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Broncos head coach Vance Joseph feels confident about Case Keenum keeping his post as the starting quarterback position, despite a mediocre performance before the LA Rams last week, in which they lost 23-20, and the Arizona Cardinals aren’t doing much better themselves, defeated 27-17 by the Vikings at Minnesota.
This time around, the Denver Broncos (2-4) will go on the road to the State Farm Stadium to try and put an end to their 4-game losing streak against Arizona (1-5). This Thursday Night match is scheduled to start at 8:20 pm ET.
Putting it simply, there’s no easy way to make any sharp predictions for Thursday’s game. Both teams haven’t been able to maintain a strong defensive make-up, they’ve been allowing more points than they should and their scoring figures haven’t been impressive at all. Notwithstanding Denver’s disappointing score card, many football pundits agree that they are getting better, if only too slowly, and expert odds market YOUWAGER.eu supports this theory, by placing them slightly on top with a -1 spread; total currently stands at 42 o/u.
Anemic Quarterbacks
Some are worried that Keenum’s underwhelming results could see a repeat against Arizona; Denver’s QB has pretty much gotten an interception through each of the previous 6 games of the present season; his passes have been deficient and his star role within his team waning as of late, and to top it all off, the Broncos have lost 9 of their last 10 games on the road. On the other end, the Cards are hoping they can win their first home showdown this season; in terms of turf defense, they’ve failed to hold their ground 4 times outta six at State Farm.
Why Broncos stand a better chance
From Thursday’s two contenders, the Broncos look to be the hungriest for a win. Denver’s GM John Elway made some “desperate” pleas to his team to… fight for their lives. Unwanted penalties and turnovers aside, Keenum and his team might gain some advantage points by successfully crowding Arizona’s backend and hindering Josh Rosen’s pass attempts, which shouldn’t be too hard to accomplish. In numeric terms, Broncos fans can rest a little easier: Denver is 5-1 ATS in their last six encounters vs. the Cardinals.
Undoubtedly, the Cards will do their part in trying to impose some kind of superiority over Denver’s failing defense. Just last week, Arizona’s running back David Johnson rushed for 1 touchdown and 55 yards against the Minnesota Vikings; additionally, the Cards hold a pretty decent emergency mode record, by keeping a 3-0 ATS figure during their last 3 matches as a dog. Sadly, Arizona is still trailing in the league’s rushing yards standings, with only 64 per-game average.
My Prediction: This is a close call if I’ve ever seen one. Denver hasn’t gotten any victories since Week 2 and they will do everything in their power to avoid a 5th-in-a-row. Early score predictions have Denver on top –about 80% of the times- by the length of a field goal, and that is more than the Broncos need to overcome their tiny spread. Broncos are the rational pick!
