Raiders Again 2-Point Underdogs in Week 1 After Releasing Antonio Brown
- The Oakland Raiders have released Antonio Brown
- The Raiders were as high as a two-point favorite in their Week 1 contest but they are now a two-point underdog
- The Denver Broncos finished the season having lost four straight and 10 of 14
The Antonio Brown saga is over. On Saturday morning, the Oakland Raiders released Brown in a move that will have significant ramifications on their season.
In the long run, that might be the best move. In the short-term, the Raiders are now a two-point home dog on Monday Night Football. What’s the best bet in their first game of the season?
Broncos vs Raiders Odds
| Team | Spread | Moneyline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denver Broncos | -2 (-115) | -133 | Over 42.5 (-110) |
| Oakland Raiders | +2 (-105) | +113 | Under 42.5 (-110) |
Odds taken September 7.
Brown Finally Released
The Raiders traded third and fifth-round picks for Brown earlier in the offseason in a move that was viewed as a steal.
However, as the offseason went on, the Raiders found out what a mess Brown was. With bizarre frostbite issues to helmet grievances to posting fines on social media…the Raiders had enough.
In the end, nobody realized that Brown was this much of a head case. The Raiders made the right decision to cut bait as this would have been a season-long problem.
Raiders Now A Home Dog
The betting line for the Raiders-Broncos contest has jumped around a little bit on the Brown news.
We’ve seen the Broncos vs Raiders odds as high as Oakland -2 but now that Brown is officially out, the Broncos are a two-point road favorite. However, the line was already in this neighborhood in recent days.
The loss of Brown will be significant on the field but this could also be something that the franchise rallies behind. It’s hard to believe the players in the locker room were comfortable with the antics – especially since Brown hadn’t even showed up to training camp or preseason games.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f08f7reSTw
This could be something that brings the team together now that the prima donna has been booted to the curb.
How Good Are The Broncos?
The general assumption this season is that the Raiders might have a decent offense but their defense is supposed to be pretty bad. And now they just lost Brown, so their offense might not be a whole lot better than last season.
However, how good are the Denver Broncos?
We really don’t know much about Denver. Remember, this is a team that lost four straight to end the season and 10 of 14. They’ve made a number of changes in the offseason with head coach Vic Fangio coming in and Joe Flacco now at quarterback.
Are they in fact better?
We also don’t know how good this defense will be as they’re not the unit that won the Super Bowl a few years ago. Von Miller, Chris Harris and Bradley Chubb are standouts, but there are a lot of question marks.
What’s The Best Bet?
The Raiders offseason hasn’t been a mess; it’s just been Antonio Brown.
They’ve done a decent job in other areas by acquiring Tyrell Williams, Trent Brown and Josh Jacobs, which should make the offense better. We’ve also heard good things about tight end Darren Waller.
The defense is still bad but it should be slightly better.
Overall, I see these teams as about even and the Raiders are at home here. I’m willing to take a flier on them as a dog as I see them rallying around this Antonio Brown drama and putting together a strong effort to show that they don’t need him.
For over 15 years, Dave has been working in mainstream media and sports betting. He hosted a station on Sirius Satellite Radio for four years, and is currently a senior writer for AskMen. He's interviewed hundreds of hundreds of high-profile sports stars like Shaquille O'Neal and Floyd Mayweather.
