The regular season comes to a close for the Denver Broncos and the Oakland Raiders, who meet at Sports Authority Field at Mile High Stadium for an AFC West Week 17 matchup. This game will feature the NFL’s fourth-leading receiver, Denver’s Thomas (1,389 yards, 11 TDs). Denver (11-3) and Oakland (3-12) enter this week’s game going in two different directions. The game kicks off Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET and can be seen on CBS.
In a Week 10 meeting between these two teams, the Broncos smashed the Raiders 41-17. Denver has won six straight over Oakland, going back to the 2011 season. Denver’s Thomas had a great performance the last time they played, registering six receptions for 63 yards and two TDs. Anderson contributed with 90 yards on 13 attempts. Rivera had a good performance for Oakland, totaling six catches for 64 yards and one TD.
Oddsmakers have deemed the Denver and Oakland game an even matchup and the Over/Under (O/U) is zero points. Sitting at 11-3 Straight Up (SU) and 7-7 Against The Spread (ATS), the Broncos will look to improve as they head into Week 17. In the past five games, Denver is 4-0 SU and 2-2 ATS. They come into the game with the fourth-ranked scoring offense in the league, averaging 29.1 points per game. Denver has made opposing defenses pay as of late, averaging 131.8 rushing yards per game over the last five weeks, well over its season average of 111.3. Averaging just 15.9 points per game, Oakland doesn’t seem like much of a threat to the Broncos defense on paper. Oakland’s offense will need to use all of its options against the second-ranked Broncos run defense, which gives up just 71.6 rushing yards per game. Based off of its tendencies, the Oakland defense will probably make it easy on the Broncos right from the first whistle. The Raiders allow their opponents an average of 7.1 points in the first 15 minutes, more than any other team in the league. Based on Oakland’s average time of possession of 28:25 per game that ranks 29th in the league, look for the Broncos to control the pigskin.
As for their opponent, the Raiders head into Week 17 with records of 8-7 ATS and 3-12 SU. The Raiders went 3-2 both SU and ATS over the last five games. Over the course of the season, Oakland has averaged 77.9 rushing, but over the last five weeks, they’ve been putting up much more than that (108.6 yards). Shifting to the other side of the ball, it might be tough for the Broncos to keep up with Oakland’s defense in a few areas. The Broncos are matching up with Oakland’s defense at an inopportune time. Over the last five games, Oakland’s opponents have only averaged 94.2 yards on the ground. The yellow flags just keep coming for Denver when they take its home field. The team averages the most penalty yards during home games in the league with 71.
Predictions: SU Winner – DEN, ATS Winner – DEN, O/U – Under
Notes
Denver 4-0-1 SU in its last 5 games.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Denver’s last 5 games at home.
Denver is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home.
Denver is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Oakland.
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Denver’s last 10 games when playing Oakland.
Denver is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Oakland.
Denver is 13-6 SU in its last 19 games when playing at home against Oakland.
Denver is 1-7 ATS in its last 8 games when playing at home against Oakland.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Denver’s last 5 games when playing at home against Oakland.
Oakland is 3-0 SU when leading at the start of the fourth quarter this season. Denver is 10-0 SU when carrying a lead into the fourth quarter.
This season, Denver is only 1-3 SU in games where it loses the turnover battle.
Dating back to last year, Denver is 10-1 SU against AFC West opponents, while Oakland is just 2-9 SU against division foes.
Denver is rated higher in the ground game on both sides of the ball. Its 16th-ranked rushing attack will face the 21st-ranked run defense of Oakland, while its second-ranked run defense will look to contain the bottom-ranked rushing game of the Raiders.
