No single aspect of a National Football League game will cause a point spread to move as much as an injury, particularly to a quarterback. Take yesterday morning for example, in an early workout new Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw a pass and then grabbed for his back on the right side and went down on the field.
His status for Sunday’s opener in Pittsburgh is up in the air.
The books figure he is out, or at least tried to get in front of the wise guys taking Pittsburgh now that Tua is perhaps sidelined with a quick line shift.
Before the reports left the Falcons camp the point spread shifted from the Steelers favored by three points to them favored by four. An hour later, when news had spread on the injury, the line moved up the 4½. This morning, the line is five.
If Tua is actually out? Is the line move pointing to a winner?
His replacement in the Falcons backfield is veteran Cooper Rush. He was signed in 2017 as an undrafted free agent quarterback by the Dallas Cowboys after four college years at Central Michigan. He made 14 starts for the Cowboys and won nine of them. He spent last season with the Baltimore Ravens where he lost his only two starts for John Harbaugh.