Betting Impact of Jon Gruden’s Resignation on Raiders Win Total and Week 6 Match-Up
Well, that escalated quickly. Jon Gruden announced his resignation as head coach of the Raiders on Monday after the release of offensive emails he sent while working as an analyst for ESPN in 2011.
As leaks of Gruden’s emails began to surface last week, oddsmakers were releasing props about his future with the Raiders. You might have seen them coursing across your Twitter feed, with odds as high as +550 for Gruden to not be coaching the Raiders by the end of the season.
Rich Bisaccia will serve as interim head coach, but the list of potential Raiders coaching candidates is coming, and with it, the odds for each to land the full-time gig. While bettors wait for the release of coaching props, let’s take a look at how Gruden’s resignation impacts the Week 6 Raiders-Broncos line at SI Sportsbook.
Opening line: Broncos -3
Movement: Broncos -3.5
Point total: 45
Movement: 44.5
A little budge, but it appears that sharp money isn’t buying into Gruden’s resignation affecting the spread or total. With identical 3-2 records, and coming off of two-game skids, the Raiders and Broncos are looking to keep pace with the Chargers in the AFC West. With Teddy Bridgewater back at quarterback and the Broncos hosting in Week 6, the line could continue to move in favor of Denver as public money begins pouring in.
In our AFC West preseason betting preview, we had Las Vegas barely hitting the over (O/U 6.5) and finishing with seven wins. The win total line has shifted during the first five weeks of the season, it’s currently at 7.5 and favored to the Over (-150). Taking a look at the Raiders’ remaining schedule, do you see four more wins coming?
Week 6: at Broncos
Week 7: vs. Eagles
Week 8: BYE
Week 9: at Giants
Week 10: vs. Chiefs
Week 11: vs. Bengals
Week 12: at Cowboys
Week 13: vs. Washington Football Team
Week 14: at Chiefs
Week 15: at Browns
Week 16: vs. Broncos
Week 17: at Colts
Week 18: vs. Chargers
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Under 7.5 total wins is intriguing, and if you took Raiders at over 6.5 wins before the season kicked off, you have a great chance of hitting both bets with a seven-win finish. Regardless of the impact of a midseason coaching change, that list of remaining opponents is no joke.
The Raiders are going to need to keep padding wins over the next few weeks to reach a total of eight. If not, anybody who bet the over on the Raiders’ win total will be hoping the Chargers are resting starters and the Colts haven’t figured out how to win by the end of the season.
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