Sharp bettors ‘all over’ one side in Raiders-Broncos game

The Raiders have covered their past four home games against the Broncos and their last five meetings overall.

The betting public is banking on Las Vegas to extend that trend in Sunday’s matchup at Allegiant Stadium. But sharp bettors are backing Denver, which was bet down to a 3½-point underdog to the Raiders at BetMGM and the Westgate sportsbooks Friday after the line opened at 5.

“The sharps are all over Denver, though we’ll probably need Denver for a wheelbarrow full of money come game time against the Raiders,” William Hill sportsbook director Nick Bogdanovich said.

William Hill reported Friday afternoon that 73 percent of the tickets are on the Raiders and 51 percent of the money is on the Broncos.

Circa Sports also reported taking sharp action on the Broncos at +5, and wiseguys also are on Denver at the South Point.

“Early public action on the Raiders, but since then it’s been sharp money on the Broncos,” South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews said in a text message.

Las Vegas (5-3 straight up, 5-3 ATS) is coming off back-to-back road wins against the Los Angeles Chargers and Cleveland Browns.

The Raiders are favorites at home for the first time this season — after being underdogs to the New Orleans Saints, Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers — and Westgate vice president of risk Ed Salmons said they could be ripe for a letdown.

“Sometimes when teams win on the road and come home and they know they’re the better team, they’ll have a letdown. You’ll see that a bunch of times,” Salmons said. “The Raiders are obviously a much better team than Denver is. It’s a game the Raiders should win, but should win and will win are two different arguments.”

Denver (3-5 straight up, 5-3 ATS) is coming off a 34-27 defeat at Atlanta that was their only road loss ATS this season. The Broncos are 3-1 ATS on the road, covering in a loss at the Pittsburgh Steelers and outright wins at the New York Jets and New England Patriots.

The consensus total is 50½, down from 52 earlier this week. Circa sportsbook manager Chris Bennett said there’s been sharp action on the over and the under.

“Over 50½ and under 51 is where most of that money is,” he said in a text.

The last seven meetings between the AFC West division rivals have gone under. But the teams have a combined 11-4-1 over-under record this season.

The Raiders have gone over in six of their eight games (6-1-1), and the Broncos have gone over in five of eight (5-3), including their last three.

Las Vegas is 11th in the league in scoring (27.2 points per game) and 24th in scoring defense (28.6 ppg). Denver is 27th in scoring (21.8 ppg) and 22nd in scoring defense (27.1 ppg).

The Raiders were consensus 4-point favorites Friday, and Westgate sportsbook director John Murray said he wasn’t sure why the sharps were backing Denver.

“Not really, no, because I fully expect it to go back up this weekend with the public hammering the Raiders,” he said.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.