NFL Week 4 Injury Roundup

• Seahawks’ Chris Carson, Bucs’ Chris Godwin among key players injured in Week 3
• Bears RB Tarik Cohen out for season with torn ACL
• Eagles expect TE Dallas Goedert to miss time with ankle injury

Three weeks of the 2020 NFL season have already come and gone. Week 2 brought a number of injuries to key players all over the league. It seemed as though half of the San Francisco 49ers’ roster came out of last week with some sort of malady.

While we didn’t have quite as many devastating injuries in Week 3, there were still quite a few high-profile players that got banged up in some form or fashion. Here’s a roundup of the Week 3 injuries and how it impacts the long-term betting outlooks of teams around the NFL.

Chris Carson, RB, Seahawks (Knee)

Chris Carson has been one of the more underrated backs in football over the past couple of years. However, Seattle’s bell-cow rusher came down with an apparent knee injury late in the fourth quarter of the team’s 38-31 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday afternoon.

In a radio interview Monday morning, head coach Pete Carroll said that Carson has a knee sprain. It reportedly isn’t overly serious, but it will keep him sidelined for the next one-to-two weeks.

Seahawks’ RB Chris Carson’s first-degree sprained knee is considered a 1-2 week injury, per source, but team wants to see how he feels and recovers this week. https://t.co/0MxVN7kx35

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 28, 2020

Russell Wilson doesn’t do as much scrambling as he did earlier in his career. Carlos Hyde and Travis Homer are immediately behind Carson on the Seahawks’ depth chart at running back. They combined for six carries for 31 yards in Sunday’s game, but both will see larger roles as long as Carson is out of the mix.

The injury is unlikely to affect the 3-0 Seahawks’ outlook, however. Seattle gets a cupcake matchup in Week 4 against a 1-2 Miami Dolphins team, and there is an outside chance Carson will be back by the time the Seahawks host the winless Minnesota Vikings in Week 5.

Seattle’s win over Dallas improved their odds to win Super Bowl 55 to +1000, which gives them the third-best odds of any team behind Baltimore (+525) and Kansas City (+525). The Seahawks are now +120 favorites to win the NFC West, as well.

Chris Godwin, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Hamstring)

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had no problems throttling the Broncos in Denver on Sunday, but the victory came at a cost. Chris Godwin, the most reliable pass-catching option over the middle of the field, left the game with a hamstring injury in the third quarter.

After the game, head coach Bruce Arians said the Bucs would take a “wait-and-see” approach with Godwin. Godwin has caught 11 passes for 143 yards with a touchdown through the first three games of the new season.

If he’s out, Tom Brady will have to rely more heavily on Mike Evans and Scotty Miller to shoulder the load in the passing game, while OJ Howard and Rob Gronkowski could see more targets, as well. Evans has been dealing with injury issues of his own this season, though he did catch two touchdown passes on Sunday against Denver. Evans has scored in each of the first three games of the new season, as well.

The severity of Godwin’s injury is still unknown. The Buccaneers, who moved to 2-1 with the victory over the Broncos, will head home to face another AFC West foe when the LA Chargers come to town in Week 4. After that, the Bucs will face three straight potential playoff opponents in the Bears, Packers, and Raiders.

The new-look Bucs were a trendy Super Bowl pick before the season, and their +1400 odds to win the title this season still rank among the best in the NFL. Tampa Bay has also moved into a tie with the New Orleans Saints (+100 apiece) as betting favorites to win the NFC South.

Tarik Cohen, RB, Chicago Bears (Knee)

The Chicago Bears moved to 3-0 thanks to an improbable comeback win over the Falcons in Atlanta on Sunday. The Falcons blowing huge leads has become old hat at this point, so perhaps Chicago’s comeback shouldn’t have been a huge surprise.

On Monday, Matt Nagy confirmed that Nick Foles, who relieved Mitch Trubisky at halftime of Sunday’s game, will start in Week 4 when the Bears host the Indianapolis Colts. However, Foles will be without one of the team’s most threatening playmakers in Tarik Cohen, who suffered a torn ACL against the Falcons.

Cohen, who has 20 total touches for 115 yards on the season, will miss the rest of the season. He was injured returning a punt before eventually being helped to the locker room.

Cohen wasn’t off to a blistering start this season, but the injury means David Montgomery will likely see an even bigger workload out of the backfield. Despite the unbeaten start, oddsmakers still aren’t fully buying what the Bears are selling. Chicago does now have the second-best odds to win the NFC North (+250), but the Bears remain a long shot (+3300) to win Super Bowl 55.

Diontae Johnson, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers (Concussion)

Most expected Juju Smith-Schuster to replace Antonio Brown as Ben Roethlisberger’s favorite target, but Diontae Johnson has quickly emerged as one of the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ biggest weapons. Johnson had 14 catches for 149 yards with a touchdown through the Steelers’ first two games, but he suffered a concussion in the first half of Sunday’s win over the Texans.

Johnson tweeted that he was “fine” after the game, but concussions tend to vary in severity. Smith-Schuster and Eric Ebron both scored receiving touchdowns after Johnson left the game, while rookie Chase Claypool may get more reps with the first-team offense if Johnson misses any time.

I’m fine! Great team win though 🙏🏾

— Diontae Johnson (@Juiceup__3) September 27, 2020

The 3-0 Steelers have seen their Super Bowl odds improve to +1600, though they are still distant second to the Baltimore Ravens at +240 to win the AFC North.

Dallas Goedert, TE, Philadelphia Eagles (Ankle)

The Philadelphia Eagles blew countless opportunities to finally get into the win column on Sunday, and they ultimately had to settle for a 23-23 tie against the lowly Cincinnati Bengals. To make matters worse, the Eagles also lost one of their better pass-catchers to an ankle injury.

Dallas Goedert sprained his ankle during the first quarter, which left an already-thin group of pass-catchers even thinner. Philly was already without Alshon Jeffery, Jalen Reagor, DeSean Jackson, and JJ Arcega-Whiteside, which really left Carson Wentz with little outside of Zach Ertz and Greg Ward in the passing attack for most of Sunday’s game.

Head coach Doug Pederson said Monday that Goedert will miss “some time,” which means he will likely miss next Sunday’s game at San Francisco. The winless Eagles have already opened as 6.5-point underdogs in Week 4 despite the fact that the Niners are dealing with countless injuries of their own.