It’s week 1 of the NFL season and we have an exciting matchup between two AFC West rivals when the Las Vegas Raiders travel to take on the Denver Broncos. Denver will have a new head coach as the Broncos hired Sean Payton, former Super Bowl-winning head coach, of the New Orleans Saints. 

Will the Broncos start the season off with a win under the Payton regime or will the Raiders get the win in this rivalry on Sunday? Let’s take a deeper dive into how these teams are projected to fare in the 2023 NFL season.

The Las Vegas Raiders finished the 2023 NFL Preseason with a record of 2-1 with a win at home against the San Francisco 49ers by a score of 34-7 and on the road against the Los Angeles Rams by a score of 34-17 while losing on the road against the Dallas Cowboys by a score of 16-31. 

The Raiders finished last season with a record of 6-11 which led to a 3^rd place finish in the AFC West and Las Vegas missing the playoffs after making the playoffs in 2021. This season, the Raiders enter the year with an over/under win total of 6.5 wins and based on Vegas odds are projected to be the worst team in the AFC West this year.

Denver finished the preseason with a record of 1-2 with a win at home against the Los Angeles Rams by a score of 41-0 while losing on the road against the Arizona Cardinals by a score of 17-18 and on the road against the San Francisco 49ers by a score of 20-21. The Broncos finished last season with a record of 5-12 which led to a last-place finish in the AFC West and the Broncos finished with a losing record for the 6^th consecutive season and missing the playoffs for the 7^th consecutive year. 

This season, the Denver Broncos enter the year with an over/under win total of 8.5 wins and based on Vegas odds are projected to be the 3^rd best team in the AFC West behind the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers.

BookMaker has the Denver Broncos listed as Denver Broncos listed as 4-point favorites at home against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday in week 1 of the NFL season. Las Vegas has won eight of the last ten games including the previous three matchups in a row while going 9-1 ATS in the last ten and 3-0 ATS in the last three games in the series.

Denver will be an improved team now that they have a competent coach in Sean Payton and I expect Russell Wilson to bounce back this season after he had a poor season last year. However, Las Vegas has been the dominant team in the series, winning eight of the last ten including the previous six matchups in a row while going 9-1 ATS in the last ten and 3-0 ATS in the last three games. As a result, I am taking the Las Vegas Raiders +4 on the road on BookMaker on Sunday in week 1 of the NFL season.