NFL Week 9 Odds Report: A Rookie-Heavy Starting Quarterback Sunday

We did have our first head coach firing in the Raiders’ Josh McDaniels. He won’t be the last with Washington’s Ron Rivera, Chicago’s Matt Eberflus and the LA Chargers’ Brandon Staley on the hottest seats. Here are three games that have seen odds shifts in Week 9 and why.

Giants at Raiders (-3 to -1.5)

Very curious timing by Raiders owner Mark Davis to fire Coach Josh McDaniels, GM Dave Ziegler and even offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi. Not that they all didn’t deserve it, perhaps, but because Las Vegas is on a short week after losing Monday night in Detroit. The Raiders looked so bad offensively in that game that Davis felt he had no choice to try and save the season. Davis announced it in the middle of the night Eastern time in a classic news dump. The Raiders have the No. 31 total offence in the NFL, are No. 32 in rushing yards per game (70) and No. 30 in points per game (15.8) despite having two of the best players in the league at their positions in receiver Davante Adams and 2022 NFL rushing king Josh Jacobs. Adams had one catch for 11 yards Monday and has not caught a touchdown pass since Week 3. Jacobs doesn’t have a 100-yard game yet. 

Thing is, why did Lombardi get the hook? McDaniels called offensive plays, not him. Linebackers coach Antonio Pierce takes over on an interim basis. And it appears QB Jimmy Garoppolo’s days in the Silver & Black are numbered. He has been a free-agent mega-bust with a league-leading nine picks despite missing two games. Jimmy G has lost his job, for now, to fourth-round rookie Aidan O’Connell. The former Purdue star got the start for an injured Garoppolo in Week 4, a 24-17 loss to the Chargers in which O’Connell was sacked six times, threw a pick and fumbled three times, losing two. The Giants, meanwhile, will get starting QB Daniel Jones back from injury and could be as healthy as they have been since Week 1. 

Vikings at Falcons (-1.5 to -4)

Minnesota has righted its season with three wins in the past four to get to .500, but Sunday’s win in Green Bay was hugely costly as Kirk Cousins, having a really strong season, was lost to a torn Achilles – the same injury that got Aaron Rodgers in Week 1 for the Jets.

The Vikings did trade for Arizona quarterback Joshua Dobbs before Tuesday’s deadline but will go with fifth-round rookie Jaren Hall out of BYU in his first start Sunday. It’s the third rookie QB the Falcons will face already, beating Bryce Young and Carolina in Week 1 and Houston and CJ Stroud in Week 5. This has risen partly due to Hall starting and also because the Falcons are benching struggling second-year QB Desmond Ridder for Taylor Heinicke, who had his moments the past two seasons with Washington and is an upgrade. Atlanta switched from Ridder to Heinicke at halftime of last Sunday’s 28-23 loss to the Titans after Ridder was tested for and cleared from having a concussion. Atlanta absolutely will be selecting a QB with its 2024 first-round pick. 

Cardinals at Browns (-7 to -8.5)

This game will determine whether we see NFL history in Week 9. Arizona has lost five straight, four by double digits. On Monday, Coach Jonathan Gannon said he was benching QB Josh Dobbs … and then Dobbs was traded to Minnesota for a late-round draft pick. So it will either be rookie Clayton Tune, a fifth-round pick from the University of Houston, or Kyler Murray, who is still working his way back from a torn ACL suffered in Week 14 last season.

Murray has been practicing, but the team doesn’t have to activate the former No. 1 overall pick yet and it seems like the franchise is leaning toward Tune against a ferocious Cleveland defence that ranks No. 1 in yards against. The Cardinals are much, much more likely to lose if it’s Tune, and in all honesty that’s also likely what the team wants. This is a gap year for the most part. If Tune does start, that would make nine rookie QBs who have done so this season already, tied for the most since 1950 and there’s still half a season to go. Again if Tune starts, that would make seven rookies doing so this week, tied for the second-most in a single week since the merger. Meanwhile, QB Deshaun Watson may be back from injury for Cleveland, so that also pushed this number higher.