NFL Betting – The Josh McDaniels Era Begins With.....KYLE ORTON!

Not that Denver had great NFL betting odds to begin with, but no one could have foreseen the trouble that Josh McDaniels has had to deal with since leaving New England for the Broncos’ head-coaching position.

McDaniels began his tenure by courting Matt Cassel, who he coached in New England, after Cassel had a great season filling in for the injured Tom Brady. This was in spite of having a Pro Bowl quarterback in Jay Cutler, who threw for over 4,500 yards and had 25 touchdowns to go with 18 picks. Cutler wasn’t happy about this (understatement of the year) and asked to be traded. After some public bickering about who was to blame, Cutler was traded to Chicago for Kyle Orton and a few draft picks. That’s right folks, the battle for the starting quarterback role involves Orton, Chris Simms, and Tom Brandstater. Sadly, if you’re a Broncos fan, Orton looks to be all but in as the No.1 guy in Denver. You can ask Chicago fans how well that’ll work out.

Brandon Marshall was acquitted of battery charges, which staves off a suspension, but he also had offseason hip surgery and he’s reportedly unhappy with his contract. We all know the damage that unhappy players can do to a locker room, but just wait until he realizes that he’s going to be trying to catch passes from KYLE ORTON!

The running game, which was decimated by injuries last year, has already been bitten as first-round pick Knowshon Moreno has a sprained MCL and could miss the rest of the preseason.

Then there is the defense, which was a brutal 29^th in the league last year, and they picked up an aging Brian Dawkins, who solidifies the secondary with a healthy Champ Bailey. But the front seven isn’t scaring anyone, even in the weak AFC West, where the Broncos are rated at +450.

It’s admirable that McDaniels is going out of his way to put his stamp on a team that was in the shadow of Mike Shanahan, but some of his methods are questionable, and that is the reason (besides the fact that their starting quarterback is KYLE ORTON!) that the Broncos will be a betting bust this year.