Denver Broncos vs Washington Football Team Point Spread Picks

After facing the Saints, Chiefs, and Packers, the Washington defense catches a break facing a Denver offense that is terrible. They've lost four in a row while averaging just 16 points. Washington hung tough last week at 6-1 Green Bay, outgaining the Packers 430-304 before losing, 24-10. Washington never punted as QB Taylor Heinicke threw for 268 yards and ran for 95 yards on 10 carries. Washington is 8-2 ATS after gaining 350+ yards in their last game, and coach Ron Rivera is 27-9 ATS after a road loss. Last place Denver has lost four straight despite being favored three times. They come off a 17-14 loss at Cleveland as the offense had just 223 total yards. NFL home favorites like Denver off of a road loss are 56-102 ATS when facing a team off a defeat of 14 or more points. Play Washington.

Denver has incentive in this game after starting the preseason 0-2 and blowing a late lead in losing to the Bears 24-23 last week. Coach Vance Joseph won all four exhibition games in his first season in 2017 and went 3-0-1 ATS. Washington is in desperate need of running backs and it showed as the Redskins signed 33-year-old Adrian Peterson to a one-year deal on Tuesday. Injuries have taken their toll and the Redskins eked out a 15-13 win over the Jets in Week Two. Colt McCoy went 12-of-16 for 140 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. Kevin Hogan was 7-of-11 for 58 yards and Alex Smith was 4-of-6 for 48 yards and all of Washington's points came on field goals. Jay Gruden is 13-5 UNDER in preseason, including 4-0 UNDER last year. Case Keenum reportedly is upset with his performance so far although he did complete 8-of-13 for 78 yards with no picks against Chicago. Chad Kelly was 7-of-9 for 90 yards and a touchdown and Paxton Lynch looks to be on the outside looking in. The Broncos defense held the Bears to only 55 yards on 2.4 yards per rush. Look for Denver to bounce back, so play the Broncos and the UNDER.

These two teams are playing out the season and out of the playoff picture, but at least Denver has won two straight and has three extra days off after its 25-23 win at Indianapolis on Thursday night. Trevor Siemian was knocked out for the year, but old standby Brock Osweiler came in and finished 12-of-17 for 194 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. The Broncos rushed for 249 yards with C.J. Anderson leading the way with 158 yards on 30 carries. Washington comes off a 20-15 victory over Arizona, but the Redskins are 0-4 ATS their last four games after a win and 2-7 ATS their last nine games following an ATS win. The Redskins were outscored 68-27 their two previous games and managed only 31 rushing yards against the Cardinals on 1.6 yards per carry. The Redskins have gone OVER their last four games when following a win and 25 of their last 35 overall. Also, Washington is 16-5 OVER against teams with losing records and 22-9 OVER when following an ATS win. There's an outside chance that Paxton Lynch could be ready this week and start for Denver, but either way the oddsmakers have posted a relatively low total for this matchup. Play the points on the Broncos and the OVER.

There is no question that the Denver Broncos are an efficient offensive team, but what Peyton manning was doing was simply unsustainable. He has cooled off a bit, and teams are learning from film what the Broncos are doing and are making some adjustments. Manning took a lot of big hits last week, and missed practice on Wednesday. The ball simply didn't look good coming out against Indianapolis. The Colts showed a recipe for disrupting Manning and you can be sure the rest of the league took notice. Washington does get good pressure, so I think they can hurry Manning enough to take a couple of drives away from him. Washington is going to try and run the ball here to try to shorten the game and keep the Broncos offense on the sidelines. And, running the ball is what Washington does well (4th in the league in rushing yards per game and 2nd in yards per carry). But, Denver has done well against the run, so it will be interesting to see this one play out. Washington is 8-2 to the UNDER in their last 10 vs. a winning home team. They are also 9-2 UNDER the past couple of seasons when facing great offensive teams (those like Denver averaging 5.7+ yards per play). And, since the arrival of Mike Shanahan, the Redskins are a perfect 8-0 UNDER on the road vs. winning teams. These expected shootouts, much like Philly and Dallas last week, often don't pan out. Take the UNDER.