Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger up to No. 5 betting choice for NFL MVP
His four-touchdown, zero-interception effort helped lift the Pittsburgh Steelers to 9-0.
It also lifted Ben Roethlisberger into legitimate hype regarding the NFL’s MVP race.
Roethlisberger has moved into the top five among the betting odds to be named the 2020 league MVP. According to co.sportsbetting.com, a Monday wager on Roethlisberger to win AP NFL MVP pays 14-to-1. Only the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes (2-1), the Seattle Seahawks’ Russell Wilson (5-2), the Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers (4-1) and Arizona Cardinals’ Kyler Murray (5-1) are ahead of the 38-year-old Roethlisberger.
Counting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Tom Brady (16-1) and the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen (22-1), all of the top seven are quarterbacks. The past seven MVP winners have been from that position.
The only non-QBs in the top 13 are Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook (40-1), New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (50-1) and Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry (100-1).
During a 36-10 win against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, Roethlisberger completed 27 of 46 passes for 333 yards. It came after a week in which he did not practice because he was on the reserve/covid-19 list from Monday through Saturday after being deemed a high-risk contact of tight end Vance McDonald, who tested positive for coronavirus.
“Ben’s been doing this for a while,” receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster said. “Going 15-plus years being in the league and doing what Ben does.”
Big Ben’s big game also came seven days after he briefly left a win against the Dallas Cowboys when both his knees were injured while being sandwiched between two defenders after releasing a pass.
“He’s the leader of our team,” safety Terrell Edmunds said. “Seeing what he did in that Dallas game. Everyone saw he went down for a quick second, just showing his pride for the game, how much he loves the game, how much he loves our team, just going out there still playing, limping on the field.”
Roethlisberger has completed 66.8% of his passes for 2,267 yards, 22 touchdowns and four interceptions this season.
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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