Drew Brees injured: Saints' playoff, Super Bowl odds take a massive hit following injury diagnosis

Brees will return in 2019, but how will the Saints fare without him in the coming weeks

New Orleans Saints fans woke up to unpleasant news on Monday morning, when multiple reports indicated that quarterback Drew Brees would need surgery to repair a torn ligament in his throwing thumb. The timetable for recovery is sketchy at this point, but Ian Rapoport believes that he will miss six weeks. 

The Saints came one blown pass interference call away from a Super Bowl appearance last year, and again had championship goals this season. After a 1-1 start and without Brees moving forward, however, the future looks a little bleak. 

The Saints' playoff odds and Super Bowl odds took a serious hit after this news. According to SportsLine expert Stephen Oh, the Saints had a 91.2% chance to make the playoffs, 24.6% chance to win the NFC Championship and 10.9% chance to win the Super Bowl before it was announced that Brees would miss time. Now, the Saints have just a 79.9% chance to make the playoffs, 17.7% chance to win the NFC Championship and just a 7.9% chance to win the Super Bowl. Just in the last 24 hours, the Saints projected 11.4 wins have dropped to 9.9 wins. 

Did Drew Brees' injury sink the Saints chances of winning the NFC South? Can Teddy Bridgewater keep them afloat until Brees comes back? Are the Bucs the new division favorites?? Will Brinson, Ryan Wilson, John Breech and Sean Wagner-McGough discuss the fallout from Ben Roethlisberger's season-ending injury in an emergency Monday afternoon edition of the Pick Six podcast. Make sure and subscribe to get our daily NFL pod, now with seven (!) episodes per week, M-F.

Brees will play again this season, but it's clear that SportsLine believes they will drop some games in the coming months that they would normally be favored in with No. 9 under center. The Saints play two 2-0 teams to wrap up September in the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys. They then play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals before they have a bye week in Week 9. This is why six weeks is the initial time frame when it comes to Brees' return, since he can utilize the off week to prepare for the Atlanta Falcons in Week 10.

The keys to the Saints' offense have now been handed to Teddy Bridgewater. He's the highest paid backup quarterback for good reason, which is why the Saints aren't expected to suffer a huge drop-off in the next few weeks. On Sunday, he completed 17 of 30 passes for 165 yards. He failed to engineer a single touchdown drive during New Orleans' 27-9 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, which was a tad concerning. 

While Bridgewater has potential as an NFL starter, Brees is the heart of this team. Sean Payton's system is made for Brees, and it will be interesting to see if and what they change in the game plan with him out.  

What Bridgewater needs to do is just make sure he keeps the Saints competitive. The Cowboys and Seahawks matchups will be tough ones, but you have to imagine that the Saints have a good chance of being favored in the rest of their games.