Broncos vs. Patriots Point Spread: NFL Week 6 Odds, Prediction
After an unexpected bye week, the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos are giving it another go in Week 6 out at Foxborough. With the added week of rest, both sides appear to be getting their starting pivots back too. New England has activated Cam Newton from their COVID-19 list, while Denver’s Drew Lock is fully taking part in practice.
Some Broncos voiced their frustrations about having to take a bye on such short notice. Among those was running back Melvin Gordon, who may be sidelined again this week after some off-field troubles.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
It’s been a lot of Peyton Manning or Tom Brady in these teams’ past contests, but the future is here with Newton and Lock set to square off. Newton’s Patriots hold a recent advantage over the Broncos, winning and covering in seven of their last 10 meetings.
New England’s won 17 of their last 20 at home, which has a lot to do with Bill Belichick who also happens to be 15-5 coming off a bye as the Pats’ head coach. Oddsmakers see Belichick thriving off the bye once again, with New England standing as a 10-point favourite despite the total on the lower side at 45.
Denver Broncos
It feels as if Denver has caught zero breaks this season, slowly falling behind in the AFC West at 1-3. The injury bug has hit the Broncos hard, and now their bye week got sprung on them.
The status of both Drew Lock and Melvin Gordon are up in the air Sunday, so the possibility of a Brett Rypien and Philip Lindsay tandem at quarterback and running back still isn’t out of the picture. Unsurprisingly, Denver has lacked an offensive threat this season while averaging 20.5 points per game for the 27th-ranked offence.
The Broncos lack of success scoring — plus the absence of Von Miller — makes their defensive efforts more impressive, as they rank just outside the top 10 with 24.5 points against per game.
New England Patriots
The Patriots latest loss proved what most thought about New England: they’re going to live or die by Cam Newton this year. Without their former MVP under centre, New England managed just 10 points and 172 passing yards in a loss at Kansas City.
Now that Newton and presumably star cornerback Stephon Gilmore are recovered from COVID-19, New England is much better than their 2-2 record suggests.
The Pats average the second-most rushing yards per game behind Newton and a plethora of running back. Rookie Damien Harris led the way with 100 yards on 17 carries in Week 4 but if we know anything about Belichick, it could be Harris, Rex Burkhead, or even James White getting the bulk of carries on any given week.
DEN
NE