‘Duck’ and cover with Steelers
WITH the Raiders on a bye this week, I had a chance to look around the NFL and discover two quarterback stories that I had missed.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are playing at the Los Angeles Chargers on “Sunday Night Football.” Ben Roethlisberger is out for the season, and Mason Rudolph is recovering from a concussion.
Enter Devlin Hodges, whom I had never heard of until last week when he replaced Rudolph. Quarterbacking Samford of the Football Championship Subdivision, Hodges won the Walter Payton Award last year. That’s the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy for the smaller schools.
Hodges threw for 14,584 yards in his career, breaking Steve Mcnair’s career record for an FCS school. His nickname is “Duck,” and if you go to Youtube, you will find Hodges winning a duck-calling contest. Instead of barking “Omaha, Omaha” or “Kill, Kill,” at the line of scrimmage, he can just quack to change a play.
I am going to use Hodges and the Steelers in the Circa Million contest and also in my teasers. They are catching seven points against a Chargers team decimated by injuries. Quarterback Philip Rivers will be without center Mike Pouncey and left tackle Russell Okung. Cluster injuries on the offensive line are difficult to overcome.
Steelers fans always travel well, and Chargers fans remain at home in San Diego. Who knows? This could be the start of another Duck Dynasty.
The feel-good story of the season takes us to New Orleans, where Teddy Bridgewater is replacing injured Drew Brees and keeping the Saints in the Super Bowl chase. Bridgewater’s three consecutive straight-up and againstthe-spread wins include this gem: He’s the first visiting quarterback in the Pete Carroll era to win and cover at Seattle against the Seahawks in September.
Bridgewater and the Saints are 1½-point underdogs Sunday at Jacksonville, and, including his days in Minnesota, he’s 18-2 ATS against nondivisional opponents. I’m buying.
I will use my two-team, six-point teaser this way: the Steelers plus 13 and the Saints plus 7½.
Good luck this weekend. Cash a few tickets, then scout the Raiders’ next opponent, the Green Bay Packers, who host the Detroit Lions on “Monday Night Football.”
Brent Musburger’s betting column appears Saturday in the Las Vegas Review-journal. He is host of “My Guys in the Desert” weekdays from 2 to 4 p.m. on Vsin.com, Siriusxm 204 and 920 AM The Game.