NFL Betting Odds: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Denver Broncos, Early Week 1 Preview

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos will open up their respective 2012 NFL schedules inside Invesco Field on Sunday, Sept. 9, with the kickoff scheduled for 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC.

BetOnline sportsbook has established the Broncos as two-point home favorites in Week 1, while the total has held steady at 45.5 since being released on April 18.

Denver will enter the season with high expectations after the signing of former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who sat out the entire 2011 season with a neck injury. The playbook will certainly open up with him under center and the departure of Tim Tebow to the New York Jets.

Sports bettors will need to be cautious in laying this small number with the Broncos, as Manning has compiled a losing 51-53-1 against-the-spread (ATS) record as a home favorite during his career.

It's also important to point out that Pittsburgh will be playing with major revenge in this contest, getting knocked out of last year's NFL playoffs by suffering a 29-23 overtime loss to the Broncos as 7.5-point road favorites on Jan. 8.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger finished with a losing 1-3 ATS record when receiving points in 2011, but is still 16-11 ATS in his career in that situation.

Both head coaches will have no problem motivating their teams for this prime-time event, but Mike Tomlin will be mentioning last year's 35-7 season-opening road loss to the Baltimore Ravens in every workout for the Steelers leading up to this game.

That's enough for me to get involved at this number in the early stages of the betting market.

Early Pick: Pittsburgh Steelers plus-2

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