The Detroit Lions will travel to Empower Field at Mile High on Sunday afternoon to take on the Denver Broncos in a non-conference matchup. The Lions are last in the NFC North with a 1-10-1 record and are coming off a 29-27 home win over the Minnesota Vikings. Jared Goff went 25-of-41 for 296 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. The Broncos are last in the AFC West with a 6-6 record and are coming off a 22-9 road loss against the Kansas City Chiefs. Teddy Bridgewater finished 22-of-40 for 257 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
Lions at Broncos Betting Preview
Detroit Lions Preview: Hock & Roll
The Detroit Lions have a solid pass-catcher in tight end T.J. Hockenson has been playing well this season as he has 61 receptions on 84 targets for 583 yards (9.6 yards per catch) with four receiving touchdowns. He was listed as limited on Wednesday’s injury report with a hand injury so he is officially listed as questionable. In his last game against the Vikings, Hockenson finished with four catches on eight targets for 49 yards (12.3 yards per reception) with a receiving touchdown.
The Detroit Lions have been struggling a bit on the defensive side of the field as they are giving up 26.3 points per game. In their previous game against the Minnesota Vikings, they allowed 27 points on 426 total yards of offense (326 passing, 100 rushing). The Lions were good at stopping drives as the Vikings went 6-of-13 on third down attempts and 0-of-1 on their only fourth-down opportunity.
Denver Broncos Preview: J-Will Stepping Up
Running back Javonte Williams has been playing well for the Denver Broncos this season out of the backfield as he has 140 rushing yards for 670 yards (4.8 yards per carry) with two rushing touchdowns as well as 33 receptions for 269 yards (8.2 yards per catch) with two receiving touchdowns. In his last game against the Chiefs, Williams finished with 23 rushing attempts for 102 yards (4.4 yards per carry) and six catches for 76 yards (12.7 yards per reception) with a receiving touchdown.
The Denver Broncos have been playing extremely well up to this point this season as they are allowing 18.2 points per game. In their previous game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Denver gave up 22 points on 267 total yards of offense (178 passing, 89 rushing). The Broncos got some key stops at times as the Chiefs went 5-of-12 on third down attempts and did not attempt any fourth-down tries. Denver needs to stop the run a little better as Kansas City averaged 3.7 yards per rushing attempt.
Who to Bet on Lions at Broncos
The top sportsbooks are currently listing this game as the Denver Broncos favored by 9.5 points and that is way too high for my liking. The Detroit Lions are 8-4 against the spread while the Denver Broncos are 6-6 against the spread this season. Jared Goff has been playing well as in the last two games, Goff has five touchdowns and an interception. Compare that to Teddy Bridgewater has two touchdowns and two interceptions in that same stretch of games. The Lions have covered in each of their last four games so go with the Detroit Lions to cover the spread in this game on the road.