What was supposed to be a celebratory night in Denver quickly became grim as Bo Nix suffered a season-ending ankle injury during the Divisional Round matchup vs. the Bills.
Nix broke his ankle on the second-to-last play of overtime, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Nix finished the game without showing any signs of the injury, which makes this announcement surprising to most.
The Broncos are moving onto the AFC Championship for the first time since 2015. They will be without Nix, and instead starting Jarrett Stidham, who has four career starts (all in the regular season). Naturally, this will affect Denver’s chances at winning a Super Bowl, and thus changes the Super Bowl odds on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Here’s a look at the updated Super Bowl odds following Nix’s season-ending ankle injury.
The Seahawks remain the favorites, but improve their odds from +270 to +150 as they’re leading San Francisco by multiple scores at halftime of the NFC Divisional matchup. The 49ers’ +6000 odds reflect this first-half blowout.
The Rams are second at +320, which is the same prior to the injury. Their path hasn’t changed because of this—same goes for the Bears, who are now +1700 after entering the week at +1600.
The Broncos, Patriots and Texans all moved following the news. Denver dropped from +700 to +900, while New England improved to +450 from +600. The Texans jumped from +850 to +700, meaning the winner of Houston/New England is the odds-on favorite to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.
Although Denver lost Nix, it didn’t fall too much in the odds thanks to its incredible defense. Additionally, the Broncos will host the winner of Houston vs. New England in the AFC Championship.