Written by :
Published on :
The 2016 Week 9 Sunday Night Football game will be an AFC West showdown when the Denver Broncos travel to Northern California to face their divisional rival the Oakland Raiders with current betting odds set at Raiders -1 as of Saturday morning.
This is considered by most and the game of the week because of what is hanging in the balance, the teams are tied for first place in the AFC West with a record of 6-2 going into this game. This will also be the first time these two franchises face each other this season; whomever wins this football gambling game will have gained some ground in a potential tiebreaker scenario.
These are two of the best teams in the league at this point and they just so happen to play in the same division. So be prepared to be entertained on Sunday night, this should prove to be a great game.
Another similarity between the teams is both are coming from a 2-game winning streak looking to make that a 3-game winning streak. The Raiders have not been to the playoffs since 2002, 14 years without a postseason is a long time, if they wish to dispel any doubts about their worthiness as a team this year they need to win against the Super Bowl defending champions.
Last week the Raiders won on the road against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in overtime, they could have won the game without so much drama had they not committed 23 penalties, a new league record, the coaching team can’t be happy to be the team holding that record!
The Raiders simply cannot play that way when faced against a formidable defense like Denver’s, if they are unable to correct this, they will just be creating doors and opening them for the Broncos defense who is ranked 5th in NFL in points allowed per game and 3rd in yards allowed per game.
However, the Broncos defense is not infallible, they do have one weakness and it could be the saving grace for the Raiders, Denver is ranked 24th in the league in rushing yards allowed per game coming into this game. So, running backs Latavius Murray and DeAndre Washington will have a chance to bypass the defense and hopefully put some point up on the scoreboard for the Raiders.
If Murray and Washington can open the field for Derek Carr’s aerial game so, he can find Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree down the field then they may have done enough for their team to win.
The Denver Bronco’s offense continues to suffer without injured running back CJ Anderson; Devontae Booker could only carry the ball an average of 2.8 yards per carry in last week’s game against the Chargers, putting in evidence that he cannot pick up the slack for the injured starter.
The Raiders are 2 point favorites in this game as per AceSportsbook.com latest NFL football betting odds, the home field advantage coupled with the pressure they will be able to put on Trevor Siemian’s aerial game will be enough for them to win this game.
The Raiders will win this game 24-21.
