Broncos look to regroup on road at Eagles
Denver missed a golden opportunity to all but lock up an AFC wild card slot this past week when JaMarcus Russell and the Oakland Raiders pulled off the 20-19 upset in the Mile High City. Now the Broncos must try and get back in the win column on the road in Philadelphia. Both teams come into this one banged up, with the Eagles likely having to go without both Jeremy Maclin and Michael Vick.
You know you’ve reached the bottom when JaMarcus Russell beats you with a last-minute touchdown drive.
The Denver Broncos (8-6 SU and ATS) suffered more than just humiliation in Sunday’s 20-19 loss to the visiting Oakland Raiders (+13½). WR/KR Eddie Royal was knocked out of the game in the fourth quarter with a neck injury, adding to the list of Denver’s walking wounded, which includes these names and many others:
RB Correll Buckhalter (ankle)
RT Ryan Harris (toe)
SS Renaldo Hill (ankle)
DB Ty Law (hamstring)
DT Marcus Thomas (shoulder)
Harris is out for the season; the status of the other four gentlemen remains in question for Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles (10-4 SU, 9-5 ATS).
Philadelphia is also down a few good men, these being the most recent of the fallen:
QB Michael Vick (quad)
WR Jeremy Maclin (foot)
CB/KR Ellis Hobbs (neck)
LB Omar Gaither (foot)
Hobbs and Gaither are gone for the year; Maclin (46 catches) has a torn plantar fascia and might be rested for the playoffs, for which the Eagles have already qualified with 10 wins. The larger concern here is Vick.
Even though he’s only on the field for a few plays here and there, those have been successful plays – three of them resulting in touchdowns. Vick suffered a contusion in last week’s 27-13 win over San Francisco (+7 road dogs) and is uncertain for Sunday’s game.
There is one other important piece of news on the Eagles injury front. RB Brian Westbrook (4.8 yards per carry) appears to be on track to be medically cleared by Tuesday, according to coach Andy Reid.
Westbrook has missed five games with a concussion; the Eagles are 5-0 SU and 4-1 ATS during that stretch, but that doesn’t mean they can’t use Westbrook against a Broncos team that just allowed Oakland to rush for 241 yards. Denver went into Week 14 with the league’s No. 12-ranked rushing defense, according to Football Outsiders.
The Broncos have been all over the betting map this year. They started the year at 6-0 SU and ATS, followed that up by going 0-4 SU and ATS in November, then won a pair, and then lost a pair. So much for consistency.
Just don’t blame QB Kyle Orton; he’s cooled off after looking like John Elway in the first half of the season, but Orton has been spreading the ball around nicely and has a 92.5 passer rating over his past four games. That’s right up there with Eagles QB Donovan McNabb’s 93.6 rating on the season.
Besides being rather average at stopping the run, the Broncos have some warts on special teams. Punter Mitch Berger (38.8 net yards) has been a smart midseason upgrade over Brett Kern (34.5 net yards), but he’s still in the bottom half of the league in terms of raw distance (43.4 gross yards).
Matt Prater is a perfect 13-of-13 from inside the 30, but 12-of-16 from between 30 and 50 yards. Again, nothing special here. Now Denver might have to make do without Royal, who has returned both a kick-off and a punt to the end zone this year.
The early betting odds were firmly on Philadelphia’s side as 7-point favorites. Game time is 4:15 p.m. Eastern (on CBS), so jetlag won’t be as much of a problem for Denver as it would for a typical 1:00 p.m. start. That hasn’t stopped the Eagles from getting almost 90 percent support from the marketplace, according to the consensus reports.
The 'over' is pulling in almost unanimous support on the total of 41 ½ points; Philly has the 'over' at 9-5 this year, and Denver has gone 'over' in each of its past three games after starting the season at 2-9.
Although rain might be coming in on the weekend, we should see mostly clear skies by Sunday and temperatures hovering just above freezing. Nothing these two offenses can’t handle.
Denver missed a golden opportunity to all but lock up an AFC wild card slot this past week when JaMarcus Russell and the Oakland Raiders pulled off the 20-19 upset in the Mile High City. Now the Broncos must try and get back in the win column on the road in Philadelphia. Both teams come into this one banged up, with the Eagles likely having to go without both Jeremy Maclin and Michael Vick.
You know you’ve reached the bottom when JaMarcus Russell beats you with a last-minute touchdown drive.
The Denver Broncos (8-6 SU and ATS) suffered more than just humiliation in Sunday’s 20-19 loss to the visiting Oakland Raiders (+13½). WR/KR Eddie Royal was knocked out of the game in the fourth quarter with a neck injury, adding to the list of Denver’s walking wounded, which includes these names and many others:
RB Correll Buckhalter (ankle)
RT Ryan Harris (toe)
SS Renaldo Hill (ankle)
DB Ty Law (hamstring)
DT Marcus Thomas (shoulder)
Harris is out for the season; the status of the other four gentlemen remains in question for Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles (10-4 SU, 9-5 ATS).
Philadelphia is also down a few good men, these being the most recent of the fallen:
QB Michael Vick (quad)
WR Jeremy Maclin (foot)
CB/KR Ellis Hobbs (neck)
LB Omar Gaither (foot)
Hobbs and Gaither are gone for the year; Maclin (46 catches) has a torn plantar fascia and might be rested for the playoffs, for which the Eagles have already qualified with 10 wins. The larger concern here is Vick.
Even though he’s only on the field for a few plays here and there, those have been successful plays – three of them resulting in touchdowns. Vick suffered a contusion in last week’s 27-13 win over San Francisco (+7 road dogs) and is uncertain for Sunday’s game.
There is one other important piece of news on the Eagles injury front. RB Brian Westbrook (4.8 yards per carry) appears to be on track to be medically cleared by Tuesday, according to coach Andy Reid.
Westbrook has missed five games with a concussion; the Eagles are 5-0 SU and 4-1 ATS during that stretch, but that doesn’t mean they can’t use Westbrook against a Broncos team that just allowed Oakland to rush for 241 yards. Denver went into Week 14 with the league’s No. 12-ranked rushing defense, according to Football Outsiders.
The Broncos have been all over the betting map this year. They started the year at 6-0 SU and ATS, followed that up by going 0-4 SU and ATS in November, then won a pair, and then lost a pair. So much for consistency.
Just don’t blame QB Kyle Orton; he’s cooled off after looking like John Elway in the first half of the season, but Orton has been spreading the ball around nicely and has a 92.5 passer rating over his past four games. That’s right up there with Eagles QB Donovan McNabb’s 93.6 rating on the season.
Besides being rather average at stopping the run, the Broncos have some warts on special teams. Punter Mitch Berger (38.8 net yards) has been a smart midseason upgrade over Brett Kern (34.5 net yards), but he’s still in the bottom half of the league in terms of raw distance (43.4 gross yards).
Matt Prater is a perfect 13-of-13 from inside the 30, but 12-of-16 from between 30 and 50 yards. Again, nothing special here. Now Denver might have to make do without Royal, who has returned both a kick-off and a punt to the end zone this year.
The early betting odds were firmly on Philadelphia’s side as 7-point favorites. Game time is 4:15 p.m. Eastern (on CBS), so jetlag won’t be as much of a problem for Denver as it would for a typical 1:00 p.m. start. That hasn’t stopped the Eagles from getting almost 90 percent support from the marketplace, according to the consensus reports.
The 'over' is pulling in almost unanimous support on the total of 41 ½ points; Philly has the 'over' at 9-5 this year, and Denver has gone 'over' in each of its past three games after starting the season at 2-9.
Although rain might be coming in on the weekend, we should see mostly clear skies by Sunday and temperatures hovering just above freezing. Nothing these two offenses can’t handle.
