Stop-gap quarterbacks more prevalent than ever

It's obvious the NFL has made a concerted effort in recent years to protect the most valuable player on the field. But it has been a fruitless exercise because quarterbacks again are dropping like flies.

John Kelly, host of "Leroy's Sports Hour," recently mentioned this incredible statistic: Last season, 64 quarterbacks started games in the NFL, and this season we're up to 46 and counting in Week 7.

In many respects, from a handicapping perspective, analysis begins and ends with who's behind center.

"The importance of depth has never been more important in a quarterback-driven league," Kelly said. "Monitoring the preseason is critical, because down the road you will be handicapping a Sage Rosenfels or a Seneca Wallace."

The roster of former backup quarterbacks who will be running the show today certainly won't strike fear in defenses.

The names just roll off the tongue ... Detroit's Dan Orlovsky, Seattle's Seneca Wallace, Cincinnati's Ryan Fitzpatrick, Kansas City's Brodie Croyle and Dallas' Brad Johnson are the flavors of the week.

Not impressive. And not surprisingly, three of those replacement quarterbacks find themselves as near double-digit underdogs.

The Lions, 9-point underdogs at Houston, again will feature Orlovsky, who no doubt was schooled this past week that the big white line at the back of the end zone is out of bounds.

Fitzpatrick leads the winless Bengals, 91/2-point underdogs, into Pittsburgh. To be fair, he has no shot with Cincinnati having no running game -- Fitzpatrick has outgained the Bengals' running back corps by 16 yards in his two previous starts.

Wallace will start ahead of Charlie Frye for the Seahawks, who are 101/2-point underdogs at Tampa Bay. Seattle coach Mike Holmgren's farewell tour has been a disaster.

The oddsmakers made their adjustments, and now it's in the bettors' hands. A bleak picture was painted, but we are in the midst of a surprising streak surrounding inferior teams.

In the past 13 games featuring double-digit underdogs -- four last season and nine this season -- the big 'dogs have covered the spread in every one. The double-digit 'dogs actually won six of those games outright.

"The professionals always take double-digit points in the NFL, knowing it has always been a long-term winning proposition," Las Vegas Sports Consultants oddsmaker Mike Seba said. "You see substantially less double-digit spreads than ever before. The reasons for their success are many -- parity, salary caps and the unwillingness for teams to run it up. Just win and move on."

The long-shot run will end and in all likelihood start approaching the 50 percent mark as the season progresses.

LVSC odds director Tony Sinisi cites the biggest problem "stop-gap" quarterbacks face: "There is such a fine line between winning and losing in the NFL that turnovers become even more paramount. To expect that inexperienced quarterbacks with limited abilities can play mistake-free football is certainly a stretch."

Oddsmaker Sean Van Patten said he believes in the ability of Croyle, who returns to the lineup for the first time since being injured in the season opener at New England.

"Croyle can play, and of the names on display today, he's at the top of the list," Van Patten said. "He's going to have to be good for the Chiefs to have any shot with running back Larry Johnson inactive for the game."

Brian Blessing, project manager for Las Vegas Sports Consultants, can be reached at bblessing@lvsc.com. Listen to the LVSC oddsmakers on "Sportsbook Radio," weekdays at 4 p.m. on Fox Sports Radio (920 AM). Visit vegassportsconnect.com for more odds information.