this writing, the Oakland Raiders are 3-point home favorites going into their Week 4 tilt with the Cleveland Browns. My first bold prediction has the Browns besting the Raiders on their own turf and putting together back-to-back wins for the first time since November 2014.

Why? For starters, Baker Mayfield is now the Browns' starting quarterback. He may have played only just over a half of football, but the Cleveland offense -- which ranked near last place in our power rankings going into Week 3 -- did a total 180 when he took over. Mayfield averaged 8.74 adjusted yards per attempt and had a passer rating of 100.1, both of which rank in the top 10 among quarterbacks in the league. This offense is on the upswing.

But the real heart of this bold prediction is the Cleveland defense. These guys might just be elite. Despite starting the season with tough matchups against offensive powerhouses like Pittsburgh and New Orleans, the Browns are allowing just 5.9 net yards per passing attempt (NY/A) -- the 9th-best rate allowed in the league. By comparison, the Raiders are allowing 8.1 NY/A. That's the 2nd-worst rate in the league.

And despite facing those tough offenses -- and the Jets -- the Browns are producing sacks and turnovers at a prolific rate. Only six teams have produced more sacks than the Browns defense, and the Browns are the only one of those teams not to play a bottom-10 team in sacks allowed. They've accounted for a whopping 45% of the total sacks their opponents have allowed.

The deciding factor in this game will be the defensive turnover margin. The Browns lead the league in percentage of opposing offensive drives to end in a turnover; the Raiders rank 31st. The Browns will win this game in decisive fashion and will finally win 2 games in a row again.