Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos
Monday, 9/12/11, 10:15 PM EST, TV: ESPN
Opening Point Spread: Denver -1.5
Current Betting Line: Denver -3
Opening Total: 42
Current Total: 40.5
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker
The Oakland Raiders have enjoyed recent success against the Denver Broncos, but they have struggled on Monday Night Football heading into the final game of Week 1. The Raiders have won the last three meetings with the Broncos both straight-up and against the spread, but they are just 1-7 ATS in their past eight appearances on MNF and have lost their last 11 prime-time games overall.
Oakland finished last season at 8-8 under Tom Cable but fired him and replaced him with offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, who helped the team set a franchise record for points in a 59-14 victory at Denver last season. The Raiders offense improved dramatically last year after ranking 31st in the league the previous season. They averaged nearly 26 points per game in 2010 and are hoping to take the next step this year by making the playoffs.
After falling short of the postseason last year despite going 6-0 in the AFC West, Oakland expects to face a tough challenge from San Diego and Kansas City. Denver has a lot more work to do following a 4-12 campaign that resulted in head coach Josh McDaniels getting let go as well.
Former Carolina head coach John Fox will lead the Broncos (-3, O/U 40.5) in 2011 after his contract was not renewed by the Panthers, who finished with the league’s worst record at 2-14. Fox’s first challenge with his new team was settling a quarterback controversy between Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow. Orton was rumored to be on the trading block, with Tebow set to take over as the starter. However, Denver never got a good enough deal to let Orton go and decided to keep him.
Orton was headed toward his best season in the NFL last year before a rib injury kept him from playing the last three games. Enter Tebow, who made his first career start against the Raiders in Week 15. The former Heisman Trophy winner showed flashes of the way he played at Florida vs. Oakland, busting loose on a 40-yard touchdown run, but the Broncos still fell way short in a 39-23 loss.
Denver will have third-year running back Knowshon Moreno and veteran Willis McGahee to help out Orton offensively while Oakland also has a nice tandem in the backfield with Darren McFadden and Michael Bush. McFadden rushed for a season-high 165 yards and totaled four touchdowns the last time he played in the Mile High City, scoring three times in the first two quarters en route to a 38-7 halftime lead.
The OVER has cashed in each of the last three meetings along with six of the past eight. The OVER is also 8-0 in the last eight games the Broncos have been favored, although they are just 2-8 ATS in the past 10 meetings with the Raiders.
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