Nine weeks of the NFL regular season are in the books, and nine weeks remain, which means the second half of the season begins tonight when the Denver Broncos host the Las Vegas Raiders at Empower Field for Thursday Night Football.
One of the biggest surprises of the first half has been the Broncos (7-2), who share the best record in the NFL with the Colts and Patriots. (What odds could you have gotten for that trifecta prior to the season?) Meanwhile, the Raiders (2-6) are having another Raiders-type year — only the Dolphins (2-7), the Jets (1-7), Titans (1-8) and Saints (1-8) have worse records.
Denver is a 9.5-point favorite over Las Vegas on Thursday.
The Broncos are doing their fans with high blood pressure no favors. They have won after trailing by eight or more points in the fourth quarter in three of their last five games. That’s tied for the most such wins in a five-game span all-time.
Meanwhile, the Raiders are doing no favors to their fanbase. They have allowed 30-plus points in back-to-back games (both losses) and rank in the bottom-five in the NFL in scoring offense (16.5 points per game) and total offense (283.3 yards per game).
While the Broncos-Raiders game is the marquee attraction on the sporting landscape on Thursday, there are other viewing options with Clippers-Suns in the NBA and a two-game college football slate.
Below is a snapshot of what to watch and bet on Thursday, Nov. 6. All times Eastern.
NFL best bets, where to watch
Raiders at Broncos
Time: 8:15 p.m. | Location: Denver | TV: Prime Video | Stream: Fubo (Try for free)
SportsLine picks — Model: Broncos -9.5 | Expert: Broncos -8.5 (Larry Hartstein)
Will Brinson notes that Denver has feasted playing bad defenses at Empower Field, scoring 28 (against the Bengals), 33 (Giants) and 44 (Cowboys) points. That doesn’t bode well for a Las Vegas unit that ranks 23rd in the league in points per game allowed (26.3). In addition, that defense was…
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