Oddsshark recently released over/under regular season win totals for National Football League teams.
Here is a look at the Denver Broncos in the AFC West.
Over/under
Oddsshark has Denver at 10 regular season wins. Last year, the Broncos were 12-4 in the regular season.
The upside
Denver’s over/under depends on only one person – Peyton Manning.
Manning faded down the stretch last season, and during the offseason, much of that blame was shifted to injury issues. Now, the Broncos are saying Manning is healthy. If that’s the case, the Broncos should cruise to another AFC West title.
The Chiefs, Chargers and Raiders won’t offer much resistance, and the Broncos should have a stellar defense to go along with a supposed healthy Manning.
The Broncos’ defense features two top cornerbacks in Aqib Talib and Chris Harris, to go along with quality pass rushers Demarcus Ware and Von Miller.
Head coach Gary Kubiak has a track record of churning out quality run games, so if he can do the same this year, it will take some pressure off of Manning, especially as the season progresses through November and December.
The downside
Were Manning’s issues last year really because of health or father time? That will likely show toward the middle part of the season. I don’t buy Manning just laboring through an injury last season. He has struggled in cold weather, and as his age has continued to climb, he has fared even worse in cool climates.
He won’t have much help up front either. His offensive line will be extremely inexperienced. In addition to that, he lost his tight end to free agency. In his career, Manning has made high-level careers for his receivers. However, at this juncture of his career, that may be fading away.
Schedule-makers also didn’t do the Broncos any favors. Sure, Denver does play in the AFC West, which may not feature more than one team over .500.
While that’s a positive for the Broncos, they do have other difficult contests, with games against Baltimore, Cincinnati, Green Bay, New England, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh. Also during those dreaded months of November and December, Denver must play against the Packers, Chicago, Kansas City, New England, Oakland, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and San Diego outdoors in possible cooler climates.
The verdict
This isn’t the AFC champion Broncos from two years ago. This team features less talent across the board and its main weapon, Manning, may have trouble staying upright due to an inexperienced offensive line.
That doesn’t bode well for Denver. The division shouldn’t place too much of a burden on the Broncos, but the rest of the schedule won’t be easy. It appears Denver may be past its window of being a Super Bowl contender. Experts still believe this team can win double-digit games, but if Manning isn’t at 100 percent, then this team isn’t getting to double digits.
Don’t anticipate Manning to be the same quarterback this season and take the under.
