DENVER BRONCOS
Mike Shana-Win: Call Mike Shanahan what you want, and he may or may not look like Splinter, but the head coach of the Denver Broncos wins football games. With a 44-26 record over the last 4 years, and since the start of 1995 season (Mike’s first year as head coach of the Broncos) no coach has won more games than Shanahan. Back to back NFL Championships in 1997 and 1998, Mike’s Broncos have won 130 games, been to 9 conference championships, and 6 Super Bowls. His career record in Denver is 130-79. While the Broncos only managed an 9-7 2006, they look ripe for a big year in ’07.
Over or Under: Over the last 4 seasons, the oddsmakers have the Broncos pegged pretty well as they’re 35-32-1 O/U over that time span. Last season Denver finished 9-7 O/U, but it was a tale of two halves. To start the season, the normally potent Broncos offense was anemic, as the team finished with the under in 7 of their first 11 games. But when Jay Cutler took the reigns in Week 13, the tides changed, and Denver finished the season hitting the over 5 straight games. Not only was the offense more explosive, hitting 20 points or better in all 5 games, but the young QB made a few mistakes leading to easy points for the opposition. At home, the Broncos are more apt to cover the over, going 18-13 O/U during the last 4 years. With Travis Henry in the fold, and an off-season under Cutler’s belt, Denver could be ready for a high-scoring 2007.
Against the Spread: Last year the Broncos were an abysmal 6-10 ATS, and only 2-6 at home, as they lost ATS in each of their last 6 games in Denver. Despite the “Mile High” home field advantage that seems to help Denver (30-12 SU over the last 5 seasons) their poor ATS record isn’t that abnormal. In 2005, Denver was 6-3-1 ATS and in 2004 they were 4-3-1, but during the 3 years prior to that the Broncos went 10-15 at home ATS, making their 5 year ATS record 19-21-2, which is hardly what gamblers expect. On the road, Denver has an 18-12-2 ATS regular season record over the last 4 seasons. That’s solid.
Straight Up: Like I said above, Mike Shanahan is a winner. His 130 wins as head coach of the Broncos is nothing to laugh at. Over the past 4 seasons, the Broncos are 44-26, one of the most winning teams in the NFL. They are much better at home (25-9 SU) than they are on the road (19-17), but winners either way. Last year was the Broncos first single digit win total since 2002, and the Broncos haven’t had a losing seasons since 1999.
Western Warriors: In the Broncos’ history, they are 219-135-1 SU all time against the AFC West. That’s conference domination. They are also 184-152-19 ATS during that span. Most recently, over the last 4 seasons, Denver has a 67% winning percentage over their conference foes, dialing up a 16-8 SU record, and are an impressive 13-8-3 ATS. That’s even more impressive when you consider that the Broncos were only 3-3 SU last season and 1-5 ATS in 2006. Will the Broncos return to their AFC West dominance, or will it be another struggle in 2007?
Out of the Gates: I had to include this impressive statistic. Over the last 5 seasons, the Broncos are 23-6 SU over the first 6 weeks. That’s a 79% winning percentage over the first 6 games on the year. That’s absurd. If the Broncos do anything well, the come out of the gates with a bang.
