Bettors have been taking advantage of breaking news surrounding several games Week 16 NFL games, and betting lines are moving as a result. The Lions-Broncos, Giants-Redskins, and Ravens-Browns matchup have all seen significant NFL line movements in recent days.
Neither the Detroit Lions nor the Denver Broncos are playing in the postseason and, as a result, the line in today’s game in Denver opened as a pick ’em. The line has jumped to seven points in favor of the Broncos on news that Detroit coach Matt Patricia might now be coaching for his job.
The New York Giants are at Washington, and the home team opened as a three-point favorite. When the Giants announced that quarterback Daniel Jones will start get the start over Eli Manning, the line went to a pick ’em.
Baltimore is at Cleveland, and opened as a 7-point pick. Bettors jumped all over that number, and drove it up to 10.
Line Movement Favors Ravens
Baltimore has been a double-digit favorite in four other games this season, and has covered in two of them. They were laying 17 points last week against the New York Jets, and won, 42-21.
Today’s game marks the second meeting between the Ravens and Browns this season. In their first game on Sept. 29, Cleveland was a 7-point underdog on the road, and won outright, 40-25. Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said on Monday his team needs a much better outing than they had the last time the two teams met.
“We’ll have to play a lot better than we did in that game, obviously, to hold them down,” Harbaugh said. “We’re clearly a better defense [now]. How we do against them this time remains to be seen. That’ll be up to us.”
After that loss, the Ravens began their current 10-game winning streak.
Seven-Point Jump for Broncos
The biggest point swing this week has been the movement in the Lions-Broncos game where bettors appear confident that Denver can handle Detroit at home.
Denver quarterback Drew Lock will be starting his fourth game, and so far, his coach Vic Fangio is pleased with the young QB’s performance. Lock has 657 yards in three games, with five touchdowns and three interceptions.
“Overall he’s done well,†Fangio said. “We like his progress.â€
What has Fangio far more concerned, however, is the Broncos’ running game. Last week against the Chiefs, the Broncos gained just 52 yards among four players.
“Like anytime it’s not working, you take a look at the blocking, you take a look at the running and the play-calling – are you calling them at a good time?†Fangio told reporters during his media conference call. “ All those things play a part in it. We just haven’t run it well enough here the last few games for sure.â€
Playing to Stay out of the Cellar
The Washington Redskins and the New York Giants are both 3-11, and tied for last in the NFC East. The loser of this game will have the dubious distinction of having a firm grip on the cellar. They will also have an inside track toward a high draft pick, since Cincinnati is the only team with a worse record at 1-11.
The Redskins already fired their head coach (Jay Gruden), and the Giants might not be far behind. Pat Shurmur is rumored to be on the hot seat. He told reporters that he expects there to be talk when the team has only won three games.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t won enough games this year, so that’s why there’s all this conversation,†Shurmur said. “That’s why there’s all this talk.â€
The game opened at three points in Washington’s favor, but has since gone down to a pick ’em.