Two Huge NFL Week 8 Injuries



A look at the injuries to top players in Week 8 of the NFL season and the adjusted Super Bowl odds for teams.

Season-ending injuries affect Super Bowl odds

By the end of this coming Monday, the NFL regular season will be halfway done. But for a few of the game’s brightest stars, it ended this past weekend and the season-ending injuries to Derrick Henry and Jameis Wilson will have ramifications for the remainder of the 2021 NFL season.

Derrick Henry – Titans RB
Fractured foot - possible return for playoffs

Just as the Titans were emerging as one of the best teams in the AFC, they’ve lost their best player for the remainder of the regular season.

Tennessee Titans Derrick Henry oddsOn Tuesday, Derrick Henry had surgery to repair a broken foot — reported to be a Jones fracture — and the earliest we could see Henry again would be in the playoffs in January. The Titans aren't giving any specific timetables for his return, but most medical experts agree that the playoffs are a possibility, but far from a certainty.

It's interesting because he appeared to injure his foot in the first quarter on Sunday, but still went on to carry the ball 28 times. In two other games he's had 29 carries, and twice this season Henry has gone over 30 carries. It's hard to know if his heavy workload contributed to the injury, but Henry was on pace to set a record for most rushing attempts in a single season. He led the league in carries in both 2020 and 2019.

Tennessee will not be able to fill the hole left by Henry, a 2,000-yard rusher last season, but they have signed 36-year-old Adrian Peterson to at least give them another experienced running back on the roster. The only other running back the Titans have with more than two carries this season is Jeremy McNichols. He has seven carries in 2021.

Not that the Titans wouldn't have otherwise been underdogs according to NFL point spreads even with Henry, but now they find themselves catching over a touchdown in their upcoming Sunday night prime-time match against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 9. The Titans odds to win Super Bowl 56 have dropped from 14-1 prior to beating the Colts in overtime on Sunday. Online sportsbooks around the world have raised those odds in the wake of Henry's injury and currently BetUS has the Titans at +1800 to win it all in 2021.

Jameis Winston – Saints QB
ACL Tear - out for the season

The Saints got a big win on Sunday over the Buccaneers, but they paid a heavy price with the loss of quarterback Jameis Winston for the season. During a second-quarter scramble Winston was tackled awkwardly, and his knee bent under his body, tearing his ACL and damaging his MCL.

New Orleans placed itself firmly in the playoff picture with Sunday's win over Tampa Bay and wins in the previous two weeks over Washington and Seattle. But now Sean Payton is forced to play the rest of the 2021 season with a backup quarterback.

New Orleans Jameis Wilson injuryThe second quarterback on the roster is Taysom Hill, who was inactive this past weekend because of a concussion, but is expected to be available for Week 9 against the Falcons. New Orleans also has third-string quarterback Trevor Siemian, who played well enough in Winston’s absence on Sunday to secure the win.

The severity of Winston's injury is similar to the one suffered by Joe Burrow in the second half of the season last year, and like Burrow, Winston should be fully recovered in time for the 2022 regular season.

Even with Hill slated to be under center on Sunday, the Saints are laying six points as they host the woeful Atlanta Falcons according to NFL odds. Oddly, despite losing their starting quarterback for their season, many of the top online sportsbooks have dropped the odds (+3300) for a Saints Super Bowl win, mainly due to the Sunday victory over Brady and the Bucs.

Danielle Hunter – Vikings DE
Torn pectoral muscle - out for the season

An MRI on Monday confirmed the fears of the Vikings and pass rusher Danielle Hunter. He has a torn pectoral muscle, and his 2021 is over.

Minnesota Vikings Danielle Hunter injury reportLast season the Vikings played the entire year without Hunter, as he recovered from surgery for a neck injury. In 2021, however, he had returned to form, and through Week 7 he was top-10 in the NFL with six sacks.

"I don’t think you replace him," said head coach Mike Zimmer. "He's one of a kind. It’s unfortunate that we’re going to miss the next half of the season with him, and all of last year. So, he’s a great kid and he’ll do a good job in his rehab and he’ll be ready to go."

Prior to the 2021 season, Hunter and the Vikings reworked his contract, which calls for an $18 million roster bonus due on the fifth day of the 2022 league year, which is next March. With yet another season-ending injury in his history now, that deal will either be reworked again, or Minnesota is likely to release him.

Hunter has 60.5 career sacks and is the fastest player in NFL history to get to 50 career sacks.

Minnesota sits a half game behind the Carolina Panthers for the final NFC wild-card spot. Given their +1000 NFL division odds to win the NFC North — compared to the leading Green Bay Packers at -5000 — the Vikings are already playing for the wild card.

On a Good Note

Russell Wilson – Seahawks QB

In one bit of good news on the injury front this week, on Monday, the pin that was used to stabilize the injured finger on Russell Wilson's throwing hand was removed. Ouch! 

There is still some rehab to go before Wilson is cleared to play, but getting the pin removed means that he is only days away, and not weeks, from throwing again. 

The Seahawks have been a disappointment in 2021, and with or without Wilson their chances of winning the tough NFC West were slim. Seattle is on a bye this week and heads to Green Bay next week, where they will be underdogs for just the fourth time this season.




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