There have been years when a contest between the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos would be a big attraction. This year, it will have trouble competing with Christmas Eve night activities.
The Patriots are horrible.
Bill Belichick is probably coaching his final few games for Robert Kraft, and New England is good enough to lose to anyone anywhere. That is certainly how the public sees this primetime meeting.
The Denver Broncos are the third most-bet team of the day by the public. This is a Denver team that got tagged for 70 points earlier this year and comes into tonight’s game with as many losses as wins.
Over the past two seasons, the Broncos have made major moves to get back into the postseason hunt. Last year, they brought in one time Super Bowl winner Russell Wilson to run their offense, and he turned out to be a total bust in the Mile High City. He finished his first campaign with the Broncos, a team he beat in Super Bowl XLVIII while a member of the Seattle Seahawks, in last place in the AFC West Division with only five wins against 12 losses.
This season, Denver added another former Super Bowl winner, Head Coach Sean Payton. His initial weeks in charge of the Broncos looked a lot like the mess Wilson orchestrated last season. Denver got off to a one win and five loss start behind Payton, and as mentioned, was tagged for 70 points in a 50 point loss to the Miami Dolphins.
The fortunes of the Broncos have turned in recent weeks, as Wilson and Payton seem to be getting on the same page. The Broncos are still mathematically alive for a postseason berth with their seven wins and seven losses, and would need victories in their final three games and a lot of help to crack the playoff field.
They are most likely not going to play any games after the regular season concludes in 2023, but there is renewed hope in Denver now that the team has won six of their most recent eight games.
As far as the Patriots are concerned, they are less than a shadow of the team Belichick combined with Tom Brady to set the standard in the league for nearly twenty years. The team has not drafted well in recent seasons, does not have a franchise quarterback on their roster and are well behind the Broncos in their development for the future.
So, you can understand while the public is backing the Broncos in this primetime holiday feature. Yet, giving points with a still sputtering Broncos team is a high risk, and betting on the Patriots is suicide.
I’ll sit by the fire log tonight, listen to Christmas music and visit with the family without any concern for this game until I need to post the score after it’s over.