The top sportsbooks know there’s no better time to bet on NFL games than Monday Night Football. We’ve already seen some great contests on Monday nights this season, and in Week 7 the Houston Texans and Denver Broncos will be squaring off to provide our weekly dose of Monday Night Football action.
On Monday, October 24th, the Texans will be flying a mile into the sky to take on Denver in the Broncos back yard. The increase in altitude might affect Houston, but that’s what you have to deal with when playing at the Mile High. Will the top sportsbooks side with the team with home field advantage?
Week 7 – Monday, October 24th
Texans +7½ (-115) 40½ (-110) +275
Broncos -7½ (-105) 40½ (-110) -340
Apparently the bookmakers think the Broncos are unbeatable at home. At least, that’s the most logical inference when looking over these lines. While the Broncos are the rightful favorite, giving them -340 odds on the money line seems a little over the top, and so does the 9-point spread they’re supposed to cover. Furthermore, the overestimation in the odds is highlighted by Denver’s performance the last two weeks.
Even though the Broncos got off to a red hot start right out of the gate by going 4-0, they have since lost two consecutive games. In both contests, it was evident that Denver’s offense lacked the explosiveness to keep up with the competition they were facing. The Atlanta Falcons and the San Diego Charges are the two teams that handed the Broncos their losses, and both teams are pretty similar; a vapid defense being carried by a high-geared offense. In the game against the Falcons, the Broncos were without their starting quarterback, Trevor Siemian.
So, even though the Falcons outscored the Broncos 23-16, fans were lenient on the Broncos. But the following week Denver proved that sentiment wrong by losing to the Chargers 21-13, with Siemian under center. The Broncos defense had been the backbone of this team, and although they prevented the Falcons and the Chargers from scoring 40 points, the Broncos offense just wasn’t able to get the job done.
So what does this mean for the Texans, will they have a chance of upsetting the reigning Super Bowl Champions? If we were to take Denver’s only losses of the season as the precedent, it doesn’t seem like Houston will be able to get the job done. Houston is a high-caliber team and they currently share the same record as the Broncos, 4-2. But Houston’s offense is incomparable to either the Falcons or the Chargers.
The Texans defense may be leagues ahead of both Atlanta’s and San Diego’s, but defense isn’t what beats the Broncos. In order to upset Denver teams need to be able to put up points early in the game, and Houston’s offense isn’t skilled enough to do that against the Broncos legendary defense. With that in mind the odds posted on top sportsbooks seem to make more sense, even though they are still a tad lopsided.