The Pittsburgh Steelers will be without veteran quarterback Ben Roethlisberger this week as they travel to San Francisco to take on the 49ers on Sunday as 6.5-point underdogs on the NFL odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Roethlisberger is expected to miss the remainder of the 2019 NFL season after suffering an elbow injury in Pittsburgh’s 28-26 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2, which leaves the team saddled with an 0-2 record going into Sunday afternoon’s game at Levi’s Stadium.
The Steelers have carried over the struggles from last season that left them outside the NFL playoff picture for the first time since 2013. Pittsburgh has posted just two straight-up wins in its past eight contests, including outright losses in four straight road outings, according to the OddsShark NFL Database. The Steelers have also been a disappointment to bettors, posting just two against-the-spread wins over their past nine outings.
The Niners return home on a high after a dominating 41-17 win in Cincinnati last weekend as 1-point underdogs to open their season on a 2-0 run for the first time since 2012. The 49ers opened their schedule with a 31-17 rout of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and have now averaged 34.3 points per game over their past three outings.
However, San Francisco has produced mixed results in past dates with the Steelers, going 2-3 in five meetings since 1996, capped by a lopsided 43-18 loss in Pittsburgh back in September 2015.
The Steelers are not the only team entering the week with a quarterback sidelined by injury.
The New Orleans Saints will be without Drew Brees as they visit Seattle as 4.5-point underdogs. As well, with Sam Darnold expected to be out for a month, and backup Trevor Siemian gone for the season, the New York Jets will likely be turning to Luke Falk again when they visit the New England Patriots as massive 22.5-point underdogs.
The status of Cam Newton remains uncertain as the Carolina Panthers search for their first win of the season in a visit to Arizona as 2.5-point chalk, and the Jacksonville Jaguars will once again turn to Gardner Minshew in the absence of injured starter Nick Foles when they take on the Houston Texans on Thursday Night Football as 1.5-point home underdogs.
But perhaps the biggest quarterback news of the season broke on Tuesday with the announcement that rookie Daniel Jones will take over the starting reins from veteran Eli Manning, as the New York Giants look to snap a five-game SU losing streak in a Sunday afternoon date with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as fading 6.5-point underdogs.
[relatedlinks]
