In 2018, the Denver Broncos struggled to a 6-10 finish on the season, as their experiment with Case Keenum at quarterback failed. Now the Broncos have brought in Joe Flacco to run the offense, at least for the 2019 campaign, a season after the Baltimore Ravens thought that Flacco’s time was past, giving the keys to Lamar Jackson.
The Broncos play in the AFC West, which means they have a rebuilding team alongside them, in the Oakland Raiders. They also have the Kansas City Chiefs, who went to the AFC Championship last season — and boosted their defense (although Tyreek Hill may be gone for the season thanks to battery claims, leaving the offense in some disarray), and the Los Angeles Chargers, who have the best defense in the division and one of the most highly talented quarterbacks in the league never to have won anything significant in Philip Rivers.
How can the Denver Broncos fare with respect to a NFL betting win total of 6 ½ games? Check out our thoughts on their prospects.
Denver Broncos 2019 Season Win/Loss Total Betting Prediction
Based on 2018 win-loss percentages, the Broncos will have the second-toughest schedule in the NFL. They have a new coaching staff and new players from trade, the draft and free agency. Let’s start with a look at Flacco. He started nine games in 2018 for the Ravens before going down to injury. That got him replaced with Jackson, even when Flacco returned, because Jackson was winning so steadily that it did not make sense to Ravens management to bring him back. This seemed a lot like the last weeks of Tony Romo’s career in Dallas, when Dak Prescott came on and went 13-3, and the team would not replace Prescott even when Romo returned and was healthy. Romo, of course, went to the CBS broadcast booth, while Flacco has moved on to Denver. He’ll be using the same system he used in 2014, which Gary Kubiak had designed; that year, Flacco had a career season. Can he deliver similar results five years later? A key addition in the trenches is offensive tackle Ja’Wuan James, a free agent who will anchor the right side of the line. He has only played an entire regular season slate twice in his first five seasons, but if he can prove durable, the Broncos should have some stability on that end of the offensive line, making run production and pass protection both more reliable. The team added Kareem Jackson to their defensive backfield, signing a contract that will pay him $11 million per season. He was drafted as a corner, but he can also play safety, making him more versatile than many defensive backs the Broncos have now. He took most of his reps in OTAs at the safety position, but he also took some at corner. But even at safety he provides a boost to a defense that was porous last season.- Week 1: at Oakland (Monday)
- Week 2: Chicago
- Week 3: at Green Bay
- Week 4: Jacksonville
- Week 5: at L.A. Chargers
- Week 6: Tennessee
- Week 7: Kansas City
- Week 8: at Indianapolis
- Week 9: Cleveland
- Week 10: BYE
- Week 11: at Minnesota
- Week 12: at Buffalo
- Week 13: L.A. Chargers
- Week 14: at Houston
- Week 15: at Kansas City
- Week 16: Detroit
- Week 17: Oakland
