Commanders vs Broncos Betting Preview: New Season, Old Broncos

It may only be the second week of the NFL season, but the Denver Broncos have nearly a ‘must win’ game against Washington. After falling to Las Vegas at home, 17-16, opening week, the Broncos can’t afford an 0-2 start at home against teams they should beat. The loss to the Raiders was the result of a missed extra point. The Commanders are coming off a 20-16 win against hapless Arizona, failing to cover the 7-point spread in the process. The Commanders vs Broncos betting preview shows Denver -3.5 with a total of 39.

Washington Wins Ugly over Cardinals

The Commanders and Cardinals game was one few people were looking forward to. And even they had to be disappointed when the game was finally played. Washington had 248 yards of offense compared to 210 for Arizona. There were 17 penalties for 192 yards, five turnovers and nine sacks. Arizona linebacker Dennis Gardeck, who had one sack all of last season, had two and is tied for fourth place among the NFL sack leaders.

The Commanders vs Broncos betting preview shows Washington quarterback Sam Howell threw for 202 yards with one TD and one interception. The Commanders’ ground game left a bit to be desired. Washington finished with 92 yards on 28 carries, but had a long run of just seven yards.

The defense was solid. Arizona’s touchdown came on a fumble return. All the Cardinals could muster offensively was three field goals. Two of those came after Washington turnovers where the Cardinals didn’t get a first down. So you can’t find much fault with Washington’s defense.

Denver Offense Still Struggling

The big offseason move to bring in Sean Paton didn’t help, at least in the opening week. The Raiders won their seventh straight game over Denver, 17-16 as 3-point underdogs. Las Vegas had 261 total yards compared to Denver’s 260. Denver missed an extra point on its first touchdown of the game and could never make it back up. The Broncos couldn’t stop Las Vegas at the end of the game, as the Raiders ran the final 5:08 off the clock.

Jimmy Garoppolo threw for 200 yards and two touchdowns, while Russell Wilson had 177 passing yards and two TDs. Denver ran the ball better than Las Vegas, but really didn’t stick with it long enough. The Broncos had 34 pass attempts and 22 rushes.

Defensively, the Broncos were good enough to win, which was the story last season. Denver needs to start coming out on top in the NFL scores, especially in the close games. The Broncos aren’t good enough to not capitalize on potential wins when they can get them.

What to Expect

If you’re Washington, you can’t expect to have a lot of success running the ball against Denver. Howell isn’t the quarterback who is going to win you a lot of games by himself. He’ll need some help from the ground game. But he might not get it. The Raiders did have some decent gains throwing the ball, so Washington could follow suit.

The NFL spread of Denver -3 is the same as last week’s Broncos line. But Denver can’t afford for a similar result. The Cardinals were able to complete some short passes, so Denver may throw some underneath. Denver won’t be too one-dimensional, so you should see a fair number of passes thrown by Wilson.

Who to Bet On?

The Commanders vs Broncos betting preview notes teams in Denver’s situation have performed poorly over the years. Week 2 home favorites who lost at home in Week 1 are just 4-9 against the spread dating back to 2011 and 8-16 ATS going all the way back to 1989. There isn’t a huge sample size, since it’s specific to one week. But the results have been impressive.

You would expect the Broncos to come out hard in this game. A win gives the team a completely different outlook. A loss will have people wondering if it’s a repeat of 2022.

Washington hasn’t been the greatest of road teams the past few seasons, going 10-13-1 ATS since 2020. But not going to discount them here. In a game where most bettors are looking for reasons to take Denver, the value is going to come in on the Commanders.

For NFL betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.

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