The Denver Broncos have failed to cover the posted spread at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com in each of their last four games and in seven of their past nine outings. With Peyton Manning back at quarterback the Broncos are one of the four favorites on the betting board for the divisional round of the NFL playoffs this weekend.
NFL playoff odds 2016: Broncos, Patriots among Divisional Round favorites
The Broncos and Pats are favorites in the AFC while the Panthers and Cards are favorites in the NFC for the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
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The Broncos, the top seed in the AFC, are early 6.5-point home favorites for their late Sunday afternoon matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and they’ll give the starting quarterback job back to Manning this week after he came off the bench in their regular-season finale to lead them 27-20 win over the San Diego Chargers as 10-point betting favorites.
It was Brock Osweiler at quarterback for Denver in Week 15 when they lost 34-27 at Pittsburgh, pushing the 7-point spread on the road in that contest. Osweiler actually threw for 296 yards with three touchdowns and one TD run in that contest, while Steelers counterpart Ben Roethlisberger threw for 380 yards with three touchdowns and two INTs.
Roethlisberger led the Steelers to an 18-14 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in their Wild Card contest, but missed some time in the game with a shoulder injury. Top wide receiver Antonio Brown also suffered a concussion late in the game against the Bengals; the status of both Roethlisberger and Brown will bear watching over the course of the upcoming week.
In the other AFC matchup during the divisional round, the New England Patriots are early 5-point favorites at home against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs ran roughshod over the Houston Texans in their Wild Card Weekend matchup, easily covering the spread as road favorites in a 30-0 victory. Alex Smith threw for 190 yards and a touchdown in that victory.
Kansas City blasted New England 41-14 as a 2.5-point home underdog when they last met in September 2014.
Over in the NFC the Seattle Seahawks are early 3-point road underdogs at Carolina for Sunday after they survived their trip to frozen Minnesota on the weekend, winning 10-9 but failing to cover the posted spread as road favorites. Carolina topped Seattle by a score of 27-23 back on October 18, winning that game as 7-point road underdogs on the betting lines.
Finally, the Green Bay Packers will visit the Arizona Cardinals for the second time in a month on Saturday after they won in Washington on Wild Card Weekend. Aaron Rodgers and company will be looking for better results in this rematch, as the Cardinals bounced them 38-8 as a 6-point home favorite on December 27. Arizona is an early 7.5-point favorite for this week.
NFL Divisional Playoffs betting lines
Green Bay at Arizona -7.5
Pittsburgh at Denver -6.5
Kansas City at New England -5
Seattle at Carolina -3
