New England Patriots
vs.
Denver Broncos
By Jason Green
12/18/16
The Patriots have won 4 in a row and thanks to the Chiefs beating the Raiders last week New England is now the only team in the AFC with 2 losses. This Game facing the Broncos is always a big one and while it is no longer the Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning match up it is still vital, especially for the Broncos. New England has been legit on both sides of the ball this season and they head to Mile High City as a 3-point road favorite. Speaking of on the road the Pats are undefeated there this season winning all 6 of their Games away from New England.
The Broncos are coming off a loss to the Tennessee Titans and it was a costly one. they are now 2 Games back of the Raiders and the Chiefs in the AFC West and they have dropped 2 of their last 3 Games. The Broncos are still in a good shape for a Wild Card, but their last 3 Games are key and they are not easy with New England, Kansas City, and Oakland.
The home team has covered the spread in the last 7 Games between these teams.
In their last Game the Patriots beat the Baltimore Ravens 30-23 on Monday night where they covered at home as a 6-point favorite.
The Broncos are coming off a 13-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans where they failed to cover on the road as a 2.5-point underdog.
Tom Brady keeps getting it done and he has the targets and RB LeGArrette Blount has really been helping out and ranks 5th in the league in rushing yards. In the win over the Ravens Brady passed for 406 yards with 3 TD and 1 INT and Blunt rushed for 72 yards. While the Broncos have the best pass defense in the league they only rank 29th in the league in run defense. Von Miller leads the D and he has the most sacks in the league and putting pressure on Brady in this Game is vital.
Denver had nearly 100 more total yards in the loss to the Titans, but they could not run the ball at all and on top of that they had 2 fumbles. QB Trevor Siemian had a big Game with 334 passing yards and a TD with no INT, but the run Game only GAined a grand total of 18 yards. The recently signed RB Justin Forsett fumbled in his first carry and got nothing going on the ground.
New England has been playing solid D as of late, but they did have some issues against the pass in the win over the Ravens. Overall, they rank 15th in the league in pass defense and 6th in run defense.
New England is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 road Games, 4-1 ATS vs. a team with a winning record, and in their last 8 Games on the road the posted total has gone Under 7 times.
Denver is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 Games following a straight up loss, 6-2-1 ATS in their last 9 home Games, and in their last 10 Games the posted total has gone Under 7 times.
Bettorsworld Pick – Broncos +3