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It’s been a crazy day for star veteran quarterbacks. The Pittsburgh Steelers will be without Ben Roethlisberger the rest of the season due to an elbow injury, and now we hear reports the New Orleans Saints will be without Drew Brees for at least six weeks due to a thumb injury. He suffered the injury in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks.
Teddy Bridgewater replaced Brees in the starting lineup and had a shaky but occasionally decent performance. He completed 17 of 30 passes for 165 yards. Brees is considering his surgical options, and reports have the six weeks being a minimum. If he is going to miss eight or more weeks, he would be a candidate for injured reserve with a chance for return after a minimum eight weeks.
The Saints will likely get Brees back in November, but the team has a lot of work to do in the meantime to be in a position to earn a playoff berth when the time comes. DraftKings Sportsbook dropped their Super Bowl odds from +750 to +1200. It’s not a huge drop, which suggests they don’t want to take on too much liability if Brees returns in his usual form.
The Sportsbook took down NFC South divisional odds, but they did not make big moves when they put them back out there for the public. Prior to the injury, the Saints were -240 favorites, followed by the Falcons (+500), Panthers (+550), and Buccaneers (+1100).
Following the reports on Brees’ thumb, the Saints remain the favorite, but have tightened up with the Falcons.
Saints: -155
Falcons: +250
Panthers: +800
Buccaneers: +800
The Saints travel to face the Seattle Seahawks in Week 3. A point has not been installed at the DraftKings Sportsbook as of this publishing.