Previews and betting tips for the 2024 NFL season - Raiders and Broncos

The 2024 NFL season kicks off with a Thursday/Friday doubleheader starting Sept. 5 with the full Week 1 Sunday schedule Sept. 8. The two-time defending Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs (-3, 46.5) host the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday, Sept. 5 in an AFC playoff rematch with those two teams the AFC favorites to reach Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9, 2025 in New Orleans. The Chiefs and Chargers season preview and odds show Kansas City as the AFC West favorite followed by the Los Angeles. Now we look at the Las Vegas Raiders and Denver Broncos season projections with both pegged as below .500 teams again after each finished the 2023 season 8-9 and out of the playoffs.

NFL Week 1 Matchups And Odds 

But as training camp continues and football and fantasy fans get the juices flowing ahead of the 2024 NFL season, sports bettors are pouring through the teams schedules, rosters, stats, odds, futures and props and making bets at leading online sportsbooks. That includes on the AFC teams. 

AFC West - Chiefs and Chargers
AFC East - Bills and Jets
AFC East - Dolphins and Patriots 
AFC North - Ravens and Bengals
AFC North - Browns and Steelers 
AFC South - Texans and Jaguars
AFC South - Titans and Colts 

NFL Scoring

Last season the NFL average scoring per game was 43.5 points, down from 43.8 in 2022 and 46.0 points per game in 2021. The record scoring of 49.6 points per game in 2020 seems gone, but new NFL kickoff rules will appear to improve starting field position by 2-5 yards with scoring expected to increase by at least 1.5 points per game. 

Football odds from BetOnline and top online sportsbooks refresh periodically and are subject to change, including on props and live betting. 

Las Vegas Raiders

Season Win Total: 6.5 (Over -135) 
Division Odds: +1000 / AFC Odds: +5000 / Super Bowl Odds: +10000
Record Last 2 Years: 8-9, 6-11 
Head Coach: Antonio Pierce (1st season) 

Raiders Schedule, Odds and Props 

Division games and advance point spreads (DraftKings)

Week 1 at LA Chargers (LV +3 / 42.5)
Week 5 at Denver (LV +1 / 41)
Week 8 Kansas City Chiefs (LV +5.5 / 47)
Week 12 Denver Broncos (LV -3 / 42) Fri
Week 13 at Kansas City Chiefs (LV +7.5 / 45.5) Fri
Week 18 Los Angeles Chargers (LV +1 / 43.5)  

Other Key Games
Week 2 Baltimore Ravens (LV +7.5 / 44.5)
Week 4 Cleveland Browns (LV +2.5 / 43.5)
Week 6 Pittsburgh Steelers (LV +1 / 42)
Week 9 at Cincinnati Bengals (LV +7 / 45)
Week 11 at Miami Dolphins (LV +6.5 / 47)
Week 16 Jacksonville Jaguars (LV +1 / 45.5
Week 17 at New Orleans (LV +2.5 / 43) 

Bye: Week 10 

Home: Denver, Kansas City, LA Chargers, Atlanta, Carolina, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville
Away: Denver, Kansas City, LA Chargers, Baltimore, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Miami, LA Rams 

Key Player Props (regular season at BetOnline) 

RB Z. White - O/U 800.5 Rushing Yards / 4.5 Rushing TD's / 225.5 Receiving Yards / 30.5 Receptions 
WR D. Adams O/U 1,050.5 Receiving Yards / 90.5 Receptions / 6.5 Rec TD's 
WR J. Myers O/U 750.5 Receiving Yards / 69.5 Receptions / 4.5 Rec TD's
TE B. Bowers - O/U 650.5 Receiving Yards / 57.5 Receptions / 4.5 Rec TD's
DL M. Crosby - O/U 13.5 Sacks - LB R. Spillane O/U 125.5 Tackles & Assists 

Stats and Notes (check back ahead of season for more betting notes). Handicapping and research includes sources and stats from beat writers, team sites and press notes, bettors and newsletters or betting guides like VSiN, Sharp Football, Playbook, CleveAnalytics, ESPN Stats & Info and more including FairwayJay's proprietary data base and stats. 

The Raiders have made the playoffs just twice since 2002. Antonio Pierce became the Raiders interim coach on Halloween last year after Josh McDaniels was fired, and the Silver and Black finished 5-4 allowing just 16 points per game on defense. The Raiders defense closed out the 2nd half of the season as the NFL’s 2nd best defense, by EPA allowed while creating 14 takeaways. The Raiders are one of just four teams that play their first two games on the road in 2024. The Raiders and AFC West teams play the rugged AFC North teams this season, and the Raiders play all four AFC North teams in the first half of the season. The Raiders are favored in just two games on the advance betting lines (CAR Week 3 and DEN Week 12), but Las Vegas is a +1 point underdog in 4-5 games. The Raiders averaged the fewest penalties per game of any team in the NFL last season.

Pro Football Focus Offensive Line Rankings Entering 2024 Season (Raiders No. 19, Broncos No. 15) 

Betting: Since 2001, the Raiders at Chargers games are 19-4 under the total (Week 1). The Raiders have covered 3-straight at home vs. the Chargers. Divisional 'Dogs are 40-18-1 ATS (69%) home or away in Week 1 over the past 12 seasons (5-3 last year).  The Raiders are 8-0 SU vs. the Broncos the last eight meetings, and 6-0 ATS the last six and 8-0 ATS the last eight home games vs. Denver. Quarterback Gardner Minshew is 1-14 SU and 2-13 ATS his last 15 starts as an NFL underdog. 

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Denver Broncos

Season Win Total: 5.5 (Over -125)
Division Odds: +1400 / AFC Odds: +8000 / Super Bowl Odds: +30000
Record Last 2 Years: 8-9, 5-12 
Head Coach: Sean Payton (2nd year) 

Broncos Schedule, Odds and Props 

Division games

Week 5 Las Vegas Raiders (DEN -1 / 41)
Week 6 Los Angeles Chargers (DEN +2.5 / 43)
Week 10 at Kansas City Chiefs (DEN +9 / 46)
Week 12 at Las Vegas Raiders (DEN +3 / 42)
Week 16 Los Angeles Chargers (DEN +4 / 43)
Week 18 Kansas City Chiefs (DEN +4 / 42.5) 

Other Key Games
Week 2 Pittsburgh Steelers (DEN +3 / 41.5)
Week 4 at New York Jets (DEN +7.5 / 42.5)
Week 9 at Baltimore Ravens (DEN +10.5 / 43)
Week 13 Cleveland Browns (DEN +3.5 / 43) - MNF
Week 17 at Cincinnati Bengals (DEN +8  / 45.5) 

Bye: Week 14 

Home: Kansas City, Las Vegas, LA Chargers, Atlanta, Carolina, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis
Away: Kansas City, Las Vegas, LA Chargers, Baltimore, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, NY Jets, Seattle

Key Player Props (BetOnline) 

QB B. Nix - O/U 2,950.5 Passing Yards / 17.5 Passing TD's / 11.5 Interceptions
RB J. Williams - O/U 675.6 Rushing Yards / 3.5 Rushing TD's / 250.5 Receiving Yards / 40.5 Receptions
WR C. Sutton - O/U 825.5 Receiving Yards / 65.5 Receptions / 5.5 Rec TD's
LB A. Singleton - O/U 154.5 Tackles & Assists 

Stats and Notes 

The Broncos have missed the playoffs eight straight years since winning the Super Bowl in 2015. The downfall started with the hiring of completely clueless coach Vance Joseph, who returned last season to be the Broncos defensive coordinator. WFT as the Broncos were buried by the Dolphins 70-20 in Week 5 during a 1-5 start. Denver’s defense faced the easiest schedule of QBs in the NFL and the highest percentage of snaps against QBs that ranked 25th or worse in EPA or were a backup quarterback. Now in 2024, Denver again faces an easier schedule of opposing QB's, and average overall difficult schedule. The Broncos went 8-1 when they won the turnover battle, and 0-8 when they lost it last season. Denver's defense also allowed a league-worst 5.0 yards per rush last season. Now 1st round draft pick QB Bo Nix enters the league at age 24, and if he starts, will face the toughest schedule of opposing pass defenses this season with nine games against last year’s top 11 pass defenses. Since 2000, 28 QBs have entered the draft at age 24 or older, and just one (David Gerrard) has made a Pro Bowl in their career. Sharp Football also notes that the Broncos are projected to face the second-toughest schedule of pass defenses with the second-toughest schedule of pass rushers. The trade for QB Russell Wilson two years ago was a monumental mistake, which I noted at the time. Now he's gone (Steelers) and the Broncos are holding the bag with an enormous cap hit and lost draft choices.

Broncos head coach Sean Payton has never won less than 7 games in his NFL career, but most pundits believe the Broncos will struggle mightily this season with a bottom-5 NFL roster. Five of the six position groups rank No. 26 or worst in the league by Sharp Football Analysis ratings. Don't be surprised if Payton and deflects blame and moves on from defensive coordinator Vance Joseph during the season after sending QB Russell Wilson packing this offseason and absorbing an $80+ million cap hit. 

Betting: Denver’s 5.5 game win total sits third lowest in the NFL and seems appropriate with questions at QB and a roster lacking talent. Playbook tidbit trends show the Broncos are 12-0 ATS as a non-division home 'Dog 3 > points off a division game (check Week 13 vs. Browns). The Broncos are also on a 1-12 ATS run against teams they play the week before facing the Chargers. The Broncos are 0-8 SU the last eight meetings with the Raiders and 0-8 ATS on the road vs. the Raiders. The 'under' is 10-1 the last 11 DEN/LAC meetings at Chargers. The preseason advance betting lines show Denver favored in just two games this season - home vs. Raiders in Week 5 and Panthers in Week 8. The pressure to get things right is a Mile High in Denver, but problems persist with player personnel and a lack of top talent.

You can bet on it.

FairwayJay is a proven sports handicapper with unparalleled success in NFL pointspread prognosis. He's posted 57% ATS winners at OSGA on his NFL Underdog side selections since 2016. Fairway is recognized as one of the sports industry's insightful analysts, and he chips in additional sports betting coverage and reporting on industry news and events. Follow FairwayJay here at OSGA.com and on X @FairwayJay for more sports betting insights.