Oddsmakers think Broncos will get back on track in Week 2
Sep 12, 2023, 3:04 PM
The Denver Broncos are back home and hope to get back on track against the Washington Commanders, which is what the sharps are thinking the home team will do.
The Broncos are 0-1 coming off a season-opening loss to the Las Vegas Raiders while the Commanders just squeaked past the tanking Arizona Cardinals. Young quarterback Sam Howell will get a shot against veteran Russell Wilson in what is the first matchup of the Washington team under its current name against Denver.
Denver Broncos odds
Week 1: Denver -3.5
Super Bowl: +5500 (down from +4500)
What the Broncos odds mean
Oddsmakers are thinking the Broncos will get past the Commandeers in a tight one-score battle with a final count of 21-18 or so based on the over/under total. Given Washington is competing for a playoff spot while the Broncos seem to be middling, experts must think Denver’s saving grace is playing at Mile High.
A lot of the Broncos positive talk from this summer—simply because they replaced failed rookie head coach Nathaniel Hackett with former Super Bowl winner Sean Payton—has died down. Payton’s debut included some odd decisions, bad mistakes and a refusal to take a win the Raiders clearly wanted to give them. All the while the Broncos again scored 16 points, the fifth time scoring exactly that number in their last 18 regular season games and the 12th time Denver had scored 16 or fewer points in a game since the start of the 2022 season.
This will be the 16th matchup between these cross-conference foes. The Broncos are 8-7 all-time against the Raiders, including one playoff loss—in the Super Bowl. The Broncos lost the last time these two teams met, 17-10 in Denver. These teams have traded wins and losses every time they’ve played this century, so Denver is due.
The Broncos will travel to the Miami Dolphins in Week 3.
