Injuries to Roethlisberger, Brees shake up Super Bowl oddsboard
Two weeks into the NFL season, the injury bug has officially struck the quarterback position.
A week after Jaguars QB Nick Foles went down with a collarbone injury that's likely to keep him out 10 weeks, both the Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger and New Orleans Saints' Drew Brees left Sunday's losses with serious injuries that lengthened their teams' respective Super Bowl odds.
Roethlisberger is reportedly done for the year after an MRI on his right elbow necessitated surgery. The Steelers' odds were at 30-1 at theScore Bet in New Jersey and will likely move to 50-1 once more information is released about the team's plans, says Jay Rood, Bet.Works' chief risk officer and theScore Bet's head trader.
The movement has been more drastic at some shops in Las Vegas, with at least one book placing Pittsburgh's odds at 80-1.
Brees' diagnosis was less dire, as he'll reportedly miss six weeks following surgery to repair a torn ligament in his thumb. Rood told theScore that the Saints would remain at 12-1 at least this week, while some other books moved New Orleans to 20-1 as of Monday.
Neither team fared well last week under new starting QBs. Mason Rudolph surrendered a halftime lead in Pittsburgh's 28-26 home defeat against the Seattle Seahawks, while Teddy Bridgewater couldn't muster anything offensively in New Orleans' 27-9 road loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Ed Salmons, vice president of risk management and oddsmaking for the Westgate LV Superbook, told theScore that Brees is worth four points to the spread, though he expects it to be less once the Saints incorporate Taysom Hill more at quarterback. Roethlisberger is worth 6.5 or seven points, he said.
Brees has only missed three games since signing with New Orleans in 2006, with the Saints finishing 1-2 against the spread in his absence. The Steelers, meanwhile, are 12-10-2 ATS in games without Roethlisberger since drafting him in 2004.
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