Broncos vs. Raiders Betting Line

Home: Oakland Raiders
Away: Denver Broncos
When: Week 9. November 6, 2011. 4:05 pm ET. Televised on CBS.

Heading into this week 9 matchup, the Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos have a lot of questions to answer at the quarterback position. After a terrible game prior to their bye in week 8, is Carson Palmer ready to take over for the Raiders? For the Broncos, will Tim Tebow show any improvement? Everyone with a mouth has an opinion, but the truth will be exposed on the field.

Now that Carson Palmer has had a couple of weeks to prepare, we’re picking the Raiders to win this home game against the pitiful Broncos. The last 8 quarters since Tebow took over as the starting QB in Denver, the Broncos have looked awful. Aside from the final 5 minutes in their week 7 game against the winless Dolphins, the offense has been almost non-existent. If Tebow doesn’t show significant improvement in this game against the Raiders (we doubt he will), the Broncos could get embarrassed again.

Oakland Raiders vs. Denver Broncos Point Spread

The content below was written a few days ago. We’ll leave the old odds posted so bettors can see how the lines have been moving.

At the BetOnline Sportsbook, this game between the Raiders and Broncos is a pick’em. If you’re new to sports betting, this means there’s no point spread, and either team you pick simply needs to win. At Bet365, the Broncos are favored by 1 point.

The Raiders had a much better season than the Broncos last year, but they lost a key defensive player in cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha. The Broncos defense was no better than terrible last year, but made a few moves during the off-season to help them out.

For the Denver Broncos, it all comes down to defense. The offense looks good enough to put some points on the board, but can the defense stop anyone? If they show up for this week 1 game against the Raiders, the Broncos have a chance. If they don’t, it could get ugly in Lodo.

The Broncos new head coach John Fox is coming off of a horrendous season with the Carolina Panthers, who finished 2-14 last season. However, last year was an anomaly for Fox, who had a record of 71-57 as an NFL head coach before last season. He’s also been a defensive coordinator, and he knows how badly the Broncos defense needs to be fixed. Von Miller, the #2 overall pick in the 2011 draft will help in the new 4-3 defense, along with Elvis Dumervil who missed the entire 2010 season due to injury. The Broncos ‘D’ can only get better. Clearly the defense won’t be fixed by week 1, but some improvement should be expected.

The Raiders have some interesting things going on coaching-wise that could help them this season. Even with the loss of Asomugha, new schemes in the Raiders defense should give them more chances to make plays. Already a good passing defense, the Raiders had trouble stopping the run last season. If they can keep Knowshon Moreno and Willis McGahee from breaking any big plays, the Raiders defense could make it a tough game for the Broncos.

Although they’re on the road, I don’t think that will be enough to stop the Raiders from taking the win. They’re getting used to winning now, and the new coaching blood seems to be having a positive impact in the players’ mentality and on the field execution.

I’m happy to get the Raiders on a pick’em -110

Broncos vs. Raiders Money Line

Since this is a pick’em, there is no money line at BetOnline.com. Bettors can get -110 on either team they pick, with no point spread.

Punters that live outside the US can get 10/11 on the money line for either team at Sports Interaction. They’re also offering +1 20/23 on the Raiders, or -1 20/21 on the spread.

After the preseason games are over, we expect the spread an money line to adjust in one direction or the other. We’ll update this post as the odds change.

Raiders vs. Broncos Total (Over/Under) Betting Odds

In the two games between the Raiders & Broncos last year, the scores were 59-14 Raiders, and 39-23 Raiders. However, nobody could imagine the Broncos defense giving up 59, and obviously we can’t count on that type of score again. However, the Raiders followed that up with 39 points in the second game as well.

Even if we chop off three touchdowns off the first game, we still have a score of 38-14, for a total of 52. In the second game, the total was 62. The over/under for this game is 40.5 at Sports Interaction.

With new coaches, Elvis Dumervil back, the addition of Von Miller and a few other defensive pieces, the Broncos defense should be better this year. But, how much can be expected in the first game of the regular season? The Raiders defense was good last season, and it looks like they’ll be about the same in 2011 – 2012.

If you eliminate three touchdowns from the second game these two teams played last year, we still have a total of 41. Being the first game of the year, we should see a more defensive game than if it were being played later in the season. Even so, I don’t see this one going under 40.5.

At minimum, I see a score of 24-17 (41), with potential for more scoring. 27-14 and 21-20 scores also equal 41. Personally, I’m expecting something in the range of 24-17 to 27-21. So, I’m taking the over in the first Broncos vs. Raiders matchup of the 2011 – 2012 season.

Bet on Oakland Raiders vs. Denver Broncos

Ok, so there isn’t any spread right now, we’ve pretty much covered everything above. But, as the game gets closer we’ll update the odds below to show you the best online sportsbooks for betting on the week 1 Oakland Raiders vs. Denver Broncos MNF game. Use any of the links below if you’d like to bet on this game now.

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