The Redskins haven’t been all that consistent in the back half of the 2017 NFL season, covering just twice in the last nine games when they successfully covered in the game before. But the Denver Broncos have only covered two of their last 10 and are 1-8 against the spread over their last nine games on the road.
It’s almost split at the sportsbook, with just over 58 percent of TopBet bettors siding with the home team Redskins to cover this Christmas Eve.
To say the Denver Broncos season has been a bad one might be an understatement. They come into this game with only five wins, and their are some questions if Vance Joseph will even make it into his second year as the head coach of this team. The Broncos have been playing a bit better as of late though, and that might be enough for him to save his job at least for now.
They come into this game having won two games in a row, and although they were against lower tier teams, a win is a win. Over the last two games they have scored 48 points total which doesn’t seem like a lot, but for a offense that has really struggled that is a huge step forward. The defense has also given up only 13 points over the last two games, and that is a change after the offense really struggled early in the season.
The biggest question for the Broncos coming into this game is if Paxton Lynch will get the start. If he is healthy it sounds like the Broncos would like him to start the last two games, but he is still day to day with the high ankle sprain and their are questions if he will be ready to go for this game. If he isn’t able to go it would be Brock Osweiler who would get the start again in this one, and he performed well in the last game.
On the other side of this match up is the Washington Redskins who have also had a disappointing season, although not quite as disappointing as the Broncos. The Redskins come into this game having lost two of the last three games. The one win during that stretch did come in the last game against the Arizona Cardinals, a game they came out ahead by a final score of 20-15.
For the Redskins they have really struggled on the defensive side of the ball. They come into this game giving up 25.6 points per game which is 29th in the NFL. The offense has been decent this year, but hasn’t done enough to overcome the struggles the defense has had so far this year. To win this game the Redskins are going to need to have the defense play better. They can’t let the Broncos move the ball up and down the field on them.
Writer’s Prediction
The Redskins are the better team, and their defense will step up big in this game. They will use a strong first half to come out ahead in this one and cover the spread.
