Detroit Lions vs. Broncos: Week 14 betting odds, spread, and prediction

One week after a last-second comeback victory for the Detroit Lions, they will be heading out west to Denver to face the Broncos. They’re coming off their first win of the season after beating the Minnesota Vikings last weekend and are likely heading back to the loss column.

The 1-10-1 Detroit Lions are facing off against the 6-6 Denver Broncos, who are going to have some extra motivation behind them. Thursday evening, the news broke that former Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas had passed away in his home in Roswell, Georgia.

It’s a tragic story, and the Broncos have already announced that they are going to be honoring Thomas with a tribute on the video board before the game, helmet decals with no.88 on them, and a moment of silence before the game kicks off.

If that’s not some extra motivation to win one for Thomas, then I don’t know what is. The weather looks to be clear at the time of writing, and the Lions, even coming off their first win, are going to be back to the usual.

With the Lions’ injury report piling up the names left and right, they are going to be short-handed all across the board after the flu bug has seemingly run amuck in the Lions locker room. So the Lions are going to have to get creative.

Detroit Lions have the cards stacked against them once again.

Last week, it was Jamaal Williams who was going to have to step up in place of D’Andre Swift, who is nursing a shoulder injury. But this week, Williams was on the injury report as well, which likely means the Lions run-game is going to be in the hands of Jermar Jefferson on Sunday.

It’s not the best option for the Lions with the number of names on the injury report, even if some of those illnesses clear up before Sunday. The Broncos are going to be coming out looking to capitalize on things.

With Javonte Williams being one of the most significant sources of offense for the Broncos, the Lions will have to shut him down with the hopes to do much of anything. However, the “X” factor in this game is going to be the motivation to win for Thomas.

I would expect the Broncos to come out with a lot of energy and expect the already weakened Lions roster to be unable to stay up to speed with this. While I do not think the Lions players are going to “give up” as illustrated last week and all season, this group will play until the final whistle, but I feel the Broncos are going to be able to get started early.

That being said, let’s move into the odds and make a prediction.

Detroit Lions betting odds, spread, and prediction

According to WynnBET, the Denver Broncos are favored by 10.0 points at the time of writing this betting preview. With the -10.0 point line favoring the Broncos, the Over/Under is set at 42 points on the game.

Prediction: As I have repeatedly mentioned, this game is going to be a “win it for Demaryius” game for the Broncos. They are going to come out early and get things rolling. I’d expect the Broncos to cover the -10 point line, and I’ve got the Lions finding a way to score to have the over hit as well.