Bungling Broncos let down Osweiler

It was not a performance that will establish Brock Osweiler as the Denver Broncos' starting quarterback. It's not going to make him a marketing star, either, meaning commercials pitching cars, insurance and pizza are not suddenly coming his way.

But in the Broncos' first loss in Osweiler's four starts, he was not the donkey and the blame cannot be pinned on his tail.

The Oakland Raiders upset Denver 15-12 on Sunday, and it was a damaging result for the betting public and a nice payday for Las Vegas bookmakers. That's typically the case when a popular NFL favorite falls.

Osweiler fell on his tail five times in the second half — all on sacks by the Raiders' Khalil Mack — and led the offense to four first-half field goals. But he was not the problem. The Broncos' dilemma is their young quarterback is not quite ready for prime time and their veteran quarterback is way past his prime and about ready for retirement.

"I'm not buying or selling. I think the jury is still out on Osweiler," said Nick Bogdanovich, William Hill sports book director. "I like his moxie and his makeup. I think he's a winner. But I don't know if he's the answer or not. It's too early to tell.

"There's a lot of pressure on him. I can't give him a huge vote and I can't knock him, either. The Broncos just don't have a lot of explosiveness in that offense. The defense can only carry them for so long."

The Denver defense more than did its part, limiting the Raiders to 126 yards overall and minus-12 in the first half. Still, somehow the Broncos lost.

Here's how: Demaryius Thomas dropped two passes and lost a fumble, Vernon Davis dropped a pass on a key fourth-down play, Emmanuel Sanders muffed a punt, the running game was nonexistent and Osweiler was not good enough to overcome all of that, especially when Mack was repeatedly sacking him. Osweiler completed 35 of 51 passes for 308 yards but produced no touchdowns.

As Peyton Manning, missing his fourth consecutive game with a left foot injury, watched from the sideline, Denver lost its grip on the top playoff seed in the AFC.

"It is a time of giving, and the Broncos kind of gift-wrapped that one," Westgate sports book director Jay Kornegay said. "I was really disappointed in the play-calling because it was very generic. It was a combination of poor blocking and poor play-calling. It seemed like they ran the same play four out of five times.

"I don't really have high expectations for the Broncos. In order to win the Super Bowl, you need good quarterback play, and with either Osweiler or Manning, I don't think they have it."

Kornegay is a Denver fan, but the Broncos' loss as 6-point favorites was a big gain for bookmakers.

"The sharps were on the Raiders," Kornegay said, "but the majority of all parlays and tickets were on the Broncos."

In fact, he said, Denver was the No. 2 team in the ticket count Sunday. The most popular favorite of Week 14 was New England, which was laying 3 points when the line opened and 5½ when it closed.

Two weeks ago, when Osweiler and an inept officiating crew led Denver's fourth-quarter comeback in an upset of the Patriots, the Broncos took control in the AFC. Now, New England is back on top after its easy 27-6 victory over Houston. Rob Gronkowski returned and caught one of Tom Brady's two touchdown passes.

"We had a pretty good day going," Kornegay said. "It takes about half of our winnings away with the Patriots covering."

Bogdanovich said New England's cover meant the day was a "wash to a small loser" for the William Hill books.

"It was such an odd schedule because there were 11 morning games and two games in the afternoon," Kornegay said.

Denver and Green Bay were the favorites in the afternoon, and the public played them both. The Broncos' loss knocked out teaser wagers. The Packers, laying 6½ points, pulled away in the fourth quarter to knock out the Dallas Cowboys 28-7.

"That was our biggest decision," Bogdanovich said. "We got killed with Green Bay."

Blowout wins by Carolina, Seattle and the New York Jets also wounded bookmakers.

"We lost more on the Seahawks than we won on any other game," Kornegay said. "We had four big decisions, and we won three of them. Our biggest win of the day was the Eagles, followed by the Raiders."

The betting public backed Buffalo, but the Bills fell 23-20 at Philadelphia as running back LeSean McCoy lost his grudge match against Eagles coach Chip Kelly.

Favorites finished the day 8-6 against the spread. New Orleans, Oakland, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Washington were straight-up underdogs winners. Of the upsets, the Steelers' 33-20 win in Cincinnati probably was the most significant.

For one thing, public and sharp bettors were right to ride the Steelers. For another thing, the Bengals were dealt a setback when quarterback Andy Dalton left with a broken right thumb. Like him or not, and most bettors do not, Dalton is an important factor in Cincinnati's postseason fate. He might be out for the season.

Dalton was hurt on a clumsy play. After his shovel pass was intercepted, his thumb was crushed while he made the tackle.

That was odd. Another strange sight was Jacksonville putting 51 points on the board and winning by 35. Also worth noting is Atlanta failed to cover its ninth straight game, and Johnny Manziel actually did something positive in Cleveland.

But the Patriots stopped their two-game losing skid and overtook the Broncos, so the AFC playoff road is probably going through New England. Nothing is odd about that.

— Las Vegas Review-Journal sports betting columnist Matt Youmans can be reached at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts "The Las Vegas Sportsline" weekdays at 2 p.m. on ESPN Radio (1100 AM). Follow him: @mattyoumans247