OC Dooley

“2 UNIT” PRIMETIME FOOTBALL (Broncos -2 at home versus Bears in a 8:05 eastern kickoff broadcast on NBC-TV):

One has to wonder why winless and banged up Denver would be cast as a favorite even though this is their preseason home opener. The reason why NBC decided to broadcast tonight’s game on a national level is that Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler is making his grand return to Denver where he already has verbally slammed Broncos fans and will be booed heavily. New Denver head coach Josh McDaniels had the audacity to check into other available quarterbacks early in the summer which angered Cutler and ultimately led him to a “forced” trade to Chicago in exchange for Bears signal caller Kyle Orton. To make a long story short Denver fans attending early Bronco training camp practices were not impressed with Orton whose arm is not nearly as strong as that of the now departed Cutler. Those same Bronco fans already have been calling for reserve Chris Simms to take over as the team’s #1 signal caller. Basically this preseason home opener tonight is a chance for Orton to PROVE himself not only to local fans but to the entire nation as well. Tonight is also a huge chance for new head coach McDaniel to prove that he has not already “lost” his football team which has had its share of adversity. Not only did Cutler clash with his new head coach leading to an ouster, wide receiver Brandon Marshall was just suspended for the remainder of the preseason due to insubordination so the NBC announcers are going to have a lot to talk about tonight. As mentioned earlier one has to wonder why the oddsmakers would cast Denver as a favorite considering a recent INJURY bug that will force running backs Knowshon Moreno and Lamont Jordan to the SIDELINES tonight. Chicago comes in as an underdog even though they supposedly have the superior starting quarterback and are coming off an impressive 17-3 home victory against a very deep New York Giants squad. My database research indicates that Chicago is a horrible 2-12 ATS the last fourteen times they have come off a preseason victory in front of the “home” fans. Meanwhile Denver is on a 11-1 ATS roll when posting a below .500 exhibition record and 11-2 ATS/HOME when off a preseason outright defeat.