Denver Broncos at New England Patriots Spread

The Denver Broncos continue their unlikely run toward the Super Bowl when they meet the top-seeded New England Patriots in the divisional round.

Odds makers expect the Broncos’ Cinderella story to come to an end Saturday, listing them as a 13.5-point underdog with the total set at 50.

Denver limped into the playoffs off three consecutive losses, but that didn’t stop it from eliminating the reigning AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers with a 29-23 overtime victory.

Tim Tebow hushed doubters by completing 10 of 21 passes for 316 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions  against the league’s top defense. He also rushed for 50 yards and a score.

Four of Tebow’s passes, including one of his touchdown tosses, found Demaryius Thomas, who led the team with 204 receiving yards.

Willis McGahee led the way on the ground with 61 yards on 19 carries.

The Patriots were last in action on Jan. 1 when they secured the No. 1 seed in the AFC with a 49-21 rout of Buffalo. They fell behind 21-0 before rattling off 49 unanswered points.

Tom Brady connected on 23 of 35 pass attempts for 338 yards with three touchdowns and one interception in the win.

Tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski combined to catch 15 passes for 246 yards and three touchdowns.

Stevan Ridley led the team with 81 rushing yards, and BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran for two scores.

The Broncos have won six of the last nine in this series, but the Patriots won the most recent meeting 41-23 in Denver on Dec. 18.

The Broncos will have to take care of the football Saturday if they hope to have a chance at the upset. They lost three fumbles and didn’t force a single turnover in the first meeting.

If Denver can avoid turnovers, it should be able to move the football against a New England defense ranked 31st in the league with 411.1 yards allowed per game. The Broncos racked up 393 yards in the December meeting.

Even though the Patriots won the first meeting by 18 points, it may not be wise to lay a big number with them Saturday. The Patriots are 0-6 against the spread in their last six playoff games and 3-14 against the number in their last 17 home games as a favorite of 10.5 points or more.

As far as the total in concerned, the under has been the play. These two have played to the under in four of the last six meetings at New England with one push.

Jimmy Boyd will keep you winning consistently on the pro gridiron clear through the Super Bowl with his expert picks. With a strong 3-1 (75%) performance in the Wild Card Round, Jimmy improved to a dominant 13-5 (72%) his L18 NFL playoff picks! He was a rock solid 8-4 (67%) in the 2011 playoffs and capped things off with a huge 5* Best Bet winner on the Packers in the Super Bowl – his 3rd-straight Super Bowl side winner! His NFL playoffs 5* Top Plays are a white hot 12-2-1 (86%) the last three seasons! Don’t make a move in the postseason before you check out his full slate of highly rated premium picks.