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The sports betting market says the difference between Ben Roethlisberger and Mason Rudolph is about four points.
The Steelers were 10-point favorites over the Lions today until they announced that Roethlisberger is out with COVID-19. With Mason Rudolph starting, the Steelers are now six-point favorites.
Shifting betting lines after a quarterback is ruled out provide a good assessment of how much better a team’s starting quarterback is perceived to be than his backup. The point spread shifted by seven points when Jordan Love replaced Aaron Rodgers for the Packers last week. The point spread shifted by five to six points when Cooper Rush replaced Dak Prescott for the Cowboys two weeks ago.
Rudolph has started nine games in his career and the Steelers are 5-4 in those games.
